RIP DILG Sec. Robredo (no joke)

Ok, so today is the death anniversary of P-Noy's dad, Benigno Aquino Jr, who was shot to death in 1981, 5 years before the dictator was ousted from the throne. 

But now, there was another death that shocked the whole Filipino population: the death of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary, Jesse Robredo.

Before that, however, Sec. Robledo had one last wish: to catch the awarding ceremony of his child. That led to his decision to fly using his private plane, Piper Seneca, last Saturday. However, because of several glitches, the plane crashed onto the shores of Masbate. Since then, the search and rescue operations began.

The Filipino communities had prayed for his survival, even through social networking sites, but to no avail. His body was recovered this morning at around 8:15 a.m., inside the fuselage of his destroyed private plane. He was then transfered into a body bag by the Coast Guard.

As of now, his remains were now laid to rest in his beloved hometown, in Naga City.

Yep, such a sad loss indeed. First, the man who sparked a flame to start the EDSA Revolution, and now, a government officer who was never greedy for power or fame and simply doing his job.

May your soul rest in peace, Sec. Robledo.... 

Kaya Natin! : Of Good Governance

I could still recall the extraordinary event in my school yesterday, wherein there was a symposium going on between the members of Kaya Natin!. The group's main purpose is to promote awareness that there are still good people struggling to recover the good government virtues that were once apparent in our political system.

One of the speakers, the current Naga City mayor Jesse Robbledo, had shed his light on his unexpected chance to lead the city as mayor. Some of the good points he stated include equalizing opportunities, citizen chartership & awareness of what the current government is doing nowadays.

Next is the female Nueva Ecija mayor Sonia Lorenzo. The parts of her discussion in which it hit me with a powerful impact include the cooperation of both the Ateneo & De la Salle students for the Gawad Kalinga foundation and even the points of transformative education.

Grace Padaca from Isabela once again stepped into the spotlight with her inspiring story of her struggle with her current physical disability (she had polio when she was 3 years old). She told us that her father had to request the change of classrooms in her school to cope up with her condition. It happened until she was in college, wherein she had to use crotches in order to walk properly. She even mentioned about the Dy clan, a powerful political family who cared less about education because of their lust for power. Believe me, she had to compete in the elections a few times before she sucessfully overthrows them.

Lastly, Mr. Harvie Que had shared a story about his best friend who was now having an undesirable fate, and even a child who was selling sampaguita while he was on his car. He even stated the positive Filipino attitude of being optimistic despite having problems, as well as how an American commented about our country.

After their talking session, our school president stated his reflection about the meeting with them as the afterword. And there was even an open forum session as well. Finally, after the closing player, we went back to our classrooms really late, but still, it was worth the trouble.

Overall, it was a memorable experience, and their inspiring messages would soon be heard to everyone else... ^^