Tell it to SunStar: Integrity, not dynasty

By Deaconess Norma Dollaga

We need more young leaders today in our country whose credibility is not based on their surnames nor their family connections in traditional politics -- a breeding ground for dynasties.

The halls of structural power must be replaced with halls of servant leaders. Those who have a track record of service and principled leadership will flourish and bloom as they deepen their commitment to social justice.

An educational background could be quite an impressive indicator, but integrity matters most. The mathematics and science for social justice must be a determinant of trustworthiness. We need more youth who will live out the standards of our heroes and servant-leaders. They should not be attracted to bribery or usurp positions in public office for profitable gain or for the benefit of family and friends.

We abhor leaders who are famous for their notoriety in corruption without shame, remorse, or accountability. It is not good to entrust our nation to young bureaucrat capitalists whose power does not rest on true servanthood but on defending and protecting dynastic patronage politics. They can be likened to what Jesus referred to as the brood of vipers.

System change is a requisite to make this possible

Our country is never lacking in remarkable leaders. With the current shameful record of corruption among leaders and lawmakers, we wonder how the positions of leadership are wasted on this brood of vultures, pigs and crocodiles (apologies to the animals). We are a nation of more than 116 million; the democratic representation of leadership must come from sectors that are victims of violence, injustice and corruption. A government where the sectors like farmers, workers, health workers, educators, youth, nationalist business people , people’s artists and scientists, professionals and credible people in bureaucracy are justly represented so that they can genuinely aspire and work for meaningful change in our society.

Past and present dedicated youth in our country have testimonies to share that prove hope is among those who risk and dare to stand for our people and country. One notable youth was Lorena Barros. She fought against Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in her youth, standing up against the dictator and co-founding the Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Free Movement of New Women) or Makibaka. The organization was forced to go underground because Marcos Sr. was persecuting those who were against him. They went underground not because they were wrong in their opinion but because Marcos, with the enabling power of the military, was employing fascism. Even before the declaration of martial law, the flourishing activism among students, youth, activists and different sectors were creating a significant and powerful movement.

Barros summed up the Filipino woman question as “Women comprise more than half of the oppressed Filipino people and thus share with men a common burden of social and economic exploitation. In addition to class oppression, however, women suffer male oppression. This second type of oppression is justified by a feudal conservatism which relegates women to the category of domestic chattel and by a decadent bourgeois misrepresentation of women as mere pleasurable objects.”

Another youth who exemplified courage, patriotism, resistance and service to the poor was Edgar Jopson, known as “Edjop.” Before martial law was declared, he was the president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), the largest student formation with members from 69 schools. The NUSP was active in providing humanitarian service to farmers who were victims of a local feud among politicians in Ilocos. The group also solicited resources and went to reforest the Sierra Madre, which was affected by a huge flood in 1972, but their efforts stopped when martial law was declared.

“Solutions to our problems may divide us, but [such divisions] should never override the unifying need for these solutions. It is this need that unites us in the student movement; it is this need that unites us ultimately with other progressive sectors in our society,” he said upon being honored by the Philippine Jaycees as one of the country’s Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1970. Upon graduation, he was involved in the labor movement and organized the La Tondena distillery strike in 1974, a breakthrough resistance against martial law. Many religious individuals supported the striking workers. The defiance was clear and the risk was real. He later took a sturdier path in the revolutionary movement, was captured, managed to escape and had a bounty on his head amounting to P180,000. He continued his work in Mindanao until he was captured, tortured, and executed during a military raid.

They are just two young people in the pages of people’s history. I am sure there are more. We are a nation that would never run out of youth who are ready to offer the best of their gifts for our people. and country. The commitment and passion they represent characterize a movement for meaningful change and reform. We need more of them. The recent actions of youth against corruption and the demand for system change bring brighter hope. It is not about adventurism. One mother whose daughter was a young martyr once told me, “I know the mission of my daughter is not just an adventure. It is a commitment that every youth can have.”

Our optimism about the power of youth in pursuing system change springs from our historical journey as a people. It has been proven that young people are capable. We need to encourage the present youth to carry on the fire of devotion in serving our country.