Finding the hero in us

A hero is defined as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, or one admired for his achievements and noble qualities.

In the comic world, a superhero always needs a villain. The superhero symbolizes good and the villain, evil, and almost always, good triumphs over evil.

Ninoy Aquino became our modern hero because he united the Filipino people against a dictatorship. His wife Cory is also considered a modern-day heroine because she fought and won against a dictator.

Twenty six years after his death, is Ninoy the hero still relevant?

Many have forgotten what Ninoy stood for, but the death of Cory Aquino served as a wake-up call. The young kids and teenagers who had their political awakening in the mid-80s are now parents, decision-makers, people who have the capability to make the necessary changes in this country. They were too young to really feel what it was like to suffer under a dictatorial rule but knew that Ninoy opened up a world of opportunities for them.

Cory’s death could not have come at a better time. Going into an election year, her death served as a reminder to everyone that now is the time to make democracy work for the people.

President Arroyo survived scandal after scandal – from the Comelec tapes to the ZTE and now the extravagant dinners in the US , not because she was innocent but because people simply stopped caring, and because the political opposition is not united.

When do we say that enough is enough?

Those who were part of the EDSA People Power’s Revolution should keep reminding themselves, and their children, that ours is a new democracy and in order for it to stand the test of time, it has to be constantly nurtured.

It’s about time that we identify who or what the villain is so that the real hero in each of us can emerge.

CHEd controversy

Secretary Emmanuel Angeles, chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), is now the subject of a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly using his office to give undue advantage to a school that his family owns.

I’ve met Secretary Angeles a couple of time. He has struck me as a highly principled person and I know that he has a good explanation for what had transpired.

In the complaint, it is alleged that he violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act when he allowed the enrollment in the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) of most of the student-scholars from the Democratic Republic of East Timor.

The Philippine government and East Timor entered into an agreement on Aug. 12, 2008, whereby the Philippines, through the CHEd, would allow qualified and recommended students from East Timor to take formal educational courses in any accredited college or university in the Philippines. Angeles assumed the chairmanship of CHEd in August of 2008.

On June 26, 2009, it is claimed that CHEd recommended to Timor Leste the schools where the 109 East Timorese will enroll. Out of this total number of students, 36 scholars were enrolled at the AUF.

The Timor-Leste government would pay $22,000 per scholar. The amount includes the student’s tuition fee in the AUF and the cost of board and lodging at the AUF’s dormitory. Adding it all up, the owners of Angeles University stand to earn a around P40 million, the complainant claims.

The 36 East Timorese scholars are now taking courses in human resource management, information technology, various engineering courses, tourism and hospitality, environmental science, urban and regional planning, management and finance and banking management courses, which the complainant alleges are available in almost all private and public colleges and universities in the country.  

Adamson University, Mapua Institute and Centro Escolar University were the other schools that got the most number of East-Timorese scholars.

The memorandum of agreement signed by the two countries encourage cooperative activities within which the framework of the agreement may be undertaken to promote among others the academic networking and exchanges as well as reciprocal access to the institutions of higher education and exchange of academic staff, teachers, experts and students on program beneficial to both sides.

Secretary Angeles, it is alleged, is guilty of giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, a provision that applies to officers and employees of offices or government corporations charged with the grant of licenses or permits or other concessions.

We do not know the motivations of the complainant. We are not in a position to determine the guilt or innocence of Secretary Angeles. AUF is a good educational institution so he must have his reasons for recommending that these scholars be enrolled in that school. We sincerely hope that the good Secretary can debunk these accusations because he has been doing a pretty good job at the commission. 

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