From Barack to Jack
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of reunions. Not even one to celebrate the golden anniversary of the Edward Mason program of the Harvard Kennedy School. But since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drop by. We flew from Washington, DC, to Cambridge, from an election postmortem to a commemoration in the John F. Kennedy School — from Barack to Jack.
In a sea of faces all straining to remember and be remembered, only a handful make a connection. Most of the time, there are furtive glances at the nametag and frantic attempts to jog the memory. Struggling to place a smiling stranger in context is quite tricky. “Oh, hi, you were in the Marshall Ganz class, right?” Stranger shakes his head. “Or was it David Gergen’s class?” Stranger’s eyes twinkle but he shakes his head once more. Kim Campbell? Still, he says no. I’m thinking, who are you and why are you smiling at me as if I’m supposed to know you? Exasperated, I stop guessing. “Actually, we weren’t classmates,” he finally admits. I was batch ‘95. I just thought you were Burmese.” Burmese? That’s new.
I was psyched for the reunion. The sensible outlook to adopt at these occasions is to manage expectations with cautious optimism. Do not allow clumsy situations or the fickle Boston weather to unravel your cool. Focus on the positive. Seeing my old professors was a lot of fun. Good memories came flooding back. But even as they chat warmly and animatedly, I wonder if they really remember which class, what year and what nationality you are. After all, there are now 93 countries participating in the HKS Edward Mason program, up from 57 countries in 2002.
We meet the current set of Filipino students, all three of them. That was the same number during my time. We haven’t moved very far.
But this is supposed to be a happy affair, so banish any negative thoughts. “Happy” in Harvard means being able to mull and gestate new, revolutionary or evolutionary ideas. At the forum on “Challenges of Development in a Globalized World,” Prof. Merilee Grindle posits a thought-provoking premise. Should countries like China and Vietnam, which have grown economically, posting double-digit GNP and GDP but remain politically challenged, be considered “developed”? When citizens have the opportunity to accumulate great personal wealth even if their leaders are not committed to good governance, is it correct to consider these wealthy economies as urbanized? Conversely, can those that profess to embrace good governance without much economic success be considered developed?
In 1999, while visiting Beijing for the first time, the tour guide pondered the Chinese government’s fundamental belief that a full stomach is all it takes to silence a defiant mind. He disagreed and cited the Tiananmen carnage as proof. The ex-dissident — “re-educated” and reinvented as a tour guide — still fought for democracy in a less dangerous mode. If there is a kernel of truth in this, should our government tremble at the thought that one out of every five Filipinos is hungry? No matter how many journalists, militants and desaparecidos are killed, the crusade for social equality lives on.
It’s embarrassing to admit how one tends to feel much better about his country because others are worse off. Zimbabwe has a tyrant who would obliterate anyone that crosses him; Kosovo, after surviving a bitter war with neighbor Serbia, is still in limbo pending a UN resolution that would declare it an independent country; Myanmar’s oppressive military junta can sentence anyone who so much as distributes a negative leaflet to 105 years in prison!
But it is a fleeting moment of superiority. I chastised myself for getting uplifted by comparing the Philippines with the most downtrodden. We should benchmark against the first-tier progressive democracies like Singapore and Japan, not against the most miserable of the lot. “Consuelo de bobo,” as my father would say. It’s like propping ourselves up with the thought that at least we’re not dead yet, even if we’re in the terminal stage of cancer! Besides, with a president who, after nine years, still yearns for an extension of her rule, secessionist stirrings in Mindanao, and generals who keep getting caught with bagfuls of unexplained wealth — are we really better off than Zimbabwe, Kosovo and Myanmar?
But there is always a silver lining.
Vic Ramos was a panelist in the forum on Energy Policy and Climate Change. He was our DENR Secretary from 1995 to ‘97, when they were still hiring the best and the brightest. It was during his tenure that 2.6 million hectares of forestlands were transferred to the indigenous people. These administrative reforms were translated into the Indigenous People’s Rights Act. Under his watch, the Philippines received two awards from the United Nations Environment Program and the US Environment Protection Agency for dramatically reducing the country’s use of ozone-depleting substances that cause global warming. Newsweek cited his DENR stint as “ushering the first green tiger in Asia.” At the end of Vic Ramos’ term, he was conferred the Philippine Legion of Honor for outstanding performance in the Philippine Cabinet. Listening to his programs was edifying. That was truly one proud moment for the Filipino. God must have been smiling at us then.
Speaking of God, the GK Massachusetts chapter must be making Him smile even more. As one of the most committed and successful groups in the world, the Boston chapter has built many villages since they organized less than four years ago. This is steered by a couple, Gene and Evita Florendo, who have dedicated their energy to harnessing residents and students from various schools and universities of Boston to give back or pay forward to their hometowns through GK. They have tirelessly raised funds and built more villages back home, with some Boston students going home as volunteers. Through walks, dinners, events and exhibits, GK Boston continues to inspire. And the spirit of volunteerism rages on around the world, as far as Canada, Bermuda, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Nigeria, East Timor and Kenya!
Not even the schism in Couples for Christ has doused the fervor and faith of those who believe in walking the talk. In spring of 2009, a massive fundraising walk will be staged for thousands of supporters. The first GK World Summit is scheduled in Boston for June 2009. Truly, works of mercy speak louder than words ever could.
And so it was finally time to return to Manila —and just in the nick of time because winter decided to show up earlier than usual. As we enplaned in Detroit, the first few inches of snow was melting into a wet slush. We couldn’t wait to fly back to dysfunctional Philippines. Even with the diaspora where one out of five Filipinos is desperate to leave the country, for some of us, there’s still no place like home. It is unconditional love at its purest.
Twenty-two hours and 55 minutes later, the plane finally landed. As soon as the phone was allowed to be turned on, text messages beeped one after the other. The big news was that Senate President Manny Villar had resigned. It seems that a lynch mob of presidentiables did him in, while his allies just stood by. I was home all right. But who really was behind the senate coup? A day later, despite disavowals, Erap’s hand was showing. It was the classic “Et tu, Brute?” since Villar had reunited with the former president in 2007. As the jaded politicians always say, “There are no permanent friends and enemies, only permanent interests.”
That’s why I’ll never be a big fan of reunions.
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