The hero hunt: TAYO Awards
The hunger for heroism has been the highlight of the past decade. It is because the bright future that we dreamed of in sci-fi Star Trek or Kubrick’s 2001 is happening today. It seems that the peaceful utopia we have all envisioned is out of sight. To create this utopia won’t be easy because we need heroes to make it happen. Unlike technology that is nerd-nurtured, creating a utopia based on a society of heroes can be as inexplicable as a Kryptonian baby falling from the sky.
As such, heroic rarity moves us to clamor for saviors in whatever cape or suit they’re wearing, even cardboard credentials will do. And most of time, our idea of a hero must go beyond super. He must breathe underwater, in space, and within black holes. He must bend adamantium steel into dog-shaped knots. And most of all, he must fly so far above our heads to keep his larger-than-life swagger.
And expecting superheroes from above can keep us blinded as the sun’s glare gets in the way — you fail to see that there are heroes who walk among us every day. They don’t need secret identities or fireworks blazing in the background as they step in the room. These heroes are masked in genuine humility. They do more than inspire. They empower. And the best part about these league of heroes is that they are everywhere. I felt this rush of Pinoy heroics as I met the 20 youth organization representatives vying to be part of the top 10 to win P50,000 each for the 7th TAYO (Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations) Awards last late October.
The TAYO awards was spearheaded by Senator Kiko Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and the National Youth Commission in partnership with the Coca Cola Foundation to recognize groups around the country and be a catalyst for future youth groups to flourish. It has proven to achieve this goal as Efren Peñaflorida’s group Dynamic Team Company won last year’s TAYO Awards, skyrocketing to CNN Hero last month and enjoying a huge victory party in Makati yesterday.
Silent Stars
For the judges, the real eye-opener was discovering that there was not just one Efren Peñaflorida silent star in the country but at least 20 stellar groups like his Dynamic Team Company every year trying to make a difference in their own communities. The judging process was a difficult task as each group was unique in many ways. As each representative entered the room, he/she stood out by his Batangueño, Ilonggo, Cebuano accent. Some were dressed like slick salesmen. Some spoke nervously from the heart.
All these visual cues vanish into thin air as you listen to their story, their journey. Each one is very personal. “Each evoking a sense of urgency that the community must fend for itself because government is not sufficient to solve the country’s problems,” Bam Aquino reflects on the cause of these groups. It is heart-wrenching to hear Illongo Sangguniang Kabataan chairman Stephen Palomaria talk about how “youth government is a breeding ground for corruption.” Other presentations dealt with issues like unsafe drinking water in Camarines Sur, deplorable school facilities in La Union, or the plight of Japanese-Filipino kids who are products of broken marriages. After hearing these stories, it is tough to ask questions to the representatives when the issues hit so close to home.
The TAYO makes its mark by showing us how a lot of our problems can beget a wealth of creative solutions. One of the common problems around the country is our out-of- school or apathetic youths. The TAYO Awards nominees tackle this issue in various ways, from teaching art classes to forming rescue brigades teams, developing leadership seminars, gathering celebrities to their school, dance theater, and reading tutorials. One of the notable entries, Guesset National High School Science Club in La Union, adopted their own school to make a waiting shed and gathered the whole school to do it. The school is all the better for it because the students take care of what they built themselves.
Defining Filipino Heroics
After the judging, the top 10 awardees and the 10 semifinalists were honored at the New World Hotel with the new Rivermaya giving a mini-concert hosted by KC Concepcion. Aside from that, they were given star treatment as they appeared on talk shows and radio programs.
TAYO celebrates, encourages, and encapsulates this Pinoy heroism by recognizing the bayanihan collective rather than the individual. And as I said in the beginning, the best part of the Filipino hero is that he is everywhere, meaning he could be you.
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Read about the TAYO Awards at http://www.tayoawards.net.
Read Senator Kiko Pangilinan’s blog at http://www.kilosko.blogspot.com.
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E-mail me at readnow@supreme.ph.
