A new beginning

Much is expected of the new leaders of the land who have been elected in the May 9 elections. With their pronouncements on reforms they want to undertake for the lifting up of the country’s system of governance, I feel the electorate who had chosen them above all other candidates are hoping and praying that such promises will come true.

And so, this column expresses congratulations to the country’s new President, Rodrigo Duterte.

And congratulations to the new Vice President Leni Robredo.

I want to congratulate too, Sen. Koko Pimentel III and Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. for their decisive conduction of the National Board of Canvassers that sped up the determination of winning candidates.

Let us help support the new leadership as it embarks on programs to make our country one we can all be proud of and happy to be living in.

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The Forum for Family Planning and Development Inc. (The Forum) which counts as members of its board of trustees former President Fidel V. Ramos and former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, supports the aggressive stance of President Rodrigo Duterte in implementing the country’s reproductive health and family planning law that is also anchored on his new government’s economic agenda of eliminating inequality and poverty. The Forum also commends President Duterte for his appointment of Dr. Ernesto Pernia as Secretary of Socio Economic Planning and Director General, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). He will be a strong pillar to his Administration as he will craft economic policies that will benefit the country especially the poor. Pernia is a member of the board of trustees of The Forum.

Benjamin De Leon, president of The Forum, said he welcomes the fresh pronouncements of the incoming government as “sensible and well-timed especially now that the Philippines is experiencing a slowing population growth rate and Filipinos recognize the importance of family planning.”

“Enabling couples to phase the births and plan the number of children they want to have, to afford and to provide for by giving them free family planning methods that they want to use and educating them about the benefits of a well-planned family is an opportune moment to grasp,” said De Leon.

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From my college best friend Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso who has been living in the United States for nearly half a century, came this message after the election of Leni Robredo as vice president. I am reprinting it with her permission.

Priscilla has worked with international education after years of teaching American literature in the US and overseas. She did her graduate work on Nathaniel Hawthorne at Stanford University and has worked at the University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, Sonoma State University, and Silliman University.

“For those of us who are watching from afar, it proves that democracy is the messiest form of government, except for all the others!

“There is also some form of poetic justice, if one waits long enough. As a dual citizen I have my ears (and heart) tuned to both the Philippines and the US, as both countries currently deal with new realities. The Trump and Duterte phenomenon reflect a global attraction to strong men (consider Putin and others) and a restlessness among the masses. Bart and I keep reminding ourselves that living in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, and being 15 minutes away from Harvard can delude us into thinking that the rest of the world thinks like Bostonians. A wake-up call for both countries and for those of us who thrive in academe.

“Leni’s victory (albeit contested by the Marcos camp) strikes me as the tipping point for those of us who still believe in the good that governs the universe. That she won by just over 250,000 votes makes it more dramatic. Faith becomes stronger when we hang by a cliff, and that’s what the past two weeks have been like for me. I do not know Leni Robredo except from Domini’s column in the Philippine STAR, but there is a quiet strength about the woman and an integrity that shines through her face. A definite contrast from the face of the woman whose conjugal dictatorship scarred the Philippines forever. As one writer puts it, you can pretty much tell a person’s character between the chin and the hairline.

“Leni Robredo will also be a ballast to Duterte, with her being a human rights lawyer. We can only keep on hoping for decent governance in these times, as Americans also navigate the waters of a most unusual campaign season between now and November. The Trump phenomenon (and that of Bernie Sanders) speaks volumes about the electorate in the US, the former being such a circus equivalent of decent discourse and civilized behavior. As an English professor, I see Trump as woefully deficient in the use of the English language. Too kind an assessment for one who has brought the campaign to Neanderthal levels. I am casting my lot with Hillary.”

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As I write this, Prof. Leonor “Liling” M. Briones has not yet accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer to have her head the Department of Education. From television interviews, I learned she has yet to decide whether she should give up chairing the board of trustees of Silliman University and another institution. To my mind, while these commitments are important, as DepEd Secretary, her coverage will be the entire country’s public education system. I must say at this point that I have the greatest admiration for the present (until June 30) Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, and I’m sorry he’s leaving the post, Liling as his successor will ensure the continuity of his good programs and make her own innovations.

For those who don’t know Liling, she is a truly accomplished woman, as I said in a previous column.

Leonor entered Silliman University in Dumaguete City in the 1950s as an accountancy major. Her parents, from Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, were school teachers. In Silliman she was a scholar for eight straight semesters and graduated magna cum laude.

Then off she went to the state university in Diliman, where she was a full scholar at the now National College for Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG). After graduation, she proceeded to Leeds University in England for studies in public enterprises. She completed her diploma with distinction, was one of only two females in the course, and she topped the examinations. Later she went to Harvard University twice, first for a certificate in public enterprises, and second, for a course in government innovations.

Upon her return from Leeds University, she was invited to join the UP faculty, then was assigned to Cebu City. By that time, she had joined the progressive and anti-Marcos movements. When martial law was declared, she went into hiding for nearly two years.

After martial law, when she was a faculty member at NCPAG, during one of its national seminars on accountability, then the respected Commission on Audit Chair Francisco Tantuico heard her speak. Right then and there, he invited her to join COA as secretary of the commission. Thus, Tantuico involved her in the thoroughgoing reforms which he initiated at COA.

After Tantuico retired, Leonor went back to teach at the UP, and was later appointed by UP President Emil Javier as vice president of the UP System for Finance and Administration. Later, Vice President Joseph Estrada appointed her National Treasurer.

She became president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition after she left COA. “I can proudly say that in the seven years that I was president of FDC, we successfully raised the consciousness of the taxpaying public and made them aware of the huge problem of debt of the Philippines.”

In 2001 she became a member of Silliman’s board of trustees which later chose her to be its chair.

Leonor lives by her philosophy of life. She is “not driven by money, I am driven by a strong sense of responsibility and duty instilled in me by my parents, my faith, and Silliman.”

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