Meeting the Philippine President

I am lucky to have lived long enough to know, not through history class, six Philippine presidents, including the most recent one.

During the 2010 Presidential campaigns, I was positively vocal about the tandem of Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino. When the sudden shift of history happened, that's after the death of former Pres. Corazon Aquino, Noynoy's mother, and when everybody seems to be really reminiscing what the Aquinos have made for this country since the 1986 People Power Edsa Revolt, I became more passionate about the state of Philippine politics that I voted for Noynoy and Mar. 

In discussions among friends, I always point out that the Philippines has always been blessed because despite of the greedy, mindless leaders that have sat and ruled the nation, there has always been a Higher Being watching us, Filipinos.  

The toppling down of the Marcos dictatorship, the peaceful Edsa Revolution, the impeachment of Pres. Joseph Estrada, and the death of Cory Aquino are proofs that, indeed, there is "Someone" up there, watching over us, shaping our political story, and has always been levelling things for us when the going gets very rough for each ordinary Filipino.

Now, I am so glad that the Philippines is blessed with a leader in the person of Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, who I see to be very truthful in his words that he will never steal from our country's coffers.  

The Lady of Edsa: A monument of the 1986 People Power Revolt

Never for a single slim moment in my life that I would ever be given a chance to meet the President. The person, who had always been a common topic with and among my friends, has turned from abstract to a physical being, when I had to be part of a group that went to Malacanang Palace on February 24, 2011 for a forum with Pres. Aquino.

Photo Op with the President

I was very happy to be there, hearing the President's speech while sitting just about four meters away from him, and having luncheon inside the Palace, my, oh my, I said to myself, this is definitely something for the wall to be mounted for my grandchildren to know. 

A souvenir from Malacanang Palace

The forum was attended mostly by selected local mayors, national  government agencies, and foreign development funding agencies (WorldBank, Asian Development Bank, AusAid, JICA, Millennium Challenge Corporation). 

These mayors were from the different municipalities all over the country that were able to avail of the government's poverty alleviation program called KALAHI-CIDSS Project (KC Project).

In such forum, these mayors made a proposal to Pres. Aquino, saying, in principle, that  poverty can be addressed when a poverty-reduction mechanism like the KC Project becomes part of country's program. To know more about the KC Project, go to http://kalahi.dswd.gov.ph/

-- Ireen --