A legacy from Jesse, model for ‘daang matuwid’

This refers to Prof. Solita Collas-Monsod’s column titled “Wanted: full-blown inquiry into Jesse’s death” (Inquirer, 8/25/12) which stated that Secretary Jesse Robredo’s “performance of his duties which endeared him not only to the poor and the marginalized . . .  but also to the local governments and communities whose capacity development he was relentlessly and successfully pursuing, stepped on a lot of very important, very powerful toes.”

Even with the advent of the credible and reformist Aquino administration, the likes of Secretary Robredo and the honest-to-goodness, down-to-earth development workers are still vulnerable—although in a much lesser degree than before—to the aggressions of the tenacious remnants of the culture of impunity. After all, that culture has evolved through the dynamics of two reinforcing factors: (1) the influence in government and society of powerful people who are resistant to social change and modernity; and (2) the marginalization of the majority of the people who have become less capacitated, less productive and less competitive after suffering decades of poverty. And to think that the Philippines’ neighboring countries trailed it in terms of economic growth three to five decades ago.

The Aquino administration which is drawing more adherents to its “daang matuwid” and still enjoys high approval and trust ratings should rally the Filipino people to uphold and safeguard Secretary Robredo’s legacies. One of these, the capacity development program for local governments and communities, was used in the unprecedented accelerated transformation of Naga City from a third class city into a progressive growth center and first class city in the Bicol region. Naga in its present state of development can serve as a model for micro-level, sustainable area development specifically designed to empower local governments and communities and to eradicate poverty (which breeds the culture of impunity) as well as to ensure gender balance, system-orientation functions of the environment, and sustainability of natural resources.

—EDMUNDO ENDEREZ,

eenderez@gmail.com