Youth can spell the difference in the 2010 elections

One of the champions of the "Kaya Natin" movement says the youth are capable of making a big difference in the 2010 elections, calling them "The Hope and Saviors of the Philippines."

Isabela Gov. Ma. Grace Cielo Padaca said the youth is the more tractable of the two main groups of voters which decide Philippine polls, the other being the poor.

"Elections are usually held in May when the youth are out of school," Padaca noted. "They are free to change the system in the country and stop this vicious cycle."

While the poor are usually perceived to be the deciding factor in national and local elections, Padaca noted that the youth sector now comprises 60% of the electorate and are not so susceptible to pressure and temptation as the latter has been.

"Register and vote!" the feisty official urged the student leaders who attended the forum Political Conversations with Gov. Grace Padaca held March 14 at the Xavier University Little Theatre as part of the school´s "XU@75" festivities. "Enlist with the PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) and Namfrel (National Movement for Free Elections)!" she exhorted.

The PPCRV is a national parish-based, political and nonpartisan lay organization supported by the Catholic hierarchy. It was organized in response to Resolution 28 of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines which was the Philippine "echo" of the Second Vatican Council. This Resolution asked Catholic lay leaders to "help form the civic conscience of the voting population" and "to promote the election to public office of leaders of true integrity."

"Those who are too smart to not run for public office are doomed to be governed by those who are not," she said. "Why do we allow ourselves to be merely angry but not act?"

Padaca told the audience of student leaders, faculty, lay leaders and media that the Philippines consists not only of mere islands but a whole archipelago. "Dapat dumami tayo para marami silang paghandaan and our chance of winning will also be increased," she noted.

She related how she rose from being a crusading radio journalist for 14 years to governor of Isabela by challenging the Dy political dynasty of the province due to the people´s indifference and lack of interest in changing the status quo.

"Farmers were getting poorer, the environment was degenerating, interest rates to the poor were rising, it was time for a change," she recalled. However, most of the opposition leaders balked at challenging the Dy´s vise grip in Isabela´s politics.

"Kung ayaw niyong tumakbo, ako na lang!" she recalls saying. "Kahit hindi ako makalakad, tatakbo ako!" Padaca is a polio victim and has been moving around in crutches since she was 3 yrs. old. "I told myself even if I lose, I will have peace of mind that I did not stand idly by and do something."

She ran for a seat in congress in the 3rd District of Isabela in 2001, winning in 5 of the district´s 8 municipalities. However, to her chagrin she ended up losing by 1,200 votes. The Senate Electoral Tribunal acceded to her petition for a recount but she still lost by 48 votes since the SET set aside 150 votes which were attributed to "Grace" because it did not match her registered alias of "Bombo Grace."

Undeterred, she rain again in 2004, this time for provincial governor, and won by a margin of 44,292 votes. "I won because people knew a great injustice had been done to them and gave me a margin of victory that couldn´t be cheated."

Padaca is one of the three "champions" of Kaya Natin! which was started in June 2008 by the Ateneo de Manila University-School of Government when it facilitated a meeting between herself, Governor Eddie Panlilio of Pampanga, and Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City. The movement is aimed at promoting genuine change and ethical leadership in the country. The three Kaya Natin ´champions´ have now been joined by Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija and Ifugao Gov. Teddy Baguilat.

In 2007, Gov. Padaca was conferred the prestigious International Women of Courage Award by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, an international award also conferred to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The young governor was also among eight winners of the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service for "empowering Isabela voters to reclaim their democratic right to elect leaders of their own choosing and to contribute as full partners in their own development".

From struggling to beat poverty as a student, to battling against political goliaths in the province when she ran for governor against daunting odds, and to fighting illegal logging among other concerns while governor, this young lady who is a polio victim has proven that being handicapped is no barrier to success. She continues to inspire Filipinos around the country.

Political Conversations with Gov Grace Padaca was sponsored by the XU Governance and Leadership Institute (XU GLI), the XU Tertiary Faculty Association (XUTELFA) and the XU Central Student Government (CSG).

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