IMMAP’s Pecha Kucha and the Liberal Project
There are two exciting things that happened this week.
(picture courtesy of Tonyo Cruz that he shared on Twitter)
I had the honor of representing the Yellow Boat Project as one of the speakers during the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines' (IMMAP) first Open Mic Night event powered by Pecha Kucha last Thursday night at the Craft Pub & Grill at the Fort Strip (here's a comprehensive coverage by Adobo Magazine).
Thanks Janette Toral for this video!
Honored to have been part of a stellar cast of 20 speakers that used 20 slides at 20 seconds each to share stories of their personal projects or advocacy.
Carlo Ople made a very detailed narration of what happened here. (Thanks Carlo!)
It was an exciting night and I really congratulate Leo Burnett Manila's Pao Peña, LoudWhistle's energetic head Ysobel Hamidjojo and the IMMAP team for bringing together 300 of the country's digital, social media and marketing professionals in one night of engaging storytelling and fun.
I would like to thank Josiah Go and Chiqui Escareal-Go as well for taking time out of their busy schedule to see me present our project. Josiah Go was instrumental when we were starting calls for donations last November 2010 for what first became known as the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids. As some of you may already know, we have now expanded to Masbate and about to launch in Iloilo as well that's why we now call it the Philippine Funds for Little Kids.
The simple Yellow Boat Project has really come a long way. Just last Tuesday (November 8, 2011), I was also in Zamboanga City to visit Layag-Layag with Ugat Foundation's Marinela Mirasol and Dr. Anton Lim took this picture which I believe clearly reflects where we are now.
We are now at a point where we are about to grow.
So I'd like to invite young social entrepreneurs and change-makers out there to join us in this amazing journey. Email me at jay.jaboneta[at]gmail.com if you are interested to become part of this exciting project.
We are really looking at making our operations sustainable and I'm excited to announce that Mr. Ronilo Acabo, a resident of Davao City, will relocate his family to Layag-Layag to oversee our first foray at a livelihood project concentrating on seaweed farming (we really need your prayers and help here).
In the last 12 months, we have been featured by every conceivable media organization out there (locally and internationally, check Yellow Boat Meets the Press), Yahoo! Philippines recognized me as one of the Pitong Pinoy (7 Modern-Day Filipino Heroes) last June 12 during the country's Independence Day Celebration, the student body of Eton International School - Manila also recently chose me as one of their Pillars of Hope, and just last November 9, 2011, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) recognized the project as one of the Liberal Projects in the country, these projects are initiatives that best promote empowerment and freedom in the Philippines.
Again, thank you to the support of our stellar cast of donors, supporters, volunteers and friends!
You know who you are and we are excited to continue building this country with you, one Facebook post at a time and one Yellow Boat at a time!
7 Pillars of Hope Awards
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
To watch the video, please click here.
Thank you again to the student body of Eton International School - Manila for voting me as one of the 7 Pillars of Hope. Truly honored to be one of the first recipients of this award, the other awardees are:
Mr. Boy Abunda (UN Plan Ambassador)
Ms Jessica Soho (Investigative Journalism)
Mr. Arnold Clavio (Media)
Mr. Dingdong Dantes (Performing Arts)
Mr. Ruel Paz (Radio Broadcasting)
Mr. Jay Jaboneta (Social Media)
Posing with Tito Boy Abunda of The Buzz and Bandila.
The awarding ceremony was held last October 22, 2011 at the Hall 5 of the Philippine International Convention Center during the 2011 UN Day Celebrations of Eton International School - Manila.
The Pillar of Hope trophy was created and sculpted by renowned artist and the son and grandson of National Artists, a 4th generation Caedo, Mr. Frederic Caedo. He created the Jose Rizal Monument inside the Quezon City Hall compound and many other sculptures all over the world. He is also the sculptor behind the trophies of the Hildegard Awards by St. Scholastica's College-Manila.
The Heroes of Philippine Funds for Little Kids (Zamboanga)
I know it has taken me some time to recognize the little heroes that have made the Philippine Funds for Little Kids possible, but here goes. We are slowly scaling our operations and I would just like to thank all the people, all the organizations and all the media organizations that have helped the Philippine Funds for Little Kids become what it is today.
Almost a year ago (October 29, 2010), I traveled for the first time to Zamboanga City. A city I have always wanted to visit. Though I was born in Cotabato City, I have never gone there. I have been to Gen. Santos City, Saranggani area, South Cotabato, Davao City, other areas of Davao, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Lanao area, I have not been given the chance to visit Asia's Latin capital.
I went to Zamboanga City as one of the speakers for the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit where I was to speak on using social media for nation-building. My first thank you goes to Ryann Elumba, who was the lead coordinator for the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit in Zamboanga City and was largely responsible for making my visit to the city possible. Many thanks goes to Ernie Tomas of the Mindanao Development Authority as well for suggesting me as a speaker and for Blogie Robillo, one of the founding members of the group, Mindanao Bloggers, for passing the suggestion on to Ryann Elumba. Special thanks also goes to Sec. Sonny Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, for allowing me to take this trip.
Surely, I would never have heard the story of the swimming kids in Layag-Layag if I didn't go at that time. But this is getting ahead of the story.
During the sidelines of the summit, since I was already there I also met with volunteers who helped us during the campaign. One of them was Juljimar Gonzales. And my second thank you goes to him for bringing up the story of the kids who swim to school somewhere in Layag-Layag. Upon hearing it I was really shocked and couldn't believe it. I could even remember asking him countless times if he wasn't making up the story. (It is very true that movements start with the first conversation.)
The other volunteer that I met was the head of the People Power Volunteer Center in Zamboanga City, Dr. Anton Lim.
Upon my return to Manila, I really felt something had to be done to help those kids. And so I shared the story through my Facebook status and asked people what we can do to help these kids. Josiah Go, the marketing guru, immediately responded with an initial P5,000 donation and that practically started the mini-fundraising campaign on Facebook to help the kids of Layag-Layag. Over the next few days, friends and friends of friends "donated" both time in re-posting the donation call and money to the cause (so that we can buy a boat) which came to be known as the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids. So, my third thank you goes to Josiah Go.
My fourth thank you goes to all the initial donors - Manuel Wong, Joshua and Marilyn Go, Howell Cu, Rosanna Llenado, Lerma Advincula, Maximo Joaquin, Butch Jimenez, Jerry Caritan, Cindy Trinidad, Danessa Lu, Josiah and Chiqui Go and Josiah's kids Chase, Juju, Tricia and Calel.
While all these was happening, I also called Anton Lim again to verify the story and also to ask him if he can take on the funds that will be raised so that we can buy those kids a boat. My fifth thank you goes to Anton Lim for accepting the challenge of 'buying' the boat. (I put buying between quotes because we eventually had to build the boat.)
Within one week, we were able to raise P70,000 which we believe was enough to buy those kids the boat. Anton Lim together with his friends also wanted to make sure that the local community in Zamboanga City can play its part. And so they started their own fundraising as well and began looking for a boat.
Unfortunately, boats we could buy (it needed to be big and motorized) were pretty expensive and so we decided to build them a boat instead.
It took quite a while but at last around January 2011, Anton Lim found a boat-maker, Abraham Mawadi, who was also one of the parents in Layag-Layag. My sixth thank you goes to Abraham Mawadi for accepting the boat-building project. And so around the middle of January 2011, they began building the boat. This gratitude extends to all the people who helped Anton find the boat-maker which includes Kagawad Jesse Jamolod. My seventh thank you goes to Tito Gadon of CENRO-DENR who donated their confiscated logs to be used to build the boat.
By early March 2011, the boat was almost finished and Anton and I were discussing the possible name of the boat. Eventually, Anton decided on "Bagong Pag-asa" (New Hope) since the boat is sort of a symbol of this renewed optimism and hope for the kids and for the community of Layag-Layag.
And so on March 27, I went to Layag-Layag for the first time. Together with friends from Tzu Chi Foundation - Zamboanga, we turned over the boat to the community together with donations of blankets, school supplies and school bags. My eight thank you goes to the people behind Tzu Chi Foundation - Zamboanga who truly supports our mission. Some of them who were with us that day were Bryan Yeo, David Luy, Carol Lim, Cristopher Te, Jessica Enriquez, Fely Castillo, Noel Navarro and Cresencia Te. I will forever be grateful for the support that you've shown (as I'm sure the kids also are) the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids and now, the Philippine Funds for Little Kids.
That day was one of the happiest days of my life. As with the belief of Tzu Chi, it is very fulfilling when you have been given the opportunity to help. And indeed, we have been given the opportunity to help a whole of community where there are 200 kids and almost 1,000 households.
After some discussion with Anton and my new-found Tzu Chi friends, we realized our work in Layag-Layag has just began...
Again, thank you to all the donors, supporters, and volunteers of the Philippine Funds for Little Kids - you are all part of the solution!
Many thanks as well to the Zamboanga State College of Marine Science and Technology (ZSCMST) for taking on 12 college scholars from Layag-Layag and Ms Christine Marie Fernandez, Yolynne Medina for teaching our scholars basic computer skills, to Penny Laney from the US, DepEd USec. Lino Rivera for the continuous support in all our efforts, and to Rotary Club of Zamboanga and PP Sixto Kwan for the dental/health missions, DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman for the swift action on including the community into the CCT program, Zamboanga City Health Office, People Power Volunteer Center volunteer Ernie Castillo, and Willy & Maely San Juan for creating a music video about our project.
Special thanks goes to Charlie Villanueva for the video coverage of the boat turn-over last March 27, to Michael Vincent Cajulao of the Philippine Information Agency for the first article on the project, to Danny Macansantos for the interview of Dr. Anton Lim and me on Radyo ng Bayan, to Danny Corteza for his article in the Zamboanga Times, and to the bloggers who first wrote about us: Ubert Cruz, Noemi Dado, Jane Uymatiao, Cocoy Dayao, Karen Ang, Rico Mosesgold, Ria Jose, Dinah Libunao, and Rico Hizon of GoodNewsPilipinas.com.
Special thanks and mention goes to Winston Almendras for celebrating his blog's 5th anniversary (BatangYagit) with a donation call to buy school supplies for the kids of Layag-Layag.
Special thanks also goes to the Associated Press for the international coverage that it brought to the story of Layag-Layag, Facebook for sending a team to create a video story for the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids, Readers Digest Asia for the special feature this October 2011, Luke Perez and Tempest Films' Zap Berenguer & Lester Castor for also creating a video story, USA Today blog, ABS-CBN Bandila, ABS-CBN Umagang Kay Ganda, ANC's Headstart team and Karen Davila, HuffingtonPost, Yahoo! News, Manila Bulletin, Al Jazeera, Planet Philippines, WhenInManila.com and Manila Times for allowing me to be a guest writer, and to all the other bloggers and news organizations that covered us - thank you very much!
Many thanks as well to Col. Pascual of TFC and the whole Task Force Zamboanga team for providing security during our visits.
Just like the story of the Starfish, little things do make a difference...
(This is the first series in my little heroes write up... next stop will be the little heroes in the Masbate Funds for Little Kids)
Why I joined the government last year
I have seen so many changes over the last 2 years. Over the next few weeks, I will be outlining key lessons learned and my experiences starting from becoming part of the campaign in late 2009 to early 2010 and in my stint as the first (being a new unit) New Media Head under the Presidential Communications Operations Office from July 2010 to July 2011.
In late 2009, I resigned my job and volunteered to campaign for Atty. Alex Lacson, who was running for Senator under the team of now President Noynoy Aquino. He is one of my living heroes. He wrote the book entitled "12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country," which promotes the principles of good citizenship. Good citizenship is all about Filipinos helping fellow Filipinos, and in the process building a nation. His book invites all of us to become active participants in nation-building and to become part of the solutions to our country's problems.
A little background
All of us want to make a difference in the world; especially for me who grew up in Mindanao, in Cotabato City in particular, I have always wanted to feel how it is to be in the nation's capital and influence things. And so my journey to Manila began.
I went to college in Davao City and I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in Laguna after I graduated. I was in the private sector for a period of 5 years before deciding I wanted an unconventional career, one that I will be shaping and developing on my own, with help from a few friends. I have always believed that life is what you make of it - close to the saying if life hands you lemons, make a lemonade.
In the middle of 2006, I was fortunate enough to meet Atty. Alex Lacson, who happened to read something I wrote that was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. We met in a coffee shop and talked about our aspirations and dreams for the country. We kept in touch for the next few years and in 2007, when his name was floated as a possible Senatorial candidate, I immediately offered to be part of the volunteers for his campaign. Fortunately, he did not run then. This period allowed me to continue working for an international bank and later on to a fast-moving consumer goods company where I honed my inter-personal, networking, marketing, negotiation and selling skills. Skills that I later learned were quite invaluable.
When Alex Lacson decided to run for the Senate in late 2009, I immediately resigned from my job and offered to help him in his New Media campaign. President Obama's campaign in 2008 already showed us that Social Media now plays a role in elections and though the Philippines lags the US in terms of Internet penetration, there are now 30 million average Internet users per month in the country (a substantial percentage of Filipino voters). And so in December 2009, I joined the small band of volunteers that was to be the Alex Lacson for Senator Movement.
Look who's at the background, taken during Rock the Vote Concert May 2, 2010
It was an enriching campaign (will tell you more in a separate article). I learned a lot of lessons and met a lot of people. I met a lot of wonderful people during the campaign - people who were very passionate in helping build Our Dream Philippines, a country we can all be proud of.
Alex Lacson finished with over 5 million votes. A remarkable feat but it was not enough to land him in the top 12.
In late July 2010, when I was already preparing to go back to the private sector, I was invited to head the New Media unit which was to be created under a new Office of the Press Secretary (now called Presidential Communications Operations Office or PCOO for short). I hesitated at first because I knew working in government would be challenging but I also knew I would probably regret not trying. And so I joined the government in late July 2010 and officially started August 1, 2010; responsible for the Office of the President's official website (http://www.president.gov.ph) and official presence on social networking channels such as Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/presidentnoy) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/presidentnoy), among others.
Launching of www.president.gov.ph last August 16, 2010
It was an opportunity to make a difference for the country and to help introduce the concept of New Media in Public Service/Governance to government agencies (insert ---> footnote in history as the first New Media Head). It has allowed me to touch base with so many people in government and gain insights into how our government works and also how we can help the government.
Over the next few weeks, I will be outlining lessons I've learned and hopefully from the perspective of a former insider, you can also learn why we all need to help each other in building the Philippines we all dream of.
Students no longer ‘swim’ to school, thanks to Facebook
ABS-CBN featured the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids story last June 1, 2011. You can watch the video here:
Students no longer 'swim' to school, thanks to Facebook
