iamninoy: Beyond Phase 1
Speech by Rapa Lopa, 24 Nov 2009, DLSU

On August 21 last year, we commemorated the 25th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. by launching a youth-oriented campaign entitled, iamninoy. We deemed it an opportune time to introduce Ninoy to new generations of Filipinos.

Over the past year, iamninoy has had a hugely successful run, exceeding all our expectations. And for that we’d like to thank all of you for taking part in the campaign in one way or another.

With us today are representatives of our iamninoy communities, our retail partners and their beneficiaries, as well as future program partners.

Thanks to your participation, patronage and support, we have succeeded in bringing Ninoy Aquino and what he stood for to the consciousness of present-day generations of Filipinos. The myriad expressions of day-to-day heroism have been heartwarming. Many of you have posted blogs, letters, videos, and other expressions of commitment to—and admiration for—selfless heroism.

With so many of you purchasing iamninoy shirts, ties, scarves, bags and other merchandise, we have raised over P2 million in support of our retail partners’ various causes.  Just to cite a few examples, Bench has been able to raise funds for RMD Foundation, enabling them to treat 20 indigent breast cancer patients. Penshoppe has used proceeds from sales to help Children’s Hour provide Grade 2 manuals and workbooks for all teachers and 2,079 students in Alabel, Sarangani. Analog Soul has been of great help to HapagAsa Feeding Program, providing enough funds to cover the meals of 41 malnourished kids for six months. The T-Shirt Project is donating part of its sales proceeds to Tulong Dunong to help defray the cost of books, school supplies, uniforms and transportation allowances of 135 chosen scholars.

Also thanks to many of you, two of our special projects have been very well received. “Ako Si Ninoy”—a production of Philippine Stagers Foundation which was recently cited as Best Musical in the 2009 Aliw Awards—has been seen by thousands of students from dozens of public and private schools. “The Last Journey of Ninoy”, a documentary about Ninoy Aquino co-produced by Unitel, has also been viewed by thousands of Filipinos.

Your collective response has been so enthusiastic and overwhelming that midway through the campaign, we made a strategic decision to elevate iamninoy into a movement that would be the centerpiece youth program of the Aquino Foundation. Were it not for the failing health of President Cory Aquino, the Foundation’s chair emeritus, August 2009 would have marked the launch of iamninoy, Phase 2. With her passing, we were again overwhelmed—this time by the tremendous outpouring of affection and thanksgiving and by the spontaneous rush of volunteers and donors who greatly eased the physical and logistical burden that the wake and the funeral entailed. The Filipino people came out to reciprocate the love and sacrifices that she so generously offered the nation. In this light, we have deemed it more appropriate to launch Phase 2 on January 25, 2010, her 77th birthday, as iamninoy-iamcory.

Let me pause at this point to formally unveil the new logo of the movement. As you can see, we have built on the familiar iamninoy logo. This is because the movement remains animated by the democratic vision of Ninoy Aquino, which President Cory herself embraced during and after her presidency in the form of people empowerment. Aside from the iamcory graphic element, a powerful symbol has been added: the yellow ribbon.

To those who might not know the story behind the yellow ribbon, let me recount it very briefly. When Ninoy Aquino was set to come home on August 21, 1983, his siblings and colleagues in the opposition wanted to welcome him with the popular American country song about a man who just got out of prison and asked his wife to tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree outside their home if she still loved him. To complete the festive atmosphere, the welcoming party tied yellow ribbons around trees and lamp posts along the airport route and along Times Street where Ninoy lived. As you all know, he was killed at the airport and never got to see those yellow ribbons.

The color yellow thus came to symbolize his ultimate sacrifice, which brought the Filipino people out of the prison of fear and apathy. It became the dominant motif during opposition rallies and during the presidential campaign of his wife Cory, when yellow confetti would rain down from the top of buildings. Ultimately, yellow became the color of courage and defiance against the dictatorship, ushering in a new dawn of freedom and democracy. During President Cory’s wake and funeral, yellow ribbons fluttered anew in celebration of her own quiet heroism.

Both Ninoy and Cory Aquino embodied the spirit of sacrifice that is demanded of each of us as the potential heroes of our time. And it is in this spirit that we hope to engage you, the youth, on a deeper level through the iamninoy-iamcory movement. You can still help some of our disadvantaged fellow Filipinos indirectly by buying our generous partners’ new lines of merchandise. We also urge you to continue posting your stories, reflections and photos on modern-day heroism on our website and through your social networks. But beyond these, we are forging new partnerships that would open avenues for you to make a difference along any one of five levers of change:

• Governance – because our democracy would flourish only if we can nurture selfless public servants and empowered citizens;
• Livelihood – because we need to find long-term solutions to the persistent cycle of poverty and outmigration that is sapping the strength of our nation;
• Education – because quality access to a world of opportunities should be fully open to future generations of Filipinos;
• the Environment – because we need to foster more responsible stewardship of our natural habitat if we hope to survive the fearsome effects of climate change; and
• Health – because we won’t get very far as a nation if most of our people are malnourished or prone to disease.

Over the next two months, we will be exploring modes of youth engagement with various groups and networks with existing programs and advocacies along these five levers of change. With their help and with the participation of some of you among our youth communities, we hope to organize a strategic planning session soon to flesh out how young Filipinos can contribute meaningfully to programs in these core areas.

In the meantime, I enjoin you to watch out for developments through www.iamninoy.com and to continue posting your comments, insights and suggestions.

Before closing, allow me to address a legitimate concern that has been expressed within some of our communities. Their concern is that iamninoy might be turned into a political platform for Noynoy Aquino. In response, I want to assure you that there is no such intention to make iamninoy-iamcory a partisan movement, as that would be totally at odds with the spirit of selfless heroism that gave life to the original campaign. While Noy might derive much benefit from the goodwill generated by the memory of his parents, the movement can also be a reminder of the ideals of Ninoy and Cory Aquino which every leader should emulate. And if you truly believe in iamninoy-iamcory, I invite you to measure all the candidates in the 2010 elections—including Noynoy—by that high standard.

On that note, I’d like to thank all of you once again for continuing to be the lifeblood of the movement. Mabuhay ang iamninoy-iamcory! Mabuhay kayong lahat! Maraming salamat po!