This is the second of a series of articles about the emerging young leaders of the Philippines. In this issue, we featured two emerging young leaders of the Philippines, both of them are Ramon Magsaysay Awardees for Government Service.
The first is a lady Governor of a northern Luzon province and the second, a multi-awarded Mayor of Naga, a progressive city located south of Manila.
Grace Padaca
44 years old
Governor, Isabela Province
Governor Grace Padaca was born on October 25, 1963 in Nagilian, Isabela. Her parents are both teachers. At age 3, Grace was stricken with polio but that did not prevent her from pursuing her studies. Grace graduated valedictorian in grade school and high school and eventually graduated Magna Cum Laude at Lyceum University in Manila in 1984. She later took the board examinations for Certified Public Accountants and passed.
Grace did not allow poverty or her being partially disabled to pursue her desire to succeed. When she was given the opportunity to work as an Accountant at “Radyo Bombo”, a popular radio network, she did her job well. After all, it was a job that was related to her academic training. While working with the radio network, she saw an opportunity to try her skill as broadcaster. She excelled in it and stayed on as a crusading broadcast journalist for almost 20 years. In the intervening years, she received various awards including the “Anchorperson of the year Award” given by radio station.
Governor Padaca's colorful career as a crusading broadcast journalist enabled her to
interact with the people of her province. She was able to ventilate the issues affecting the economic, social and political concerns of the province. Her views on various issues as they affect the lives of her constituents have endeared her to the people of her province. She confronted without let up, the issues on graft and corruption, gambling, widespread poverty and peace and order. Her continued and consistent campaign (through her popular radio program) to bring the relevant issues to the people paid off. In 2001, she made an attempt to validate her popularity when she ran for a congressional seat representing her province. When the votes were tallied, she was winning in most of the municipalities of the province. But when the final tally was announced, she lost by a little over a thousand votes. She knew then that she was cheated. She then initiated an electoral protest but eventually lost by a slim margin of 48 votes.
Her opponent belongs to a family that had a solid grip of the province for over 30 years. Grace knows very well that winning an election in her native province is almost next to impossible. But with the favorable support she got from her constituents as shown in her first attempt to win over the well-entrenched opponent, she lost no time in preparing for another shot for an elected position in her province. This time she wants the governorship. Learning from her experiences during the last congressional election, she made sure that no cheating takes place. She rallied the people to safeguard the electoral process and guard against fraud during the counting of votes. After a series of protests and political maneuverings from her opponents, she was finally proclaimed as the duly elected governor of the province of Isabela in 2004.
Governor Padaca prepared for the difficult job as governor of the province. First thing she did was to quickly neutralize the efforts of the past leadership to sabotage her governorship. She went on to fulfill her electoral promises during her campaigns while giving priorities to farm subsidies, increased budgetary allocations for health and education, reforestation and effective fiscal management. In a short period that she got elected as governor of her province, she was able to pay more than two-thirds of the
provincial government's huge debts.
Her marked accomplishments as governor of the province during her first term, serve as her new weapon in fighting the unrelenting comeback bid of her political adversaries. In 2007, she ran for re-election and won by more than 40,000 votes.
Jesse Robredo
49 years old
Mayor, Naga City, Philippines
Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo was born in Naga City on May 27, 1958. His father, Jose Chan Robredo is half Chinese from Naga City while his mother, Marcelina Manalastas is from Navotas, Rizal who moved to Naga City in the 1950's.
Jesse had his early education from Naga Parochial School, a popular catholic school in Naga city. He pursued his secondary education at the equally popular Ateneo de Naga University. After graduating from High School, he moved to Manila and enrolled at De La Salle University where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and later earned another degree in Industrial Management Engineering in the same University. During the lull in his political career, he went to Harvard University and obtained a Masters Degree in Public Administration.
Armed with two college degrees from a reputable university, Jesse found himself employed by the country's premier food conglomerate, the San Miguel Corporation. There he moved up quickly to executive positions in the company. His employment with the country's biggest corporation gave him the kind of management training that would later serve him well in his entry into the political mainstream.
After serving San Miguel for a few years, he returned to his roots in Naga City where his uncle, the former Governor of Camarines Sur, asked him to head the Bicol River Development Project. This was after Jesse was exposed to the atrocities of the Marcos era that lead to the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino. He would later join street protests that eventually installed Cory Aquino as the country's President.
In 1988, he tried his hand in politics. He launched his candidacy to become the youngest mayor of Naga City. He joined the electoral exercise and won at a young age of 29. His assumption into that office marked the beginning of a consistent and continued progress of the city. During his incumbency, he introduced radical measures and streamlined the city bureaucracy to achieve his short to medium-term development agenda. Because of the unprecedented progress of the city, Mayor Robredo was unbeatable in every election exercise that was conducted to challenge his leadership.
Mayor Robredo's success in transforming the impoverish city into one of the best managed cities not only in the Philippines but the whole of Asia, earned for him and the country as well, the coveted the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service.
Jesse Robredo's success in steering the city into what it is today can be attributed to his youth and exceptional leadership quality. But much of his ability to effectively lead his team of city government officials, both elected and appointed, could be traced to his adequate academic preparation as well as his honesty and dedication to the service for his own constituency.
