WHEN THE STARS CONSPIRE

WHEN THE STARS CONSPIRE….

This is the time of the year when people are seemingly cool-headed about everything… No hot heads, no shot-up blood pressures, no screaming and cursing. At least, just this time of the year, I’ll try to join the crowd.

This time of the year, I’m putting aside bad blood between me and the Ombudsman. In fact, I'd like to thank A.O. (Acting Ombudsman) Mark Jalandoni and Tandobayan Merceditas Gutierrez for their ill-willed motives and distastefully-planned put-down operations against the Transparency and Accountability Network. If there’s anyone who had benefited (I think/ I believe) from these moves, it was I. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I believe that the stars conspire to let things happen in the most unusual and strange way. I call this Divine Intervention or a MIRACLE! I guess there’s no other way to put it especially if your most criticized 'nemesis' plays an important role and makes the most significant contribution to your blessings! I think this is what just had happened to me this year - a miracle!

I applied for a British Chevening scholarship early this year. It was a really long-shot deal for me. But what the heck, it’s worth the try especially since, the ‘mayabang’ me would like to believe that I’m an emerging leader and an opinion-former in the formative stages of my career. Naks! (with a bit of disgust in my tone).

To my mind, my main ticket to the Chevening scholarship is the Transparency and Accountability Network and my being an young leader in the network. TAN is a network of 23 organizations from different sectors involved in anti-corruption work. TAN's anti-corruption cause has been highly esteemed especially because it is not political. As Project Coordinator of TAN, I am very privileged to be part of the whole scheme of trying to change things for the better in the name of transparency and accountability, and ultimately towards good governance.

The long and short of it, PERHAPS because of the cause I embrace and the organization I’m affiliated with, I qualified for interview (November 22). The interview panelists asked me to explain to them what TAN is because they haven’t heard of it. I thought: That’s it for me… TAN is a non-entity! And I’m supposed to be banking on my affiliation with TAN and my being an emerging leader in the network.

Then, about the same period as the panelists were probably deliberating on who from the 20 individuals (out of 200+ applicants) who qualified for interview will become final nominees for the British Chevening scholarship, the Ombudsman made the biggest faux pax. The Ombudsman blocked the participation of TAN to the UN Convention Against Corruption Conference of State Parties in Amman, Jordan. The Philippines’ first official act as a state party to the UNCAC was to block an NGO from participating contrary to the Convention’s spirit. An article in the Convention on CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION is in effect breached, violated and completely disregarded by the Philippines.

The Philippines, being the only state party to have blocked a civil society organization to participate, obviously got the international attention it did not want. The Philippines received some beating from various international non-government organizations including the UK-based Global Unions Against Corruption (UNICORN) because of this badly thought move. For this stupid and immature action by the Ombudsman, TAN became an overnight star – many international NGOs sympathized with TAN and wrote the UNODC for the lifting of the block against TAN. The TAN Executive Director - Vincent Lazatin - felt like a rock star in the COSP where everyone in the Civil Society Event seemed to know him. Vincent was even unanimously voted to deliver a speech before the COSP to talk about the importance of civil society participation in anti-corruption initiatives.

Overnight, TAN became known… And to my mind, insofar as the Chevening ‘competition’ is concerned, I’m back in the game.

Last December 20, I got a letter from the Britsh Embassy and it said:

Congratulations! You are one of the final nominees for a Chevening Scholarship Award for 2007 – 2008.

If indeed, my theory in this write-up did it for me, my many thanks to Acting Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni and Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez! Thank you so much - This is yet the best Christmas gift I have received. Thank you!