While most people in the country were busy enjoying the long All Saints' and All Souls' Days weekend or coping with Typhoon Santi, about 20 people, mostly college students and other young adults, gathered at the Barangay Loyola Heights covered courts on Monday evening to join the launch of what they consider as a tool for change: the “Noy It Forward" movement.Organized by the Youth for Noynoy (Yo!Noy!), the movement aims to contribute to the election campaign of Senators Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III and Manuel “Mar" Roxas II – the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Liberal Party – by recruiting 100,000 volunteers in a span of 100 days.
Youth for Noynoy is the youth arm of PiNoy Power, an organization that has been working for the electoral campaign of Aquino and Roxas since they confirmed their candidacy last September.
'One should recruit three'
Karl Satinitigan, Yo!Noy! area manager for the National Capital Region (NCR), explains that each volunteer is encouraged to recruit at least three of his or her friends until the target is reached.
Satinitigan says that the recruits would not only serve as campaign volunteers, but also as poll watchers in the May 2010 elections. The volunteers would also be oriented to ensure that the reform agenda is sustained beyond 2010 “no matter who wins in the presidential elections."
“Honestly," Satinitigan says, “we need to be ambitious (because) 100,000 is a minimum to ensure that every precinct has a poll watcher, that every family (or) barangay is informed when it comes to implementing actual platforms."
He also says the groups supporting Aquino and Roxas should not be complacent even if their candidates usually top the presidential and vice presidential surveys, because there are so many vying for the two highest posts in the country.
The youth will be the main target of the strategy, he explains, primarily because the outcome of next year’s elections would greatly affect this sector, adding that it is also the youth that has the idealism to actually effect change for the betterment of the country.
“Tayo yung hindi pa masyadong jaded, tayo yung idealistic pa. (We’re the ones not yet too jaded, we’re the ones still with idealism.) We wanted to turn that idealism into something concrete and meaningful," he says.
School chapters to be formed
Erick Reyes, 32, one of those who attended the Noy It Forward launching, told GMANews.TV that he showed up at the event because he believes that Noynoy Aquino is “the change" that the country needs.
Among the presidential candidates, Reyes explains, only Aquino has “the credibility and the integrity" to lead the nation.
A teacher by profession, Reyes plans to recruit people initially by informing his students and their parents. “Pag hindi sila pumayag, ibabagsak ko sila (If they don’t agree, I’ll fail them)," he says in jest.
Aside from using the Internet, Satinitigan says the group plans to further spread the word by forming chapters in schools where people can volunteer. These chapters would likewise serve the district where the particular school is located.
“For example, in UP (University of the Philippines), hindi lang sila magfo-focus sa UP students but sa district na ‘yon ng Quezon City (they will not just focus on UP students but on that whole district of Quezon City)," he explains.
'Time, energy, ideas'
Harvey Keh, lead convenor of Kaya Natin, a movement advocating ethical leadership and supporting PiNoy Power, clarifies that the volunteers are not required to pay anything. Instead, a volunteer is required to invest their “time, energy and ideas."
“For example, they can write about Noy on their blogs, on Facebook. It's the language of the young," Keh says. “They can also invest time in terms of going precincts to watch the votes."
Keh exudes confidence about the role of the youth in fueling the Aquino-Roxas campaign. “I’m sure a lot of young people want to be involved," he says. “It's really just giving them the opportunity to become part of the change that we all want to see."
To register, a volunteer will need to submit his or her name, city or municipality of residence, mobile number, and the email addresses of his or her three recruits to noyitforward@gmail.com.
Each recruit will then have to register online at http://pipolpower.org or http://youthfornoy.ph or by texting the following: PIPOL POWER NIF < name >, < city of residence >, < email address >, < name of recruiter >, /NIF and sending it to 2966.
Satinitigan says that an online mosaic of the volunteers will be updated weekly by the core group to show the progress of the campaign. – Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176246/noy-it-forward-aiming-for-100000-in-100-days
its very saddening that the voters gauge the Prez candidates on their popularity not on their ability.
ReplyDelete