Last August 25th, I was humbly honored to be one of the awardees of GAWAD BAYANING MINDANAOAN as OUTSTANDING EXECUTIVE, BEST IN PUBLIC SERVICE by the Asian Institute of Humanitarian Development, Inc. on its 38th Anniversary Celebration in commemoration of the National Heroes Day held at Hotel Uno, Davao City. At the same time as Guest Speaker. Below is the transcript of my speech. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim… Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. Respected officers and members of the Asian Institute of Humanitarian Development, Inc., fellow awardees, guests, gentlemen and ladies… A pleasant evening to all. Indeed! It is an honor to be a guest speaker on this modest yet historic event let alone as one of the recipients of the dignified award – the “Gawad Bayaning Mindanoans Award”. At the outset, allow me to extend my heartfelt congratulation and felicitation to the awardees, present or otherwise. Likewise, my deepest gratitude and warmest congratulation to the Asian Institute of Humanitarian Development, Inc. for unselfishly spending their time, effort, and money to vigorously search for the deserving awardees like you. For this, they deserve a round of applause! Another big round of applause for ourselves, too, the ‘UNSUNG HEROES’ of beloved Mindanao! I believe, this recognition will add value to who we are now and certainly encourage us to work even harder in our respective field of specializations, for the “best motivation is recognition” according to one quotation. This should, nonetheless, not diminish our sense of sincerity and commitment at the very least that we are doing something for the sake of God first and foremost so that our efforts as public servants will not go into waste, morally and spiritually speaking. Our theme for tonight event as indicated in the scan copy of symbolic plaque of appreciation I received via email is: Makadiyos, Makatao at Makabayan, and if I may add Makakalikasan as well to make it comprehensive and holistic. Actually, all our actions as public servants must anchored on these four (4) core values. On this note, let me deal with them one by one or interchangeably and do my very best to connect it to public service given the fact that we are all public servants as we ought to be. In crafting our curriculum on madrasah education known as Standard Madrasah Curriculum (SMC) in the Bureau of Madaris Education, DepEd – ARMM, we see to it that the above core values are included. We formulated the following as our key learning areas, to wit: Hubbullah (Love of God), Hubbul Insaniyyah (Love of human being), Hubbul Watan (Love of Country), and Hubbul Bi’ah (Love of Environment). Filipinos in general, whether Muslims or Christians and other faiths, are said to be relatively religious. I mean to say, we love to do something for the sake of God. The fact is many of us spent a lot of time, effort, and money in the name of religion and public service. Some even go to the extent of sacrificing their families and lives for the sake of what they believe as part of their beliefs, notwithstanding its consequences. A few good examples are the national heroes such as Dr. Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, and others who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom and independence. Among moros, we also have heroes, too, who, unfortunately, did not given much attention by the historians in writing the history of our country except maybe for the few. Nevertheless, my dear fellow human being, our belief and principle must not bring us to the extreme right nor to the extreme left. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The best thing is in between.” A verse in the Holy Qur’an also states that Allah, the Almighty says: “We created you a balanced nation (ummatan wasata’)…” it goes without saying that extremism has no room in our belief. As such, in practicing our respective belief and rendering public service, we should not go beyond what is required of us of our religion. In the Islamic point of view, whatever we do we should always be guided by the principle of “ikhlas” and “sabar” which means sincerity and patience. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said: “Actions are but by intentions and every man (and woman as well) shall have but that which he (or she) intended.” (Bukhari and Muslim) In the same vein, Allah, the Almighty substantiated it in the Holy Qur’an when He says: “And they have been commanded to worship Allah, being sincere towards Him in their religion (deen) and true.” (Surah al-Bayyinah, 98:5) On the other hand, patience is our best weapon against any adversities in our public service for God is with those who are persistently persevere and endure in time of hardships. Allah, the Almighty says: “Exercise patience; Allah is with those who have patience.” (Surah al-Anfal 8: 46) In another verse, Allah will reward those who are patient when He said: “Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure.” (Surah az-Zumar 39:10) Our sincerity and patience coupled with commitment to serve God alone will lead us to serving our fellow with all our hearts and minds. Prophet Muhammad also said: “If you do something for the sake of Allah, it will be long lasting. However, if it is for the sake of anything other than Him, e.g. fame and glory, it will be short living.” Serving fellows could be done in different ways. In the ARMM for example, the present administration led by RG MUJIV S. HATAMAN embarked on ARMM HELPS program since 2012. ARMM HELPS stands for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Security, and Synergy or convergence among the different agencies and other stakeholders. Due to lack of time, I will not anymore delve with them one by one. I would, instead, like to talk a little bit of our department, the Department of Education (DepED-ARMM). For the information of everybody, more than 60% of ARMM Annual Budget goes to DepEd. Our very own DepEd Secretary, Atty. Jamar M. Kulayan, used to say “It is but natural for us to maximize our reform in DepEd given the fact that DepEd eats up the biggest share of ARMM budget. If we can institute reform in DepEd we practically solved more than half of ARMM problems.” Along this line, DepEd ARMM instituted reforms on: fiscal, personnel, data, leadership and management, among others. It is a public knowledge that DepEd ARMM before was known for “GHOST”. Ghost pupils go to ghost schools passing through ghost bridges and taught by ghost teachers, as mentioned by Pres. Noynoy Aquino in his 2012 SONA. Even the Bureau of Madaris Education (BME) which is supposed the mirror of ARMM in terms of religious and spiritual aspects is not exempted from such anomaly. You might be surprised to know that almost 100 ulama (Muslim scholars) are ghosts under the BME before, with a salary of 7,500.00 pesos each in addition to itemized ghost teachers receiving 15 - 17, 000.00 pesos basic monthly salary in DepEd not to mention the other benefits such as bonuses. With the assumption into office of the Reform Team led by RG MUJIV S. HATAMAN in December 2011, DepEd Reform Team headed by Sec. Jamar M. Kulayan was very successful in reforming the department. Last year, 4 ghost schools and 50 ghost entries in payroll discovered. This year 76, 000 ghost enrolment arrested and 20 personnel with fake Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) terminated. Currently, Learner’s Information System (LIS) and Learner’s Reference Number (LRN) are put in place. Next will be Biometric Scan to ensure quality data related to enrolment. Two regional and one division heads who were involved in anomalies were dismissed from the roll. My dear friends, these are just some of the issues and challenges we encountered and at the same time the reform we instituted in ARMM particularly in DepEd. We are aware of the fact that a lot of things are yet to be done. Anomalies and corruption in ARMM has been there for decades. In fact, I used to describe it as “Organized and Syndicated Corruption.” So we cannot solve it overnight. We, the Reform Team of the ARMM present administration consider our fight against corruption as “Jihad”. And we know for the fact that jihad against evil such as corruption and other form of anomalies is a life long struggle as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned in his hadith when he said: “al-Jihadu madin ilal yawmil qiyamah.” (Fighting against all forms of evil, e.g injustice, corruption, etc. will continue until the end of time). Corruption at present has actually become a lucrative business not only in the regional level, but more so at the national level. The truth of the matter is that, corruption in LGUs and in the region is just a tip of ice Berge. I remember an article that I read recently which says “The real crocodiles are actually found in the House of Congress - the lower and the upper houses and other national line agencies.” The dignified law making body has now become not only a laughing-stock but a “mocking-stock” as well. The House of Congress is now dubbed as a ‘House of Corruption’ and House of Representatives become a ‘House of Representa-THIEVES’ due to the current “Pork Barrel Scam” allegedly orchestrated by certain Janet Lim Napoles. Some say that Napoles is just a pawn. The ‘BIG FISH’ is yet to be discovered. As good and dedicated public servants, we can hardly accept such degrading and unseemly allegations. But we can do nothing because the evidence shows otherwise. It was said that at least 10B pesos involved in this scam. This 10B can actually construct more or less 8, 000 two-storey school buildings. That is why our appeal is that re-channel pork barrel to education, health, livelihood, peace and security and other social services. Public service is supposed to be serving the interest of the public rather than vested interest. Public servants must give what is due to the constituents. In fact, we must be willing to share our personal blessings to the rest of the people if we are truly public servants. However, how can we be able to do that if what is supposedly be given to the constituents are taken indiscriminately? We have this popular joke in Tausug dialect which says: “In kaku’ kaku’ ra, in kaymu kaku’ pa” which means “Mine is still mine, and yours is mine, too.” If this is the kind of mentality that we have especially our leaders, how can we expect development, peace and progress in our community? Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (Allah be pleased with him), the 1st Caliph of Islam, used to be a businessman and owned big establishments before his appointment as ‘Khalifah’ (Caliph) at the time. Yet, he owns not even one after sometime because he utilized his money for the welfare of the general public. He became poor instead of becoming richer until he died. It was said that Abu Bakr did not leave anything behind from his wealth as inheritance for his family when he passed away. Abu Bakr performed well in his duties and responsibilities as ruler. He did everything for the welfare of his constituents keeping in mind that he will be questioned by Almighty God in the Day of Judgment. He was mindful of the fact that Prophet Muhammad made it clear when he says: “All of you are shepherds, and each one is responsible for his flock. A leader of people is a shepherd and responsible for them. A man is like a shepherd over his family, and he is responsible for his flock. A woman is like a shepherd over her husband’s house and children, and she is responsible for them. And a slave is a guardian of his master’s property and is responsible for it. So all of you are guardians and are responsible for your charges.” (Bukhari and Muslim) On the contrary, let us try to examine what kind of leaders that we have at present. Who controls the businesses in our community? Who owns the big and beautiful houses in our locality? Who has the new model 4 - Wheel in our country every now and then?, Montero, Mercedes Benz, and Hi Lux to name a few. It is now up to you to give answers to these questions because you know better than I when it comes to what is happening in your own communities. What is alarming is instead of protecting the life of its constituents some of them became an instruments of destruction in the communities. For instance, illegal logging and mining, reports show that a couple of them are involved in such activities whether as operators or as protectors, accordingly. Why? Because there is huge, big, and a lot of money involved in it at the expense of the safety and the welfare of the people. Mother Nature should be preserved and protected for they have their own life, albeit they do not have a soul like us human beings. In my opinion, Islam considers everything in this world as living things. In the language of the Holy Qur’an, Allah, the Almighty says: “The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a single thing except that it exalts Allah by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, Allah is ever Forbearing and Forgiving.” (Surah al-Isra’ 17: 44) In addition, nature also brings benefits to the human being as science has proven it. My point, ladies and gentlemen is, everything in this world is interconnected with one another. We need nature and other creatures as much as nature and other creatures need us. I would like to reiterate, as public servants, we have to align our service with the core values stipulated above. In conclusion, we really have moral and spiritual problems now-a-days. ‘Moral decadence’ as some people calls it. As if we do not already have moral ascendancy to govern the constituents. These problems, I believe are engraved in the hearts and minds of many if not all. Not just with the leaders, but to include some so-called educated people and ordinary people as well. For instance, during election time, vote buying and terrorizing are rampant especially in the poverty-stricken and war-torn areas. What we should do now? We may have different approaches as we belong to different field of specializations. But, I guess, everyone agrees if I say, we must do something as opposed to doing nothing. We don’t want evil triumphs over goodness because we are all affected. Edmund Burke once said: “The only way for the evil to triumph is for the good people to do nothing.” And if I may to paraphrase the saying of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) when he said: “The one who kept silent for the truth is like a dump-mute satan.” In doing so, nonetheless, we should not go beyond with the “principle of moderation” as mention earlier. We should not resort to violence for violence begets nothing but violence. Let us be proactive rather than reactive. Let us be adamant but it should be coupled with adroit and courteousness. Anyhow, those involved in scam and other corruptions at all levels, be it local, regional, and national must not be tolerated even he/she belongs to the same party or organization. Fairness and justice should be true to all regardless of who we are. The principle of “No one is above the law” must be upheld after due process of law. In one hand, one of the many things we must do is to return back to what our respective beliefs tells us to do. In other words, we need more than ever moral transformation and spiritual enlightenment. Lastly, let us not be duped by those who claim that he/she wanted to become a leader to render public service. However, in due time public service turned into a self or family service. The fact is, you often hear words such as: my PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) or pork barrel, my IRA means Internal Revenue Allotment for LGUs (Local Government Units), my MOOE means Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses for the head of agencies, with the exception of some of course. In choosing our leaders we should be guided by our conscience and good intention not by the dictates of necessities. Finally and in closing, let me quote a beautiful prayer from the Holy Qur’an that runs this way: "My Lord, grant me wisdom and include me with the righteous. Let the example I set for the next generation be a good one. Make me one of the inheritors of the blissful Paradise." (Surah Ash-Shura, 83-85) Let us all remember as leaders and public servants that Almighty Lord will not ask us on the Day Hereafter what positions do we possessed. Instead, the biggest question is: ‘What have we done with our positions?’ Thank you so much for listening and for your indulgence. May Almighty Allah guide us always to the straight path.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:42:26 +0000
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