Great Filipinos Exposed

Great Filipinos exposed 
READ NOW By J. Vincent Sarabia Ong

With the recent level of Filipino media gunk rising and its content reaching a new low, St. Paul nailed it on the head when he said we must “drown evil in an abundance of good.” Fortunately for us, thanks to a group of young entrepreneurs, the word “Filipino” on the web is not Googled, tagged and associated only with terms such as singer, boxer or the song Careless Whisper. Instead of providing us videos that make us scratch our heads and say “Why?” these yuppies have pooled their resources together to give us online content that inspires us to do good as Filipinos and say “Why Not?”

I’m talking about the WhyNot? Forum spearheaded by social entrepreneur Mark Ruiz. Aside from his unmistakable white glasses, he is the board director of Rags2Riches and managing director of Microventures that manages Hapinoy. The WhyNot? Forum is an event already in its sixth run and features various inspiring Filipino speakers — from the three women who climbed Mt. Everest to Mr. Pagsi, an 80-year-old teacher who has been teaching first year high school English for 50-plus years. Among the other 31 speakers featured, this list includes corporate big wig Mon Isberto of Smart Communications, shoe designer Brian Tenoro, Jesuit priest Fr. Ted Gonzales, Senator Kiko Pangilinan and RockEd’s Gang Badoy who ad-libbed her eloquent speech when her computer presentation wouldn’t open.

Yet, the magic of WhyNot? is that these talks (inspired by the TED Talks in the US) are not just for a live audience. They are recorded and uploaded for free viewing in their website for Filipinos to follow the WhyNot? mantra of “Think New Thoughts. Share Big Dreams. Do Brave Things.” Thus inspiring Filipinos to unleash their ingenuity.

The First Step Is To Ask Why

Before leaping into WhyNot?, Mark Ruiz had the question “Why?” in his head. Already known for his speaking engagements, Mark was invited to a small school. He was shocked when they told him that he might not be able to speak because they couldn’t raise the P1,000 honorarium for him. This honorarium issue raised various questions in his head such as “Why are privileged people allowed to be exposed to great talks or ideas?” and “Why does it have to cost P10,000 to attend a conference of business gurus?” and “Why do you have to be in Manila to hear an engaging talk?” As an avid fan of TED Talk videos that feature remarkable Americans online, Mark then dared to ask, back in August 2007, “Why not do a TED with Filipino flavor?”

With his birthday only a month away on September 17, Mark, armed with his laptop already primed with a WhyNot? presentation, pitched the idea to his fellow social entrepreneurs friend Bam Aquino (his Microventures partner) and Carlo Calimon who works at R.A Gapuz Nursing review center to help him out as a birthday gift. They agreed to say “Why not?” and the first WhyNot? Forum was held in Warehouse 135 on September 27. It was an unexpected success as the people poured in to hear seven speakers deliver their WhyNot? despite the rain and UAAP basketball finals at the same time.

Yet, Mark and Carlo share that the first WhyNot? was a P100,000 ragtag production, like a high school project with glitches and all. So, on their third WhyNot? on education held at Mag:Net Cafe, they brought events specialist and managing director of One Asia Touchpoint Jan Chavez-Arceo to watch in awe and become a WhyNut herself to help with more sponsors. The stories of Tony Lopez and how he reinvented University of Makati and 80-year-old Mr. Pagsi captivated her; she soon became the group’s events organizer and secret weapon. Soon, they rounded out the crew with logistics head Angeli Ko and Timi Gomez to inspire Filipinos everywhere.

Be A WhyNut

The last WhyNot? Forum held in Tiendesitas on urban tribes had some freakshow fanfare as it was attended by various “whynuts” in Manila such as comic creators, costume fantatics in Star Trek getup, travel junkies and reggae lovers. When asked how the group would be able to top the last WhyNot? or even better it, they were hush-hush about the next topic. Mark hinted at radical plans such as holding one in a cemetery or another unusual venue. Jan Arceo says she tells the group to dream big and she’ll see how to fit it in the budget.

Asked what’s on their WhyNot wish list, Angeli Ko said she would like to speak about her passion for travel. Mark would focus on WhyNot itself. Jan Arceo was the most ambitious, saying she wanted to round up Filipino scientists abroad and bring them back to Manila to speak. Carlo, meanwhile, dreams of sharing his views on education.

After my interview with the “WhyNuts,” I was able to watch the rest of WhyNot talks online. The magical energy of each one, I learned, lies not in the oratory tricks used or the flashiness of their PowerPoint presentations, but in the fact that the speakers talk from the heart and with character. As Mr. Pagsi said in his own WhyNot talk, “When the heart speaks, there are no questions asked.” This is true for each video; they leave us in awe about how great the Filipino can be.

This is why I can’t help but ask, “Why are we so bent on spreading how bad the Filipino can be?” We need to first quit reading about and spreading the indiscretions of our own countrymen in media scandals and the like. Then, let us do our best to spread the good news in our blogs, twitter messages and Facebook pages. It is a matter of clicking away from the usual sleaze and doing our part to say “Why not view something better?”

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WhyNot? Forum website @ http://www.whynotforum.com.


-Good to know we have young entrepreneurs helping to push us forward! 

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