In Rappler’s city corridor, Dumaguete reveals up for reality, youth, and accountability

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Darkish clouds hung low over Dumaguete Metropolis on Thursday, February 5. Storm warnings flashed throughout telephones all morning. Lessons had been suspended, however places of work remained open, as phrase unfold that Tropical Storm Basyang (Penha) might make landfall within the Negros Island Area the following day.

Although the storm was not but upon the town, mild rain had begun to fall. It will have been affordable, sensible, even, to remain residence.

However folks confirmed up anyway.

They made their strategy to Silliman College for Rappler’s #CorruptionWatch city corridor, moving into Silliman Corridor with umbrellas and hair nonetheless damp from mild rain. The room wasn’t grand. No stage lights. No spectacle. Simply rows of chairs slowly filling with group leaders, pupil organizers, school, and some authorities officers who selected dialog over warning.

The city corridor panelists had been composed of Dumaguete Metropolis Councilor Renz Macion; engineer Greg Uymatiao Jr, chairperson of the Negros Oriental Enterprise Improvement Basis; Monsignor Christian Durango, vicar basic of the Diocese of Dumaguete; Shamah Bulangis, co-founder of the Visayas LBQ Community and Women Congress; and Karl James Villarmea, co-convenor of anti-corruption group Singgit Katilingban.

A middle-aged skilled slipped right into a seat, firm ID nonetheless hanging from his neck. A gaggle of scholars huddled collectively, whispering about an upcoming examination. An aged man adjusted his cap earlier than sitting down beside a school undergraduate. Volunteers launched themselves to first-time attendees, who admitted they weren’t positive what to anticipate — solely that one thing in them stated they need to be there.

Exterior, the sky darkened. Inside, the room grew hotter.

The discussion board itself was unadorned. No dramatic declarations. No political grandstanding. Simply folks talking plainly about public cash, about belief, about what accountability ought to appear to be in a metropolis that prides itself on being considerate and close-knit.

However because the dialog unfolded, it grew to become clear this wasn’t nearly corruption. It was about generations attempting to grasp one another.

Channeling youth vitality

The presence of Gen Z and millennial college students was unattainable to overlook. They had been alert, leaning ahead, telephones sometimes out to take notes. There was urgency of their appears to be like — impatience, even — but in addition hope. Nobody doubted their ardour. The actual query, raised greater than as soon as, was what to do with it.

“How can we channel that vitality?” lawyer Golda Benjamin requested through the open discussion board. Gender rights activist and panelist Shamah Bulangis, in response, additionally requested: how can we hold it from burning out earlier than it turns into actual change?

Older contributors nodded. Some will need to have recalled their very own days of activism, when organizing meant hand-lettered posters and lengthy in-person conferences. Clearly, there was no hostility within the trade. As an alternative, there was one thing gentler — an try and bridge.

The older technology will need to have puzzled tips on how to mentor with out overpowering, whereas the youthful requested tips on how to lead with out being deserted. Beneath all of it was a shared recognition: youth engagement can’t run on reward alone. It requires funding, institutional help, protected areas to satisfy, grants for pupil initiatives, and logistical backing for group initiatives. Vitality, everybody appeared to agree, have to be protected, not drained for optics.

After which, a historical past teacher from St. Paul College Dumaguete, Penn Larena, stated what many had been considering: gatherings like this are “uncommon.”

A number of attendees remarked how uncommon it felt to take a seat in a room the place college students, professionals, and officers might converse immediately to one another with out hostility, with out theatrics. It appeared Dumagueteños “don’t get this usually.” Many had been used to having it on-line or “one-sided.” One junior highschool school member from Don Bosco, Jara Carballo, seen the city corridor as “a pause button” — an area the place folks might really hear throughout generations as an alternative of arguing in remark sections.

In a metropolis usually labeled as laid-back, even sleepy, that afternoon revealed one thing else: a quiet starvation for actual dialogue — not performative outrage, not rigorously staged applause, simply dialog — imperfect, generally uncomfortable, however sincere.

Connection greater than content material

Throughout her opening handle, Silliman College president Betty McCann captured why Rappler had come. Journalism, she stated, is just not solely about reporting occasions however about empowering folks with information, context, and braveness.

She posed questions that hung within the air lengthy after she completed talking: How can we discern reality? How can we take part responsibly? How can we maintain leaders and ourselves accountable whereas staying respectful and hopeful?

By then, the wind exterior had grown louder.

Inside, one thing steadier had fashioned. College students stayed of their seats. Elders listened intently. Individuals who had by no means spoken to one another earlier than exchanged ideas as neighbors, not opponents.

As Basyang edged nearer, Dumagueteños selected presence over consolation. They selected to speak about corruption, sure, but in addition about burnout, mentorship, funding, and the accountability of supporting the very youth so usually praised in speeches but not often resourced.

Contained in the corridor, a unique form of pressure took form: a group attempting, nonetheless imperfectly, to satisfy one another midway.

Ultimately, love for a metropolis didn’t look dramatic. It regarded like damp umbrellas by the door. Like IDs nonetheless hanging from necks. Like college students and seniors sharing a row. Like folks taking their seats and deciding that the dialog was value staying for. – Rappler.com

Gemma Minda Iso is a Rappler civic engagement volunteer, or Mover, in Dumaguete Metropolis, and at present writes a column for the Dumaguete Metro Publish. She can also be a useful artwork creator who dabbles with driftwood and co-manages a company devoted to preserving and celebrating tradition and the humanities.