There Is No Other Way to Go But Forward

Being new in this esteemed unit of the University of the Philippines System is no joke. For one, I know that challenges are waiting for me to surmount, given that I have long been out of the academic loop for more than ten years now. But what made the difference in pursuing my graduate studies through the Master in Development Communication Program  of the University of the Philippines’ Open University (UPOU) --- and what, I can say, was extremely unique with this online learning academic experience, was to see a very supportive set of faculty and current UPOU students. For this, I will always be grateful.

It would be easy to relate and enumerate here all the things I have learned from my personal Development Communication experience --- from learning the definition of development, understanding the underdevelopment problematique, immersing myself with our societal problems, being familiar with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), knowing what memes are and its inherent power to influence and reach the various audiences we have, reviewing various communication models, concepts and approaches to knowing the definition of development communication, synthesizing development communication and related policies for its advancement, learning the ropes on how to become an effective development communication practitioner, and a lot more. But with all these learnings put together, only one thing struck a chord in me. And this is the definition Samonte had of development communication i.e. it is "communication with a social conscience."

I respect and salute the people behind this beautiful discipline. Coming from another communication field, that is Organizational Communication, I must say that even if I was given only four months to study DevCom, it has successfully afforded me to have enough guts and determination to resolve to become a proactive member of our country. I see with much optimism that we have a promising landscape and clean canvass for each of us to work on in order to move this country forward. In spite of all the news about corruption that seems to have reached its boiling point now, there is much hope in this country in terms of developing and in working itself out of poverty --- with the raw tools freely given to us by our dedicated mentors: the skills that educated communicators continue to refine and improve --- listening, speaking, reading, writing and understanding all the stakeholders concerned in making our beloved country mature and develop.

Understanding Development Communication as communication with a social conscience will bring us far only if we commit to the values called for to become a true development communication practitioner. We all need to have rectitude of intention in all the projects we push for development, have polished communication skills, professional and moral integrity, and all these with an expected bias for the common good. I have a heart that goes out to all our fellowmen who continue to wallow in extreme poverty. As I type in my realizations now, I sincerely feel like crying and lament with disgust what has gone wrong with our country's leaders. One cannot fathom corruption to the highest level and just keep mum about it. But then, having been a student of DevCom now, I know I have the option to look at the other side of the coin, the one that shows much promise. 

There is no other way to go but forward. I say that to myself and in every opportunity I have when I speak with people I meet. We have to help ourselves get out of our rotten situation of extreme poverty. We have to learn how to become creators of wealth instead of just being recipients of it. True, there are many local government units that are doing their job well in helping our fellowmen improve the quality of their lives, but we can do much more. As I remember mentioning in a post in one of our discussion boards, I strongly believe that we have to empower our people through education. We can and ought to still do so much more in this respect. The poorest of the poor in our midst must be taught how to get out of their situation themselves --- their wills have to be moved so they can react proactively. The will to change has to come from our people individually. We can no longer just depend on foreign or local aid to help us in moving forward. Our people have to be helped to think that they cannot continue living with foul-smelling dirt around them, that wallowing in vices like drugs, gambling, etc. will never get them anywhere. That losing the drive to live will not make us who God wants us to be. 

I end with the thought of God and who He is, banking on the fact that we are a God-fearing nation. Yes, God is Almighty and Powerful, He can definitely do anything and everything. But He has created the human being with an intellect and a free will to determine for himself where he wishes to go. And so I surmise, we do have the gifts of intelligence and will, let us use them well. At the same time, we have the gift of Development Communication in our midst to always remind us how to use our skills in communication to advance the cause of piercing through our own and others' social conscience.

It is my sincere wish that there be thousands of development communication professionals who will work to become significant links in pushing our country forward.