It isn’t every week I get a chance to meet the most famous
person in the country (besides Manny Pacquio of course) AND visit the most
famous PLACE in a country, but this week was one of those weeks!
My wife (a recent Kennedy School grad) has been doing
short-term consulting work for the Government of the Philippines this
summer. Luckily, the President of the
Philippines, Noynoy Aquino, came to her department as the speaker for a special
event this past Thursday. To be
completely honest, I didn’t know that much about President Aquino before the
event. A quick Google search revealed
that Aquino was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of
2013 (#53), hails from a long political family heritage (his mother is
remembered as the Philippines’ most beloved President), and is the 1st bachelor to be in office! However, it is Aquino’s political reforms that
have impressed me. Apparently, Aquino’s
progressive stance on birth control was a key factor in pushing the
controversial Reproductive Health Bill through.
In fact, the President could potentially face ex-communication from the
Catholic Church due to his actions. As a
Christian who believes in the merits of contraception, I found this to be very
saddening. There are numerous studies
that show that birth control has beneficial effects on economic growth and the empowerment
of women, especially in developing countries.
Regardless, there are numerous stories of leaders who make decisions
that are viewed as controversial by their contemporaries throughout the Bible,
and one can only hope that the President’s stance on a single issue will not
vilify him throughout the Catholic Church.
Quick funny story – In order to gain entry to the event, my
wife’s department had to print an ID card for me (Samuel LEE). As the picture to the right illustrates,
however, there was some confusion as to who changed last names after the
wedding. I understand that the
Philippines is becoming more progressive in terms of how it views male-female
gender roles, but I thought this was a little funny. J
Onto the most famous location in the Philippines: the famous
rice terraces of Ifugao! As you can see
in the picture to the right, it’s no wonder why the Philippino people proudly
call this the “8th Wonder of the World.” My wife and I braved the 9-hour bus ride
there and the 13-hour bus ride back (after a small accident left us stranded
for a few hours at 3AM somewhere in the middle of the Philippines), and it was
well worth it! We also met an older couple form the States also backpacking through the terraces. Apparently, the husband was a physician and professor at a medical school and came to speak at a conference about the Reproductive Health Bill. As you could imagine, we had many entertaining conversations about development work, women's rights, and overpopulation. What an exciting week this
was, and I look forward to many more to come!
