An anti-poverty movement has no business dreaming of ending poverty if it never raises a voice to demand for a rational government.

When frustration is the prevailing feeling, then we have no choice but to at least try something. Pebbles on a marble wall make more noise than 86 million angry stares against it.

We cannot ignore (unfortunately) that one of the fastest agents of change is a solid political will backing up anti-poverty projects. The government is responsible for providing a major slab of our country's poverty alleviating solutions. Or, at the very least, the government should not contribute any more to the root causes of poverty.

Everything is good and laid out on paper. What happens in the translation? From law to implementation something goes weird. And it is high time we ask and try to find out why or what's going on. At least ask questions. At least ask the right questions. There is nothing wrong with polite inquisitiveness. There is something wrong when we don't even bother. There is something wrong when we stay silent when things have to be said.

We know that there is enough for everyone. What we lack is the political will to back up the movement and distribution of resources. These two concerts are our rallies for good governance. It is our way of collecting our voices together to say to the newly elected officials to "Keep your Promises." And in turn, we will keep ours.

Congratulations. This is no longer a one-night stand. We are now officially 'not a fling.' It's our second year anniversary. We have eight more years to run this campaign. This movement- to build new states of mind- is not new. In fact, we're a little late. But here we are, so there we go.

No More Excuses, Philippines. Welcome to nation building.

Note: FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS EMAILED US EXPRESSING THE WILLINGNESS TO VOLUNTEER, WE'RE SORRY IF WE HAVEN'T REPLIED TO ALL OF YOU. KNOW THAT WE APPRECIATE YOUR LETTERS AND THAT WE ARE ENCOURAGED BY YOUR NOTES AND IDEAS. BUT SINCE WE HAVE NO PAID ADMIN. STAFF IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR US TO ACCOMODATE ALL REQUESTS. WE RUN ON SHEER AND BONAFIDE VOLUNTEERS (ZERO ALLOWANCES, NONE. ZIP. WALA. WALA. VOLUNTEERS TALAGA KAMI) AND MOST OF US HAVE DAYJOBS OR CLASSES. HOWEVER WE SCHEDULED AN ORIENTATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE OR TO RUN THEIR OWN PROJECTS. IT WILL BE HELD ON OUR ANNIVERSARY DATE ITSELF, JULY 1, 2007.

New Volunteers's Orientation and Volunteers' Gen Meet
1 July 2007
3rd Floor Garage Multi-Media Training Center
JesCom Bldg, Ateneo de Manila University Campus
Katipunan Road, Quezon City
No need to RSVP, just show up @3pm.
Invite interested friends. Come as a group so we can plan your project on the spot. Game.