Two student leaders from Silliman University attended the Jesse Robredo Youth Leadership Camp 2.0 held last Aug. 3-5 in Antipolo City.
Erika Jean Quiñones, senior psychology student, and Raul Eguia, sophomore masscom student, attended the camp which promoted a matino, mahusay at may puso leadership championed by the late Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.
The camp was sponsored by the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation (JMRF), a non-government organization that is committed to continue Robredo’s legacy through the “tsinelas leadership.”
Quiñones and Eguia were chosen out of over 300 nationwide applicants on the basis of their academic achievement, leadership abilities, and community involvement.
Quiñones, who is also the chairperson of the Corps of Campus Ambassadors, said that after attending the camp, her view of leadership changed.
“My motive in joining the camp was to see my idol, Leni Robredo, in person. Although she was not able to be there because of her duties, I still learned a lot from the camp…it was life-changing,” Quiñones said.
According to Quiñones, the camp promoted good governance in the government, school, and community through guest speakers such as Sen. Bam Aquino.
“You can be a ‘tsinelas leader’ anywhere by practicing good governance,” Quiñones added.
Through the camp, Eguia learned that being a hero is not just about saving others from death or from crimes, but saving them from ignorance.
“The camp made me understand the need and urgency for us to make an action in helping those marginalized people in the community,” Eguia said.
Both Quiñones and Eguia admire the leadership of Robredo.
“They [Jesse and Leni] have no self-interest, no hypocrisy. They are very transparent. For instance, in Naga, they post their citizen’s charter online and constantly update it,” Quiñones said.
Eguia added that “like Sec. Jesse, we should learn to love ourselves a little less and love our neighbor a little more so that…it is not [because of] the praise of men that we do such noble acts for the greater good, but the genuine concern for humanity…”
Quiñones is planning to hold a ‘tsinelas’ leadership forum for senior high students this year which will be sponsored by the JMRF.
