INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - These Pinoy youth are still on the streets for a cause—but this time, instead of marching, they’re running.

Iamninoy, a groundbreaking campaign to celebrate idealism and selflessness, has organized a group of runners who will raise awareness and funds for the 57-75 Movement, a private-sector-led initiative to reverse the public-education crisis.

The iamninoy runners, who presently number about 300, hope to raise a certain amount for every kilometer they run so the money will be used by 57-75 to help children stay in school, enhance literacy and improve test performances.

“In a way this is our new form of people power. In other words, it’s not just anymore going to the streets and just rallying. We really get them towards positive action, without them realizing in a very little way, they’re actually still part of the process of change,” said iamninoy executive director Rafael Lopa at the tie-up’s launch on Thursday.

A nephew of the slain Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Lopa said as the country marks 25 years since the opposition leader was killed in 1983, the youth should be involved in education as a “lever of change” since it was what kept poverty thriving in the Philippines.

“Education definitely is very important. Imagine if we don’t do anything about the education system, 25 years from now, you can imagine the profile of literacy this country will have,” he said.

“So it’s really important to get everybody to know about this reality, and really do something collectively,” added Lopa.

The partnership with iamninoy, said 57-75 convenor Chito Sobrepena, would not only help raise funds but bring attention to the declining standards in public education—and how it may actually be “reversed.”

“57-75 was inspired by the results of the National Achievement Test at that time. The number 57, the average at the time, symbolizes the current state of Philippine public education while 75, which DepEd refers to as beginning mastery, is the goal where we want to go,” he said.

Sobrepena lamented the statistics showing that for every 100 children who enter Grade 1, only 84 reach Grade 3 while only 68 get to graduate from Grade 6. Only 43 manage to finish high school, and only 14 finish college, he said.

As for reading proficiency, he said a DepEd test for independent readers conducted in 2004 among 8 million children showed that less than 25 percent, even in the higher grade levels, could actually read and understand what they read.

“If children cannot read, their performance in subjects like math and science would suffer. If children cannot read, they lose interest and eventually drop out,” he stressed.

Whether young or old, man or woman, Lopa hopes the public will share their advocacy by joining the runners’ group (check out iamninoy.com), pledging money for each kilometer, or at the least, buy merchandise such as the iamninoy runner shirts that will be available next week in the Rudy Project store in Bonifacio High Street.

“The more runners participating in the races, if we’re able to recruit more, then your multiplier just grows bigger. The multiplier for possible money to come in just becomes bigger. As you increase your base, you widen the platform for more funds to come in,” he said.

“What’s good is that you get the general public to participate in it. If the runner is your friend, you can chip in and put it your own in a very small way,” he added.

Lopa explained that if there were 300 runners for a 5-km run, and each runner received a pledge of P300 per km—the funds raised would reach a fantastic P450,000.

The first official iamninoy run will be held either on Aug. 21, Ninoy’s death anniversary, or on a weekend near it.

But if running isn’t your cup of tea, buying the shirts in bright-yellow-Ninoy’s signature color—ain’t bad at all especially since a portion of the sales’ proceeds will also go to providing workbooks in English, math and science, and feeding programs all over the country.

A catchy statement on the shirt’s back says its all: “Build mileage. Build endurance. Build schools. I am running. I am a hero. Iamninoy.”

“I guess this one is a matter of really getting the enthusiasm the iamninoy campaign has generated and attaching it to a group that’s equally enthusiastic about what they’re doing, and of course a very worthwhile cause. Hopefully we can excite more people,” said Lopa.