RSSRP bags Unesco seat with ‘dirty ice cream diplomacy’
Nov 17
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Proud to be Pinoy Awards, Manuel Baldemor No Comments
MANILA, Philippines — In the words of Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus, the Philippines did it “with some help from Pinoy dirty ice cream.”
Lapus was referring to the country’s winning one of the six executive board seats of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization during the 34th Unesco general conference in Paris last week.
“A Pinoy sorbetero (ice cream man) gave everyone samples of our very own dirty ice cream at the Unesco headquarters” to help the Philippine bid for a seat in the policy-making board, Lapus told reporters on Thursday.
Lapus, however, said he was “not sure if the ice cream came all the way from Manila or if it was prepared by the Philippine Embassy in Paris.”
“But they liked it,” he said.
He said the colorful ice cream cart was “painted by no less than noted Filipino artist (Manuel D.) Baldemor,” Lapus said, referring to the renowned painter and sculptor.
Lapus said the Philippine delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, also hosted a cocktail reception as part of the campaign to win the seat — “but there was no Filipino food, no bartender.”
Malaysia brought a dance troupe of its own and held exhibits to press its bid.
Lapus described the campaigns as “man-to-man … gapangan (behind the scenes).”
Despite a shoestring budget, the Philippines still managed to win a seat, he said.
In a tightly fought election, Malaysia and the Philippines got 147 and 137 votes, respectively, said Lapus.
Each member-state was entitled to only one vote regardless of its size or contribution to the UN organization’s budget.
Lapus will represent the country on the Unesco board and serve a four-year term.
“We shall push for Unesco to take a more proactive role in calling for national governments to give the highest budgetary priority to education in theory and practice,” Lapus said.
“We shall press for Unesco to lend its voice of credibility to free the task of education from being held down by political forces for education to be truly for all.”
The former Tarlac congressman said winning the Unesco seat placed the Philippines at the forefront of global policymaking with sustainable economic development as the end.
It also gave the country “an opportunity to give education the focus it rightly deserves before a worldwide organization,” he said.
Lapus was also elected vice president of this year’s Unesco conference.
Speaking at the Unesco ministerial roundtable on education and economic development, Lapus said the burning issue before member-states “remains the gap between principle and reality.”
“As ministers of education, we probably run the biggest bureaucracies in our home countries,” Lapus told the delegates.
“In developing countries where institutional capacities and resources constraints are constant challenges, the agenda for education reforms cannot be truly effective if governments and multilateral agencies are not encouraged enough to actually prioritize and adhere to the goals espoused by Unesco,” Lapus said.
He said Unesco could exert its influence on country leaders “to stop dysfunctions, such as under-investing in education or politicization of school system resources.”
These were among the imperatives to make Unesco “relevant, pro-education and pro-poor.”
Unesco aims to promote international cooperation on science, culture, education and communication. The Unesco general conference is held every two years.
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