CODE-NGO remembers its great leaders who passed on: Karina Constantino David, Atty. Ferdinand “Joy” Casis, and Ma. Socorro “Marissa” Camacho. As a tribute, former leaders were invited to share their dear memories.
Family members of the departed were invited during the premiere of the tribute video, one of which is Randy David, husband of Karina. Below is the transcription of his reaction speech last May 28, 2021:
“Nakakalungkot naman. I think that photograph of Karina was taken just a few weeks before she passed on. Una sa lahat, nais kong ipa abot ang aking taos pusong pagbati sa pamunuan at mga kasapi ng CODE-NGO sa ikatatlumpong Anniversaryo ng makasaysayang pagkakatatag nito.
Ang sabi ng mga sociologist eh ang realistic lifespan ng isang organisasyon ay labinlimang taon lamang. Kaya, 30 years na ang code NGO so that’s not a short time.
Kung hindi ako nagkakamali ang CODE-NGO ang pinaka malaking kalipunan ng mga non- government organization na nabuo sa ating bansa at patuloy itong nagsisilbing linangan ng mga mayayamang karanasan ng mga NGO sa ibat ibang larangan ng pag oorganisa.
Malinaw at sariwa pa sa aking alaala ang mahabang oras na ginugol ni Karina sa pagbalangkas ng mga batayang konsepto at prinsipyong gagabay sa CODE-NGO pati na ang maingat na pagpili ng pangalan ng organisasyon., ang kanyang nilayon na makabuo ng hindi lamang ang pilosopiya at praxis ng pagboorganisa na angkop sa ating lipunan at kultura kundi ng isang matibay na kadena ng mga henerasyong ng mga nakababatang organisador sa bawat sector at pamayanan ng ating lipunan.
Pangalawa, kasama ng aming mga anak, ako po ay nagpapasalamat sa makahulugang pagkilalang iniukol ninyo sa mga ambag ni Karina sa CODE-NGO at sa praxis ng pag oorganisa sa ating lipunan.
Some of you, katulad ng mga nagbigay ng mga testimonies at witnessing who have known or met Karina under varying circumstances would surely have noted how well she practiced her intrinsic work ethic wherever faith took her.
She was as tireless and innovative working in the government bureaucracy as she was in the field, as a CO activist, as inspiring in the street as a speaker and musical performer, as she was as a teacher in academe. She demanded of herself the same level of fierce commitment that she expected of others.
You know on the day she died in May 2019, 2 years ago, she was still very much in the thick of that exotic effort to elect the senatorial candidate of the opposition Otso Diretso, breathlessly directing from her sick bed a tiny army of volunteers.
She had remained hopeful that perhaps a handful of this heroic candidates would make it to the winning circle
That year she had discovered the power and potential of social media, a new platform of communications that could be harnessed either for positive or for pernicious ends.
She believed that civil society needed to quickly master this new technology if only to prevent it from being monopolized by those whose business it is to spread lies and disinformation and control the world of everyday discourse. She was as some of you may know, very active on many Facebook sites.
But I guess the one thing that remained elusive to her although she might have been close to finally grasping it was how to harness the idealism and strength of civil society in order to make a difference in an arena it had always been the same thing and that is the field of electoral politics.
Karina was convinced it was a mistake for social activists to stay aloof during elections. To her this stance was a waste of a precious opportunity to intervene on behalf of worthy candidates in the name of enduring social reform. Most certainly she was aware of the risks involved when civil society groups and movements enter the froth terrain of electoral campaigns. Electoral success could permanently drain civil society of some of its best leaders and cadres.
On the other hand, electoral failure would make them resentful and cynical and confirm their worst biases against politics but more than this. Their credibility as community organizers could be permanently damaged when they are identified with partisan electoral campaigns.
Karina thought that there had to be somewhere an Archimedean point,a sweet spot in which these two contrasting forms of engagement, civil society and political society, could meet and meld. She never thought of herself as a theorist but she kept a journal, notes for briefings and speeches in which she scribbled her learnings from the encounter of these two cultures.
My personal grief has prevented me from revisiting her journals but someday, I hope one of you or one of her students or co-workers would find it worthwhile to reflect and write on the question of what it means to be an effective and responsible community organizer in all possible terrain of public engagements including and perhaps especially electoral politics and government service.
Then Karina’s own reflections and rich experiences might come into view and help shine some light on this question.
As the nation goes into frenzied preparation for next year’s crucial presidential election, this whole issue of what it takes for NGO activists to be active in electoral politics will again stare us in the face, it will surely remain with us for a long time.
Magandang hapon at marami pong salamat.”
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