Alay-Lakad expands nationwide

Alay-Lakad Foundation Inc. Chairman Joaquin “Jackie” Rodriguez has laid out his goals for boosting educational awareness around the country by expanding the yearly walk movement.

As the foundation prepares for its annual trek, Rodriguez, who is also Rotary International District 3810 governor, said he had three preconditions to develop the “new” Alay-Lakad before he accepted its national chairmanship.

In a recent interview on DAILY TRIBUNE’s Straight Talk, he said one of his conditions was for Alay-Lakad to go national, with hundreds of thousands of Filipinos walking simultaneously to promote better education for underprivileged youth.

“I want each and every Filipino in every nook and corner of our country, in every barrio, in every town, in every city, in every province, walking to awaken the need to educate those that don’t have an education but do want to have an education,” Rodriguez said.

“To be able to stand up proudly and say, ‘I’m a Filipino, I support myself, I support my family, and I help my country.’”

Rodriguez said Alay-Lakad is expecting around 600,000 people to join the walk on 24 November at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. On the same day, 20,000 are anticipated to march in Cavite, 50,000 in Bulacan, 40,000 in Cebu, and several thousand in Davao City, with walks also to be held in Bacolod and Iloilo.

“I thought if we could do 15 different locations, it’s a good start. Because from this platform, you can only add every year,” he said.

“So given the situation, my objective of helping the same number of people with one year’s [worth of] effort as they did in the last 52 years will be achieved.”

Besides raising awareness through the yearly walks, Rodriguez, who is vocal about his commitment to community development as a Rotarian, aims to expand the scholarships the foundation provides to include vocational courses as well. He noted that the educational assistance was limited to high school, liberal arts, architecture, law, and medicine.

“I want to change that. I want to continue that, but I want to add education in the trades — electricians, painters, contractors, builders, carpenters, computer workers, basic trades — where you study for maybe six months or a year,” he said. “Now you have a trade that you can support your family with and be a productive member of your community.”

While he admits it may be difficult to reach, Rodriguez’s third objective for Alay-Lakad is to raise P100 million, which he said would help greatly in executing the foundation’s programs.

“The more ammunition we have, the bigger number of people we’ll be able to educate, and therefore the greater our country becomes,” he said.

Despite having an ambitious amount for his goal, Rodriguez believes that monetary contributions to the cause should be voluntary and that donations should be within one’s capacity to give.

“I made a recommendation, and it was approved, that the amount of contribution, aside from being voluntary of course, is 100 pesos,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a small amount that makes you feel good and think, ‘I did something for education in my country.’”

He said the profits from ticket sales are split in half, with 50 percent going to the Alay-Lakad Educational Committee Foundation and the other half going to the partner organizations who sold the tickets to create their own educational fund and scholarships.

But anyone can join the walk for free, Rodriguez said, and may contribute monetarily if they have the means.

“The walk is the expression of your desire to make that sound that reads education. The contribution is the enhancement of that sum,” he said.