How do I want to tell my story?
Isagani R Serrano, AM(B)HS Class 1963

I dreamed to be a philosopher and ended up an activist. Come to think of it, I’ve been mostly an activist for much of the 50 years since I left high school. That says a lot about what’s become of me and what I’ve chosen to be in life.

I became an activist in 1967 in UP Diliman, first with the UPCYM (Student Christian Movement) and Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation (BRPF) then with the more radical ones—KM and SDK. I still see me as an activist now, trying hard to change the way things are. I just realized the non-activist part of my adult life was only four years! But no regrets. I’d probably be the same if I were to live my life all over again.

There’s not much to say about schooling to become a philosopher. I guess it means I should at least have gotten a PhD, to be formal about it. I never got any. I just found quiet satisfaction hearing my good Dutch friend, former Novib country director Frank Hanrath, say philosophy and romance is my department. An Indian friend who’s got two doctorates also got me a funny, though a bit cynical, excuse. He said, “Don’t worry Gani, it doesn’t mean much: a BS is just bullshit, MS more shit, and PhD is same shit piled higher and deeper.” 

I did try, though. After graduation from UE, I moved to UP for a masteral course which I didn’t finish because of activism. Somehow I was able to make up for my schooling deficit, though I realized later that schooling and education are not one and the same. I trained and became a trainor in community organization at the Philippine Ecumenical Committee on Community Organization (PECCO). I also trained in development management at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) and had lectured there many times. I got an MSc in development and environmental education from London South Bank University (LSBU), with a distinction for my dissertation.

I guess that’s more than enough formal education for someone who almost could not graduate from AM(B)HS for ‘rebellion.’ I was one with section mates Mando Canare, our ‘math wizard’, Boy Villasol and Rustico Mabugay in protesting against what we thought was an injustice. We were PMT officers who were stripped of our ranks for some reasons that till now I could not figure out. Maybe I didn’t meet the height requirement!      

I’m happy to have chosen the life of an activist, with all its trials and rewards, mostly psychic. Martial law was 14 years of living dangerously, whether out in the open, in the underground or in prison. I spent seven of those years in (in)famous military prisons, three years in Fort Bonifacio, former home of the military now Bonifacio Global City, and four in Camp Crame, the site of the 1986 EDSA revolution. Ironically, the president who imposed martial law on us was the same president who I once admired for his intelligence and vision. He happened to be the same guy who pinned me my cum laude medal. The EDSA revolution that ended his reign set me free again.

Coming out of prison, I joined PRRM and did my share in the post-Marcos democratization process. I’ve been part of the founding and building of organizations and alliances that espoused different causes. To name a few:  Social Watch Philippines and Global Call to Action Against Poverty; Earth Day Network Philippines; Go Organic! Philippines; La Liga Policy Institute; Philippine Network on Climate Change; Aksyon Klima; Philippine Movement for Climate Justice; Philippine Greens; SRI Pilipinas; Freedom from Debt Coalition; NGO Forum on the ADB; Conference Against Poverty; Green Forum Philippines; Congress for a People’s Agrarian Reform; National Coordinating Council on the Local Government Code; Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Advocating all sorts of causes, from land justice to climate-resilient development, these organizations and coalitions have helped raise the citizen’s voice in promoting the interest of the masses and the common good.

I joined the development set and roamed around the world. I have participated in the cycle of UN summits in the 1990s: Earth Summit in Rio (1992); Population and Development in Cairo (1994); Social Summit in Copenhagen (1995); World Food Summit in Rome (1996); UN Habitat in Istanbul (1996); Education Summit in Hamburg (1997); Rio+10 in Johannesburg (2002); World Summit on Information Society in Geneva (2003); and in subsequent their follow ups dubbed as +5s and +10s. I was in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Ninth Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP9) in Milan (2003); the United Nations Convention on Desertification and Land Degradation Ninth Conference of Parties (UNCCD COP9) in Buenos Aires (2009). I was part of the official Philippine Delegation in some of these conferences, including UNFCCC COP15 in Copenhagen. I have attended other international meetings organized by UNDP, the UN Millennium Campaign (UNMC), the EU, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the ADB, World Bank and many more events organized by NGOs themselves.

I’ve been through conferences after conferences where we would discuss poverty while enjoying the amenities of 5-star hotels, as World Bank people usually do. If only the number of meetings could win us a revolution we’ve had more than enough.        

Thanks to my AM(B)HS teachers, I learned how to write, maybe well enough to communicate to others the message of change, humanity, and love. I have written in prose and poetry, much more stuff than I could keep track of. A collection of prison poems saw print in Firetree published in 1985 by Friends of the Filipino People in the US and in pintig 2, published by KAPATID 1985. I authored Pay Now, Not Later: Essays on environment and development, PRRM,1994; Civil Society in the Asia-Pacific, CIVICUS, 1994 and many articles on sustainable development. Other papers written for CIVICUS include ‘Humanity In Trouble But Hopeful’ in Citizens, CIVICUS, Washington, DC, 1995; Profile:Philippines for Civic Index, CIVICUS World Assembly, Budapest 1997; ‘Coming Apart, Coming Together’ in Civil Society at the Turn of the Millennium, CIVICUS, Washington DC, 1999; ‘Cross-sectoral Collaboration for Sustainable Change’, CIVICUS World Assembly, Vancouver, 2001. My pieces on climate include ‘A climate justice deal in Copenhagen?’ published by Focus on the Global South in 2008; ‘Justice to cool the planet’ published in the global Social Watch Report 2009. I was editor and contributor of the Social Watch Philippines’ 2007 and 2010 citizens’shadow reports on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that faced off with the NEDA-led government reports. A paper, ‘Breaking through to sustainability,’ written for Social Watch Philippines and the Breaking Point Project of the UN Millennium Campaign and Commonwealth Foundation, talks about MDG progress in two and a half years of the Pnoy government and the Post-2015 development agenda. And maybe more. 

I’ve been called ‘Marxist-Lenonnist,’ maybe because I always play John Lennon’s Imagine which I compare to the communist anthem Internationale. I always imagine a world of fairness, a world shared by everyone.  I hate to see poverty and oppression, the sight triggers the rebel in me. There may be improvements in our lives yet the present that I see is far from what I dreamed of when I first plunged into activism. It is not the future we said we want to build during the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio. It’s as if nothing’s changed. We probably won’t see the end of poverty in our generation. And for me that’s reason enough to continue the movement.

One dream I’ve always had is for every one of us to see a country other than where we were born, at least once in our lifetime. I learned a lot about humanity through traveling, better even than from schooling.

Someone said, in somewhat macho fashion, that you’re a made man if you have sired a son, planted a tree, and written a book. By that measure, I’m made. But what do I really want others to say when I’ve departed? From Marcos types: “He was a real pain in the ass.” From friends who know me better: “Gani may be a pain in the ass, but he truly and deeply cared for the blood of others.”

Written for the Grand Reunion of Arellano Memorial Bataan High School (now Bataan National High School) where I was cited as the Most Outstanding Alumnus on March 15, 2013.

About ISAGANI R. SERRANO (1947-2019)

Isagani R. Serrano or Gani to his friends was a visionary and recognized leader of civil society organizations and social movements working for popular democracy, climate justice and sustainable development not only in the Philippines but globally.  He authored many books and essays on a wide range of themes that echoed his mantra of “fairness in a fragile world” and “humanity in trouble but hopeful” as he participated in the global discourse on environment, development and democracy. 

Gani is also a poet and guitar player, community organizer, educator and a weekend organic farmer. He was a political prisoner for seven years during martial law. He was trained in education and development management and held a Master of Science in Environment & Development Education from South Bank University-London with a distinction mark for his dissertation Learning Sustainability.

Positions held at the time of his passing in February 2019 :

President, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)

President, Earth Day Network Philippines

Co-Convenor, Social Watch Philippines,

Board Member, CREST (Center for Renewable Electricity Strategies)

Council Member, Sustainable Development Solutions Network –Philippines (SDSN-PH)

Organizations he co-founded:

Go Organic! Philippines and La Liga Policy Institute; Social Watch Philippines and Global Call to Action Against Poverty-Philippines; Earth Day Network Philippines, Philippine Network on Climate Change, Aksyon Klima, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, Philippine Greens, Freedom from Debt Coalition, NGO Forum on the ADB, Conference Against Poverty, Green Forum Philippines, Congress for a People’s Agrarian Reform, National Coordinating Council on the Local Government Code, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, among others.

Books and Articles he authored and edited:

Authored Pay Now, Not Later: Essays on environment and development, PRRM,1994; Civil Society in the Asia-Pacific, CIVICUS, 1994 and many articles on sustainable development. Other papers written for CIVICUS: ‘Humanity In Trouble But Hopeful’ in Citizens, CIVICUS, Washington, DC, 1995; Profile: Philippines for Civic Index, CIVICUS World Assembly, Budapest 1997; ‘Coming Apart, Coming Together’ in Civil Society at the Turn of the Millennium, CIVICUS, Washington DC, 1999; ‘Cross-sectoral Collaboration for Sustainable Change’, CIVICUS World Assembly, Vancouver, 2001. His more recent papers include ‘A climate justice deal in Copenhagen?’ published by Focus on the Global South in 2008 and ‘Justice to cool the planet’ published in the global Social Watch Report 2009. Edited the 2007 (MDG mid-term) and 2010 (MDG+10) citizens’shadow reports on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  Authored Social Watch Philippines’ Breaking Through To Sustainability (UN Millennium Campaign, Commonwealth Foundation 2012).

Major Global Conferences where he participated and spoke:

Participated in the cycle of UN summits in the 1990s: Earth Summit in Rio (1992); Population and Development in Cairo (1994); Social Summit in Copenhagen (1995); World Food Summit in Rome (1996); UN Habitat in Istanbul (1996); Education Summit in Hamburg (1997); Rio+10 in Johannesburg (2002) World Summit on Information Society in Geneva (2003); and in subsequent follow ups dubbed +5 and +10; in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Ninth Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP9) in Milan (2003); the United Nations Convention on Desertification and Land Degradation Ninth Conference of Parties (UNCCD COP9) in Buenos Aires (2009). He was part of the official Philippine Delegation in some of these conferences, including UNFCCC COP15 Copenhagen. Attended other international meetings organized by UNDP, UNMC, EU, ADB, World Bank and NGOs, including the World Bank’s Global Partnership on Social Accountability and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2015 in Washington DC.  Other UN conferences attended: Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting on Rio+20 in 2012 in Seoul; Post-2015/SDGs at UNESCAP in 2014 and 2015; and the UN Third International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015, Addis Ababa.