An embodiment of the ideal LaSallian Who heeds the call to be a Christian achiever for God and country, alumnus Jesse Robredo, who served as mayor of Naga City from 1988 to 1998 recently received the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for government Service. A 1980 graduate with a double degree in Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Industrial Management Engineering minor in ME, Robredo was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia's version of the Nobel Prize, for "demonstrating that effective city management is compatible with yielding power to the people.” Robredo entered Philippine politics in response to then President Aquino's call on idealistic young people to join public service, following the country's 1986 People Power Revolution. He left his executive position at San Miguel Corporation to head the Bicol River Basin Development Program in Naga, his hometown. He was 29 when elected mayor in 1989. His biggest challenge at that time was to bring back the glory of Naga, which was then greatly suffering from corruption and poverty. As mayor, Robredo worked against patronage politics at the city hall by introducing a merit-based system of hiring and promotion. He then cracked down local vice lords, de-clogged the city traffic, and cleaned up the local market. Alumni should note that Mr. Robredo has been honored as a Distinguished Lasallian by De La Salle Alumni Association during the Alumni Homecoming in 1997 when he was still Mayor of Naga. Naga'seconomy improved as he worked in partnership with businesses, NGOs, and citizens. He introduced day-care centers in each of Naga's 27 districts, built four new high schools, anda public hospital, constructed a network of roads, and provided clean and reliable water systems in Naga's rural communities. Through his Kaantabay sa Kauswagan (Partners in Development) program, over 4,500 poor families moved to homelots of their own.