Eala Mania: What Happens After the Cheering Stops?
My husband has been glued to Alex Eala’s matches for months now. He’s not even a tennis player, yet he’ll gladly stay up until the early hours of the morning just to watch her play. Somewhere along the way, I got caught up in the Eala mania too.
Alex Eala’s recent victories deserve every bit of the attention they have received. But the bigger story is not only Alex Eala herself—it is what she represents. Alex reminds us of what Filipino youth can achieve when talent meets opportunity, discipline, and sustained support.
For every Alex Eala we celebrate, there are thousands of young Filipinos quietly pursuing their own dreams. They wake before dawn to practice. They stay up late to study. They build robots in school laboratories, conduct research, create art, volunteer in their communities, or simply keep working at something they deeply believe in. Many endure long commutes, inadequate facilities, financial uncertainty, and limited opportunities. Most will never trend on social media or make the evening news. Yet their perseverance is no less remarkable.
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** This is our truth:** the Philippines does not lack talent. What we often lack is a system that consistently discovers, nurtures, and develops that talent. We have a habit of celebrating our young people only after they become champions. What they need is our support long before they win.
No one succeeds alone. Behind every accomplished athlete, scientist, artist, entrepreneur, or public servant is an ecosystem of parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, schools, institutions, and public policies that patiently cultivated potential. Excellence is rarely accidental. It is built.
Which brings us to perhaps the most fundamental question: Are we investing enough in our young people?
The answer, I believe, lies in governance. Governance is more than managing public affairs or delivering services. At its heart, it is about creating the conditions in which every person can flourish. It is about ensuring that the circumstances of a child’s birth, the income of one’s family, or the school one attends do not define the boundaries of one’s future. Good governance expands opportunity. It gives every young person a fair chance to discover, develop, and fulfill their potential.
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By that measure, much work needs to be done.
Many Filipino children begin life at a disadvantage because of poor nutrition. Child stunting continues to impair not only physical growth but also brain development, long before children enter a classroom. Then they enter a school system confronting equally daunting challenges. Based on the alarming baseline findings of EDCOM II (the Second Congressional Commission on Education), our learning crisis runs deep—learners struggle with basic reading and numeracy, learning gaps remain wide, and teachers continue to do extraordinary work despite difficult conditions.
We often treat nutrition, education, sports, research, and innovation as separate policy agendas. But these are interconnected pillars of human development, and together they reflect the quality of our governance. They reveal what we value as a nation, where we invest our resources, and whether we have the foresight and resolve to equip the next generation with the opportunities they need to flourish.
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We know what needs to be fixed. Yet week after week, our national focus is hijacked by the politics of the moment—impeachment proceedings, the State of the Nation Address, flood control controversies, political maneuvering, and the endless contest for power. These conversations matter because accountability matters.
But governance is more than politics. Politics asks who wins power. Governance asks what to do with power.
Imagine if we devoted the same national urgency to eliminating child stunting as we do to political controversies. Imagine if improving literacy, supporting teachers, expanding scholarships, strengthening sports and arts programs, building research laboratories, and creating opportunities for young innovators became enduring national priorities instead of occasional talking points. Investments in these areas may never dominate the headlines. They may not produce immediate political rewards. But they would transform the country in ways no single administration or election ever could.
Sometimes I wonder whether we have become so absorbed in today’s political battles that we have neglected tomorrow’s nation builders.
Alex Eala’s victories should fill us with pride. But they should also challenge us to ask a more difficult question: How many more Alex Ealas are out there, waiting only for an opportunity?
The Philippines does not suffer from a shortage of gifted young people. It suffers from too few systems that consistently help them realize their potential.
One Alex Eala is remarkable. But a nation that makes thousands of Alex Ealas is possible. That should be our ambition.
Because the true measure of governance is not simply how well it manages the crises of today. It is whether it leaves behind a generation that is healthier, better educated, more innovative, and more hopeful than the one it inherited.
That is the future worth governing for.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Jennifer Santiago Oreta is the Dean of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG). She is an expert in security governance and peacebuilding, having served as Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).