Ako Mismo

Ako Mismo made waves since its controversial pilot advertisement at the height of the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton match on May 2, 2009.



The advertisement has become an instant hit, thanks to the famous celebrities endorsing the organization. With the likes of Ely Buendia, Angel Locsin, Luis Manzano, Chris Tiu and Arnel Padilla at the forefront of the advertisements, the audience can only speculate what this Ako Mismo organization is up to.

In fact, rumors surfaced that this could be a vehicle to launch ( PLDT and Smart Big Boss ) MVP's (Manny V. Pangilinan) launch to the Political Arena, since the advertisement is actually sponsored by Smart and PLDT.

The Ako Mismo website, however, denounced the speculations, saying that the organization's real advocacy is for the people to realize that change should start from each and everyone of us. We do not wait for the government or for the others to act. We should start and make change happen from within ourselves.


Come June of 2009, people who have added themselves as online members of the Ako Mismo organization, has received an important announcement:

On June 12, 2009, the AKO MISMO dog tags will be made available to the public for the very first time. The dog tags will be sold at P40 each; the proceeds of which will go to our beneficiary charity partners and to the socio-civic activities which we will be mounting nationwide.

It is such an important event for us that we declared it the AKO MISMO DOG TAG DAY which will be held at the Bonifacio Global City Open Field in Taguig City.


And yes, people actually flocked to the Bonifacio Global city on June 12 to participate in the event and of course, to get hold of the prized AKO MISMO DOG TAG.

Getting the Ako Mismo Dog Tag, however, does not come into handy. People who got their tags say you have to wait in long lines towards the selling booth. Before you are even allowed to purchase, you also have to state your own pledge of what you would do for the country, somewhat like: "Ako Mismo, tatawid sa tamang Tawiran", or, "Ako Mismo, maglilinis ng sariling bakuran".



With much disappointment, I found out lately that fake Ako Mismo Dog Tags are now being sold in almost every Metro Manila streets. Thus, you can find these fake tags being sold in Tiangge, on various MMDA Footbridge, and alongside those selling pirated VCDs and DVDs in the streets.

It is as if other people are saying: "Ako Mismo, magbebenta ng pirated at fake Dog Tags", and, "Ako Mismo, bibili ng pirata".