What Can I do to Affect Development in the Philippines?

What Can I do to Affect Development in the Philippines?

(Written by: Jose Angelo Lorenzo S. Gomos)

     The Philippines, as we all know, is a country plunged into terrible poverty and despicable corruption. We all know that our country used to be an independent and proud republic during the 1960’s. But with the endless list of corrupt leaders who were tasked to develop our country for our own betterment, but instead absorbing much power and greed for themselves, our country has suffered from a terrible loss as of this day. Consequently, our country is hopelessly submerged into inevitable poverty, poor health systems, low quality education, old-aged technology, diminished cultures, demoralized beliefs, and ever-increasing wretched and uneducated citizens who contribute nothing but utter destruction to our country which are all caused by the foolish, unintelligible, and corrupt system of our government.

     Must we really rely on the government’s power and control to uphold our country’s economic stability and future industrialization for our nation to grow from this hopeless and degraded situation? Should we still trust the government after its apparent corruption? Do we still have the concern for our country to progress for the better? The answer lies within us. For our country to change for the better, we must start within ourselves.

     I myself can start the change for our country’s progression and for the betterment of its current situation. If I have to believe in something right now, I highly believe that I can start within myself and then influencing others to do the same. I can still see hope for the betterment of our country even though it is slowly regressing and declining in its current state. I can affect development in the Philippines by myself.

     How can I start the change by myself? The answer is simple: I can start the change by myself through valuing and following the virtues of competence, conscience, and commitment. As I am a proud and humble Atenean, deeply rooted and educated with the Ignatian Principles, I can somehow say that by following and valuing these three simple, helpful, and meaningful virtues, I am starting to change my country for the better while encouraging others to do the same.

COMPETENCE

     I am a student. That means that within the years of my studying, I crave for more knowledge and I practice what I do best as of yet – studying and learning on the way. Learning is part of one student’s life. But in order for one student to learn something and gain more knowledge, the student must first study for all the lessons in the subjects the student is taking. As a student, I am highly obligated to study and learn and equip myself with knowledge in order to become a knowledgeable and intelligent person which in turn could somehow and in some way turn me into a professional practitioner of my course in one of these days. I need to be competent in school. By valuing and following the virtue of competence, I am able to help my country by learning more of it and putting into practice what I learned. Before we need to do something to help improve our country’s current situation, we first need to observe into its current state and learn from it.

     On the other hand, I believe that education is one of the primary elements of our contribution for our country’s progress. As a student, I am entitled to become determined to study hard in my lessons and influence other students to do the same by the achievements or high grades that I could attain through studying vigorously. A country with educated citizens is a country that would become prosperous and highly industrialized in the future. So I encourage students like me to take the risk in studying well in their lessons and obtain the determination to come to school everyday and educate themselves with more knowledge that could somehow help our country to reach its progress and to rise up from its degradation.

     As a college student, I am taking the course of Bachelor of Science in Development Communication. How can I help the country through my course? Development Communication has a much deeper substance than what other people think about its form and essence. It is true that my course is related to journalistic writing and inclined with the media. But it is not all that. Development Communication is not just about feature writing, photography, theater and arts, and pop culture in media. Development Communication looks much deeper into the current state of the society and helps develop it for the better. That is one quality and principle that makes Development Communication far more different from other college courses related to media and feature writing. In Development Communication, students are taught about the things that concern the society including its necessities and excess, and how should we change it or contribute to it, or why should we have the need to change and develop the society including all aspects that are part of its concern and existence. As a student of Development Communication, I am fortunate enough to be equipped with the knowledge given to me by my course and the motivation it gives me to strive valiantly in competence for the development, improvement, augmentation, and enhancement of our country’s society and all that are related to it.

CONSCIENCE

     As a human being, we are given the wisdom to differentiate what is right from wrong and what is wrong from right. At the same time, we are also given the courage and the free will to choose between the two aspects. One main reason why the Philippines has suffered terribly from its current situation is that Filipinos tend to choose and do the wrong actions, examples, and efforts that could make our country suffer terribly and hinder it from its progression. It is evident in the fields of politics, education, environment, and social awareness.

I.                   Politics

     In the case of politics, the Filipinos tend to vote the politicians who are more famous and popular in the media even if they have not contributed anything in the country besides savoring the power, the money, the fame, and the control given to them by the government. It is much worse when the Filipino voters are foolish enough to vote for politicians who greed for power, money, and fame. The fact is that they are corrupt politicians who deceive the common masses into thinking that they are willing to lead the country towards its progress but they just steal away the people’s money, free will, and votes for their own selfish agenda and wants and are not aiming or contributing anything for the betterment of our country. They are taking advantage of the people’s ignorance. This is one realization I have when it comes to our government and our politics. The citizens of our country could sometimes do the wrong efforts and choose the wrong choice of leaders for our country’s progress. If I could gain the accessibility and possibility to vote when I reach the proper and right age, I would choose a much wiser and compassionate leader or candidate who could do his job justly and righteously in leading our country’s development. I have to be conscientious enough to become more aware of our politicians’ doing and undoing – whether they are politically handling our country with courageous leadership and compassionate care towards the masses or whether they just lounge around in their offices wearing expensive suits, breathing comfortably the air of power, wealth, and fame. I need to listen to my conscience and rely on my wisdom and knowledge in voting wisely for the politician who can start a progressive rule and begin an effective development for our country.  We may not have to rely too much on the government, but we still are obligated to vote. It is our right as citizens of this country to vote wisely.

II.                Education

     We have observed that our country is plunged into poverty. There are more impoverished communities in our country and the number of people victimized by poverty is currently increasing and evermore multiplying. So, what’s the problem with numerous impoverished people in the country? The answer is that they have no complete access to a highly standardized education. With an ever-growing population of people in the impoverished communities, the literacy rate among the people is also slowly decreasing within the country. In the rural areas, it is an evident fact that most people have less chances of being educated or that they have no chances of gaining education at all. Based on a recent survey conducted in the rural areas, there is only one teacher to teach for one hundred and five students. Now that is one of the basic problems our country has. The educational system is low while the impoverished people are becoming all the more illiterate because of having low accessibility to receive education.

    As a student, longing for more knowledge, I feel that it is unfair for the people in the rural areas to receive low chances of becoming educated. Education is one factor that could develop our country for its betterment. But how can our country develop properly when there is an ever-increasing number of illiterate people? If I could contribute something to this problem, I should act things out. There are plenty of organizations and groups that help educate illiterate people (of which most of them are children) in Xavier University. I plan to join in any of them because I want to contribute something in our country’s development by helping other people to learn, even if it is just reading and writing. To start with, I am taking the subject named, NSTP (an abbreviation for National Service Training Program) during this semester which has some available activities to venture into impoverished areas and teach those who are illiterate and are less fortunate with even the most basic kinds of learning like reading and writing. I believe that by participating in activities such as this, I can do something to affect development in my country. It is part of my conscience telling me to help educate people, particularly the less fortunate ones, and bring them to the glory of knowledge.

III.             Environment

     The environment in our country supposedly helps beautify our surroundings and elevate the health and wellness of the citizens living in it as well as lengthening the longevity of their lives. But as much as our country has not fully progressed yet, our environment is slowly getting affected by it. Since there are less educated citizens in our country as well as most of the Filipinos tend to become unaware and ignore the common problem, the cleanliness and the abundance of our environment is slowly declining and fading away. People tend to commute with transportation vehicles that produce much smoke that would eventually harm our environment. Mindless people with abhorrent vices smoke cigarettes for the sake of their pleasure and addiction which would obviously cause damage to the environment and their health as well. And ignorant and lazy people tend to throw their garbage and trashes everywhere in our surroundings which would extremely and definitely make our environment dirty, unclean, and unsanitary. That is why most places in our country are already polluted and are harmful to one’s own health. The environment in our country is important for our country’s progress.

     Cleanliness is next to godliness. That is a statement that we, the Filipino people, should always remember. When the environment of our country is clean, there will be fewer chances of people getting sick. When we have a clean environment, our economy would rise up as people from foreign places would think that our country is a good place to visit or to live in with a clean surrounding and a harmless environment. As a youth, I can help maintain our environment clean by starting within myself. I should reuse, reduce, and recycle. That is, if there are items that are not yet worthy to be disposed, I will reuse them (one example is turning a grocery plastic bag into a trash bag). I will reduce using unnecessary items that could be harmful to our environment (one example is using the environmental-friendly bag SM offers for shopping instead of new plastic bags). I will recycle recyclable things (one example is to use some used sheets as my solution papers in Math). Part of my conscience tells me to do these helpful things for the sake of our environment’s well-being. Part of it also tells me to join in any organizations that will sustain and maintain our environment’s existence and enhancing it as well (examples are: joining in any groups or organizations that plant trees on barren waste lands in the country, joining some marathon to help maintain our environment’s cleanliness, and joining in any clubs that could help clean the river from its random floating trashes). I will also encourage others to do the same.

IV.             Social Awareness

     Being socially aware is one thing every people should become inclined to. It is important because we are all part of the society and we all need to work hand in hand for its development. I need to be more observant and aware socially. Whenever I see an elderly person cross the street, I will accompany him in crossing it. Whenever a beggar would ask me money, I will give him food instead, if I have any with me. Whenever a friend is in need of my help, I will give him all the help I can possibly give (except in financial terms). When there is a problem that arises in our society, since we are all part of the society, we need to solve it together and formulate a perfect solution to end the problem and improve our society’s welfare.

     Since I am valuing and following the virtue of conscience, I should become more socially aware within the society. It is also one way to help develop our country. In the society, my conscience helps me determine what is right from wrong and what is wrong from right. It helps me understand that I am part of the society and whatever happens in it, I will be affected by it too. In order for me to affect change for my country, I must start to change my actions, belief, and attitude within and towards the society. In order to make this possible, I need to become socially aware.

     My conscience is my guide for my moral uprightness. This is one reason why I value and follow this special virtue. It helps me to become morally accurate and virtuously correct. If I need to affect development in the Philippines, I would certainly start with myself by listening to my conscience, using it as my guide for all my doings.

COMMITMENT

     In order for me to change my country by starting with myself, I am obliged to commit myself to all the tasks I mentioned above in order to fulfill them. My commitment towards these things is somehow not an easy virtue to follow because at times, since I am only human, I can unknowingly do mistakes and will tend not to follow any of my promises that are listed above. But since I love my country, because it is the land of my birth, I will try to commit myself in doing all the tasks of which I should do to affect development in my country. I am loyal and faithful to my country and I will commit myself in volunteering to start its development and its change for the better.

     Our country is in dire need of citizens who are devoted in developing it for its betterment and its progression. That is what our country basically needs right now, knowing its current and poor state. But I certainly hope that our country has a better future from its present situation. If we all exert our own effort, our country could be lead and maintained into a better welfare, where it gives joy, hope, and peace to all its citizens. I can start the change with myself. I will try to fulfill all of the things that I mentioned above. I can be a man for others, serving others before I serve myself. I can humbly and proudly endeavor to affect development in our country and I can encourage and influence others to do the same.