(written July 3, 2011)
Earth is said to be the only planet that has life, yes, life---life of different creatures, which makes it different from the other planets. But now it is being gradually destroyed.
Located on the south-east part of Asia, the largest continent on Earth is the Archipelago of the Philippines, or simply, Philippines. It is a country of 7000 and more islands, which many of them don’t have names yet. Its environment has many facets and some of these are also what I have seen and observed.
The nationality of the people in this country is called Filipino. Patriotism is evident in many Filipinos while there is colonial mentality in others. Filipinos are known for their hospitality. There are traits that really distinguish us from many nations, one of which is being happy despite of the difficulties that we have encountered in our lives, and I have seen this around me, despite the lack of resources and money, when there is an occasion, Filipinos still celebrate. But there are people who are not proud of being Pinoy, then what are they proud of?
Maybe the system of justice is one of the disgusting things here, seems like justice here is half asleep, because when a case is opened and is followed by another, the former is being closed undone. Is it forgotten? Is it? There is also something noticeable in our justice system, if a prominent or a rich person is harmed, they prioritize the case, but if the victim is just a simple or poor one, the case is most likely to be ignored. Maybe because poor people are not able to pay for lawyers. Or maybe they just see themselves very small to be given time and effort. Come on, everyone deserves justice..
Philippines is country that has so many things to be proud of, one of these is the exotic beauty of the places of this country, places that are being destroyed by the people who do not care and do not appreciate them and places whose charm is undeniably captivating,; places that have hidden riches and that represent the uniqueness of our country.
Filipinos are scattered in different parts of the world to work and earn for a living for their families. They work in other countries to sustain their families’ needs and to have a greater amount of money than the amount that they earn here. They take the pain and the risk of being far from their families just to make a living. They even get to work through illegal transactions thinking that it’s the best that they can do. Being caught and jailed outside the country give an irreplaceable impact to the neighboring countries---that the Philippines is not enough for its people. Is that really it? What about God? Does everybody know that God is a god enough to provide everything? What about faith in God? Is poverty the main reason of these desperate measures? That crime and illegal transaction seem to be the only ways?
This country has its extreme poor and extreme rich people; the rich with a lot of money, clothes, foods, livelihood, and the poor who don’t have extra but only themselves, who don’t have even enough food, clothes, or even a roof to live under. Total luxury and total poverty are the two of the many facets of this country. Rich ones live in a more than one palace-like home, with more than two cars and a lot of maids, with enterprise and huge businesses, these people have enormous amount of money which no one knows if it came from hard wok or stealing, unknown if it came form their own sweat or from others’ sweat. These people who are content and happy with their skyrocketing money---which are sometimes used for gambling, politics, or even assassinations, seldom times used for sharing and helping. Of all the people who have plenty, only few reach out to the poor and give them something to eat and wear; only few have hearts for extremely poor people.
The faces of poverty are spread across the nation, they don’t eat three times a day. They wear tidy and grimy clothes. They don’t have education, and at some time, they are drug users. Also, because of poverty, child trafficking is visible in this country, Many students see prostitution as another way of easy money, they sell their bodies in order to sustain their education and be able to graduate in college. Some children also become rugby boys and they don’t seem to have parents, who are there to guide them. On the other hand, there are syndicates who use their children in drug trafficking.
Poverty is one of the effects of lack of education and discipline and also lack of resources. There are a lot of pregnant teens who cannot sustain their children’s needs. But are these statements enough to summarize the cause of poverty? What about the influence of media and internet and technology? The liberated influence of other cultures? The aggressiveness of teens? Or the picture of fighting parents that distorts the minds of the children? Or the unintentionally-unconcerned parents who do not pay attention to their children’s problems and complaints? Or parents who pay much attention to their work and having a little time for their children instead of listening and fixing their problems? What about unequal distribution and possession of resources and riches?
These poor children want to study as well, but the problem is, schools cant suffice the increasing number of students. And who is to blame? is it about blaming?
The government and its officials are known of corruption. There is a large amount of money but it is not being used for the people but is going into the pockets of some of our country leaders. Some officials have plenty amount of money while some don’t have. Greed and luxury is how people see the government and its officials. They have more money than we can ever think of, that’s why they have so many issues. On the other hand, people judge them based from what the media reveals. People complain about the government, why don’t they follow the law first? After all its not just about the leaders, but the entire people as well. A lot think that the officials are not doing their best, but sometimes looking through helps us see the things we do not see, its all because pessimism and complains blind us.
Another side of the Philippines that is hidden is that it has many remote islands. These islands are unreachable by the government and there are people living in these abandoned islands, but they are not being paid attention to because they are far from civilization. The tribes-people in these islands are rarely visited and helped. They just live there, far from us and we are unknown to them. Their houses don’t have electricity; they don’t have water and education, that’s why people are having multiple diseases at the same time. Because they lack medicine and nutritious foods, they just die of diseases and infections. They don’t know the world here.
In spite of all these things in our country, God is the only powerful refuge that we can have. Nothing’s more than Him. Humans, like us, are not capable of doing such big help like He does. And some people are just not willing to reach their hands, but God is…
Judging someone because of their failure does not help, nor disdaining them. Maybe letting them feel understood might help. Uplifting their spirits is also another help, by making them feel that they can at least do something to lessen their hardships. Sharing what we have is a bigger help. We cant totally blame them for their fate. I’m pretty sure they don’t want poverty, but they just seem to enjoy it because they think that they cant do something about it, or maybe they can. We can blame them because they do not do their part as capable human beings, but blaming them will do what? Nothing. Lets at least be an inspiration to other people and reach them, we may not have much, but we can be a big impact through the little help that we give.
What if we are in their place? What will we feel?
Will we hate those who are rich who don’t want to help?
Will we be happy and content living in the streets? Being bullied by others and beint looked down to?
And what if we have plenty? Will we give? Or just enjoy and not care? Will we reach our hands to them and see what we can do?
Will we be driven by personal motives and ignore them?
will we be bothered that we have so many and there, our fellow human is starving and have not eaten for a week and we don’t do even a little thing to alleviate their hunger?
We just have so much to give and share. We can contribute little by little, not just for our country but for our fellow humans. Is it enough that we pity them? Pitying does what? Nothing.
Staring at these poor people does what? Nothing, neither does smiling at them
Loving our neighbours is the root of all the good things we can do for them. Loving them will drive us to do these things. Before cursing and blaming our government, why don’t we do our part first. Small things count a lot, even if we do not know it, others see what we do, and if we serve as an example for them maybe they, too, will be moved.
People is what makes a nation, we share the triumph of one and we share the failure of one as well. But this is not all about success or failure, whoever succeeds or fails, we are Filipinos, we share the same country and the same nationality, whether we like it or not, we have to like it. If we are not proud of what we are and our fellowmen, then who will be?
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