A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

Got this one in the mail. At first I was a bit skeptical about it. I was never a fan of self-help books and cuddly-feel good literature like Five People You Meet in Heaven. But the writer raises some good valid points. There some simple things an “ordinary* citizen” can do. We forget that citizens also have responsibilities to the nation very much like elected officials. Italicized cynical editorializing are my thoughts not the author’s:

There’s a booklet making the rounds in Metro Manila that every Filipino who loves his country should get hold of and read, and hopefully put the points it raises into practice, in order to help our nation…

“Twelve (12) Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country,” by Alexander Ledesma Lacson, may be a “voice in the wilderness”; but as Fr. Ruben Tanseco, S.J. puts it, what Alex proposes are “very concrete, practical and doable” actions for us ordinary Filipinos.

A simple enumeration of these “twelve little things” will not do justice to the work of Alex. You’ve got to read the whole text, but I shall try to compress a few lines for some of the items mentioned.

1. Follow traffic rules — Why is that the most important? The answer is simple. Traffic rules are the simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it will be the lowest form of national discipline that we can develop. Since it is totally without monetary cost, it should be easy for us to comply with, and therefore should provide a good start.

Yup. And traffic rules are meant for the safety of everyone. Stop giving driving licenses to pre-pubescent boys who think tricycles should be part of Formula 1 racing.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt. — If a seller does not issue an official receipt when you buy a product, the seller may or may not remit the tax to the government. Without an O.R., there is no record of the sale transaction, and the tax that you paid may not be remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Harder to do with at Bhoy’s Sari-Sari Store or at Isawan ni Aling Inang and others in the underground economy.

3. Do not buy smuggled goods. Buy local, buy Filipino. — It may not be good economics to buy 100 percent local products.What I suggest is for us to take a “50-50″ buying attitude. This means that we must develop the attitude of using 50 percent of our budget for local products and the other 50 percent for imported choices.

We tried buying Filipino. Honestly. But there are just some locally produced products which are either more expensive or totally inferior quality wise. I think consumers are driven by those two considerations before parting with hard to come by disposable income.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners,speak positively of our race and our country — this is best addressed to the rich and the middle class in our country, who have contact with the outside world.It is they who talk to, dine or deal with foreigners either here or abroad. It is what they say and do which creates impressions about us among foreigners.

Now, well see…nation building shouldn’t be just limited to the rich and middle class. The lower class have also ingrained a culture of learned helplessness - wala kaming magagawa dahil mahirap lang kami. That should be unlearned and they should be encouraged to ask for what is rightfully theirs: access to education, access to jobs, and basic services.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman, soldier and other public servants — There is nothing like the power of respect. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. At the same time, courtesy to others is good manners. It is class and elegance and kindness. It is seeing the value and dignity in the other man. It is, in fact, a mark of a most profound education.

Respect for everyone should be the norm. Asking to be cowed before a uniform shouldn’t be. It’s hard to respect someone in uniform if it is used to bully and insist on having their own way. My personal experiences with them aren’t exactly encouraging. There are some officers who are quite the gentlemen but the majority of my interaction with the folks in uniform leaves much to be desired. Arrogance and sense of entitlement doesn’t encourage courtesy - especially from a clerk at the city hall who thinks she has the power of an empress.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle.Conserve. — As Louis Armstrong says in his song: “I see trees of green, red roses, too, I see them bloom for me and you and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”

Again, true. Don’t you just love smacking the person in the next car throwing garbage out their window? Sure they don’t want to make a mess in their car but they’re all for dirtying up the streets and clogging the drainage. Hopefully their car gets stuck during a flash flood.

7. Support your church. (or charitable/ civic organizations)

Enh. I’d go with charitable institutions more since they’d probably have less access to funds.

8. During elections, do your solemn duty. — Honesty, more than a masteral or doctorate degree, is what gives credibility. And credibility is essential because it is a leader’s link to the people.It is what makes the people look to one direction,follow a common vision, and perform a uniform act. In short,credibility is what makes people follow the leader.

This confuses me. Is he talking about people should go out and vote and do their civic duty or about elected officials? If he’s talking about elected officials well, I think most people have long resigned to the fact campaign promises are like campaign jingles: they’re gone after the votes have been counted.

9. Pay your employees well. — No exercise is better for the human heart than to reach down and lift someone else up. This truly defines a successful life. For success is the sum, not of our earthly possessions, but of how many times we have shown love and kindness to others.

I think most of the legit businessmen have been very good at this.

10. Pay your taxes. — In 2003, P83 billion was collected from individual income taxes. But 91 percent of this amount came from salaried workers from the government and private sector, people who had no choice since their income taxes were withheld mandatorily. Only P7 billion of the P83 billion came from businessmen and professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects,among others.

“Only P7 billion of the P83 billion came from businessmen and professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects,among others.” ‘Nuff said.

11. Adopt a scholar or adopt a poor child. — You can make a difference in the future of our country by making a difference in the world of children.

Do it because you genuinely want to help the child. Don’t do it because you expect something in return in this world or the next.

12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and to love our country. — Today’s children will someday rule and lead this world. But whether they will be bad rulers or good leaders will depend largely on how we raise them today. Our future is in the hearts and minds of our children.

Yeah. I’ve seen rotten kids and wondered what happened to them. Then I see the parents behaving in the most atrocious way in front of their kids. And oh, if you can’t feed, clothe and give them a good education, please don’t think of having children.

*See, the distinction of “ordinary citizens” means there are also special citizens. There shouldn’t be. If you mean politicians and the people in power, that’s just the wrong way to think about things. They should be answerable to the people because they owe their mandate to them.