hEaR! hEaR!

Date: 7 May 2007
Start: 11:00 AM (Approximation)

http://the-cloud-rider.blogspot.com/2007/05/not-in-philippines.html

This post is actually a comment to the post made by a friend. You can check out the post just by clicking the link above. Anyway, foreseeing that my comment would be very long, I have decided to make it into a post instead, given that I have not updated my blog for quite a while. I hope you would appreciate my comment/post.
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Grabe! I really agree on the point that we should be voting candidates not based on popularity or money. I truly believe that what the candidates need to earn from the people is trust, since being a leader of the country is a very big task. It is really strange why people kill each other for a slot. Let's start with the small picture.

The family, as we all know, is the basic unit of society. The head/s of the family are the parent/s. Let us assume that there is no divorce, annulment or single parenting in our society. Below are five of the main problems of families. The problems are not listed according to some order.

1.) Money
2.) Food
3.) Shelter
4.) Clothes
5.) Education

The top priority would definitely be money. Without money, a family cannot afford the rest. We all know that the father is usually the breadwinner, but considering the conditions of our society, a family still does not have enough money, even if each member of the family works.

Speaking of, I would like to emphasize a point regarding child labor. We all know that this is illegal, unless the child has a working permit. Anyway, children can help the family earn money in many different ways. They could offer their neighbors to do a simple task, help their parents in the family business, or the best that they can do is not waste their resources so as to save a lot of money. Sadly, it is the children who become breadwinners of the family. Remember the children caroling in Agham Road During Christmas? Parents always blame the motorists for the accidents their children got into. Well, why blame the motorists when it is really their fault? They have neglected their children and most importantly, their family duties. While their children are out in the streets, playing games with Death, the parents are there, gossiping with neighbors or drinking with comrades. Why let them do the dirty job? Simply because people pity the children more. I think these children deserve to be in an orphanage, where they will be cared for, rather than be with their parents, who treat them as slaves. The strange thing here is that they do not complain about this, like they don't mind if their parents are just idling around. Well, I do not know what it feels like to be in their situation, but I would definitely agree that if I am in their shoes, I would do anything just to earn money, even if the risk is high and I will be breaking the law. No wonder we have a high criminal rate. Anyway, to fast things forward, all these things lead to another problem that is education.

I am sure that children love to go to school to learn new things. They will only hate school out of discouragement or fear. From what I was discussing above, children are forced to quit schooling because they lack money. Well, with that, they are either idle or working. It is truly a shame when one of the school's exceptional students quit school just because his parents cannot afford his education or that he has to earn a living for his family. How will our country fare when education is deprived from the exceptional students just because they lack money? I think education should be the top priority of our government. As quoted from Jose Rizal, the youth are the hope of the Motherland. What will happen to our country when more children are deprived of education through the years? Nothing. We will all be miserable in the future.

I would also like to discuss the conditions of education here in the Philippines. Children either enter a public or private school. Many go to public schools since parents cannot afford their children to go to a private school. Here is where we see the imbalance in the supply and demand. There is a large demand, in favor of the people, but there is only a few supply. We could refer to this supply as the number of classrooms, desks, chairs, educational materials and so on. Defective 'goods' are excluded in the supply count. This would refer to tattered textbooks, broken chairs and desks, and 'demolished' classrooms. Given this great imbalance, how come the government is not working on this? Well, assuming corruption is not present in our government, they prioritize 'unnecessary' things or red tape is present. Well, I just don't know if parents are pulling their children out of school just because they are suffocating inside the classroom. Well, another radical idea. If I had the opportunity, I will attend a public forum for candidates in order to express one of the problems I have presented just now. Unfortunately, the election will be this coming Monday, so even if the candidates are at full force in campaigning, my chances are slim. Anyway, the next election will be 2010, but this time we get to vote for another set of senators and more importantly, the president. Luckily, by that time, I am weeks away from my 19th birthday.

After a long side trip in this discussion, if parents go insane in supporting their family, to a point that they have big arguments, what more could managing a country do to a person? So here I present my analogy.

Parents : President, Senators, Congressmen, Etc.

Family: Country

Guess what? They are homologous in a way that they have the same problems. Here's how.

Money = (decent) jobs for people
Food = enough food for everyone
Shelter = a (decent) place to stay
Education = everyone gets to finish with a college degree, with postgraduate studies as an option

I am not sure where clothes come in. Anyway, you might have noticed that the problems of the government are stated as goals. Well, basically that is their duty-- to provide. You see, this is an overwhelming task. Well, these are definitely long term goals, such that whatever measure we take, the final results will be seen after at least five or ten years. Given this big responsibility, why are many people desperate for this office?

Just as I have mentioned, we should chose candidates based on their capability to make a difference. I have no objection to newscasters, actors and businessmen running for senator, just as long as they could push their colleagues to execute projects that will benefit the society. Leaders of the land do not have to be lawmakers. Who cares about the hundred-page Constitution or so. The Ten Commandments would be the law itself, though it does not cover matters regarding land ownership and others. Well, that is just for order's sake.

Anyway, I hope I can have the opportunity of being a campaign manager someday. Of course I will side with the people who I am sure can make the country a better place. As campaign manager, I will not have my candidate/s waste money on TV ads and giveaways. I will use the money for transportation expenses. I will have my candidate/s go on a forum tour. Through this, people can have the chance to discuss issues with the candidate/s. They could also know the candidate better. What better way could there be to know someone then to have a close encounter with the person, wherein you can have a conversation with him. Through this, candidates not only gain votes, but trust. If we have money votes in economics, then we should have trust votes in the government. Endorsements by religious groups or popular icons should not affect the decision of the voter. These are merely 'safe' options given to the voter. They do not necessarily tell you who to trust. It's still up to the voter whom to trust.

I will end this post to a message to prospective candidates for government office. Running the country is a very dirty business. I do really hope you know what you guys are entering into. Most of all, I really hope that you are running your government office because you want to serve the people. Besides, it's what government office is about, public service. Remember, the government is FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND OF THE PEOPLE. WE, THE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ARE YOUR BOSS, AND WE OUTNUMBER YOU. SO IF YOUR PERFORMANCE IS POOR OR YOU ARE DOING DIRTY BUSINESS AROUND THERE, SAD TO SAY, IT'S IMPEACHMENT FOR YOU. HAIL TO PEOPLE POWER!!! : )

End: 12:41 PM

* If ever there are grammatical errors in this post, I truly apologize for it, but my thoughts are running wild as I was writing this post. : )