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Thursday, June 22, 2006
Speak out: What’s wrong with us?
By Aldous I.J. Echegoyen
Church Minister, Mactan Church of Christ
I have just arrived from Singapore after a 10-day mission work there.
It was a very tiring trip since we have to go to Angeles City to take the budget plane from Clark to Singapore.
As we got off the plane, guess what I heard from the other Filipinos: “Mag-ingat kayo sa mga gamit nyo, Pilipinas na ‘to.”
It was neither a nice thing to hear nor a nice thing to say about your own country, but then again, can I blame them?
We were already waiting in line to go through immigration and guess what I saw…an evidence of a Filipino.
Or Filipinos who just can’t wait to go through immigration, ignoring the yellow line where we were supposed to wait for our turn and despite a signboard saying so.
After immigration, customs.
A woman before me was upset about the custom charging her P850 tax for the play station she bought in Singapore.
“I don’t have enough money anymore to go back to Cebu,” she said.
Guess what custom personnel said to her?
“Well, how much are you willing to pay?”
And that’s not the shocking part.
Custom personnel said, “If you want, let’s not make a receipt of your payment so you can pay less, ok?”
Welcome back to the Philippines!
I don’t want to believe the Philippines is going to the dogs.
I don’t believe the Philippines cannot regain its dignity.
But there is just something lacking in us that even how much we struggle we always end up at the bottom.
In my opinion we lack discipline and will power.
When I say “we” I mean the government and the Filipino people (including myself).
The other day, I was buying roasted chicken in the market place of Lapu-Lapu City and guess what I saw: young people sniffing rugby in front of me!
What’s so ironic about this is that the police station was just a few meters away.
Well, this is the Philippines, isn’t it?
What’s wrong with the Philippines?
The government? The President? The system?
My opinion is that it’s the Filipinos.
Maybe we can start with ourselves.
If we change the way we think about our government and learn to trust it, then maybe they will begin to be trustworthy.
If we change the way we think about our country and start being responsible and disciplined, maybe in time, maybe not in our generation, the Philippines will be a better place because we started something different within ourselves.
I don’t really know how the Philippines can grow economically or how our government can change.
But I too want to see a better Philippines.
Maybe if I start doing right today, I can influence others to do what is legal and right.
This is also my country and I love my Philippines!
Many people have died for this country and I will not let them die in vain.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 22, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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