I was once asked if I am really so cynical as to believe the situation in the Philippines is hopeless. Well, to be honest, no. The Philippines is not hopeless. There is a way for it to be saved only if we, the people, the government and the various organizations in the country work together for the common good. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done as we are besieged by countless issues that plague both the individual Filipino and the country as a whole. Unless we work to actually change a lot of these, I can guarantee that we’ll probably be stuck as a third-world hellhole for decades to come.
However, let us focus mainly on the government since they’re the ones supposedly running the show around here, after all. Now look, I know they aren’t the only ones to blame (the Filipino people have much to answer for as well) but someone once asked me what changes should be made in Philippine politics in order for the country to fully prosper. Of course, like I said, politicians aren’t the only ones that should change in order to improve the country, they could still make a big impact if they do the following:
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Take Their Jobs Seriously
This is by far the most important because, all too often, it is because of the irresponsible nature of Pinoy politicians that has time and time again led the country to further ruin. As I have said for the thousandth time, “leadership is a responsibility” but, unfortunately, it is a responsibility many of our politicians can’t even acknowledge. Take for instance President Aquino and his repetitive statements about “Daang Matuwid” (Straight Path) despite the fact that he seems to be more focused on getting himself a wife than actually doing anything substantial for the country. Not that there’s anything wrong with finding a partner in life but really, he should focus more of his efforts into actually understanding the problems of the country rather than using his vast resources for bagging himself a beauty queen.
Lose Their Self-Entitlemet
As it is with most Pinoys, our politicians are deeply afflicted with a delusion of grandeur. As our friend Chino Fernandez implies, majority of Pinoys and the politicians themselves are under the delusion that they are royalty. That’s why people like Mar Roxas think that it’s enough for them to pretend they’re one of the people such as when he participates in various photo ops to create a false sense of humility. Also note that both President Aquino and Mr. Roxas believe that people should be grateful that they’re helping them out (even though the help they’re giving is actually more of an insult than anything else) despite the fact that it was the people’s vote that brought them into power.
Get Real
Like what we here in GRP like to say, “Get Real!”
The thing is the country’s problems will not solve themselves. There will be no saving grace or miraculous event that will suddenly turn the Philippines into a productive and prosperous country no matter how much the Aquino administration and their media lackeys insist it is. Unless, direct measures to address the issue are taken instead of using empty words like “Daang Matuwid” or “Oras na! Roxas Na!” and stupid phrases like “E di wow!”, then this country certainly is doomed.
“YO, GET REAL!”
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Mga Kababayang Pilipino, imulat ninyo ang inyong mga mata, at tanungin ninyo ang inyong sarili, sa mga posibleng kandidatong ito na sinasabi ninyo……SINOOOOOOO sa kanila ang may mga plano kung saan niya dadalin ang bansa sa ika uunlad nito at ikabubuti o ikagiginhawa ng mga nahihikahos na mamayan na walang makuhang trabaho at saan direccion niya dadalhin ang bansa para mabawasan o tuluyan masugpo and corruption?????SINOOOOOO????Meron ba?????Walaaaaa…..sino kYA ANG DAPAT NATING IBOTO NA MAY MAKATWIRANG PARAAN SA MGA BAGAY NA ITO…HMMMMMMM….wALA AKONG NAKIKITA NA MGA PLANO SILA…Lahat sila palagay ko ay walang agenda para sa ikauunland ng bansa at ng mga mamayang pilipino…at kahit na ganyan …iboboto pa din niyo silaaaaa.
Binay and Marcos partnership ano ang sinasabi nila….Roxas and Cayetano may plano ba sila… at and wild card na si Grace Poe maybe partner niya si Trillanes….ano kaya ang kanilang gagawin…
eto ang inaasahan ko sa mga popular na kandidatong ito….
!. Mar Roxas and Cayetano…..ipagpapatuloy and tuwid na daan ni NONOY at patuloy na sugpuin ang corruption at nakawan sa lahat ng branches ng Gobierno..
2..Binay at Marcos,,,, patuloy na suporta sa mga business corporation para madagdagan ang trabaho sa bansa at mapaunlad ang infrastactura katulad ng kalsada , tulay , electical grid at massive traffic problems ng mga ciudad…
3. Si grace poe at si Trillanes….dapat mag concentrate sa ikauunlad ng 80% poor filipinos…social welfare at tulungan ang mga naghihikahos na filipino..
Kung ganito ang plano ng mga kandidatong ito. WIN ,,,, WIN ….sa mamayang filipino kahit sino man ang manalo . sa anim na taong sila ang magdadala sa direcccion ng bansa . Iyan dapat ang direction ng ating political system…Tatlong partidong magpapaligsahan sa ikauunlad ng bayan…iyan sana ang hilingin niyo sa mga kandidatong ito at iboto ninyo.
Maybe magkakaroon tayo ng direction at pag asaaaaa..
Demokrasya ng Switzerland ang Klase ng Gobyerno na dapat Ipatutupad sa Bansa ng Pilipinas para Tuloy-Tuloy ang Kalayaan at Asenso sa Kasalukuyan at Kinabukasan ng mga Pilipino!!!!!!!!!!
Ito po ang website tungkol sa Switzerland: http://www.ozy.com/acumen/the-worlds-greatest-democracy/40073#.VXuBR2OL8qQ.facebook
A pass 50 years old Aquino searching for a wife?
Aquino is pass the menopousal stage already.
Why not come out of the Closet, and tell people you are gay…
Filipinos are hardheaded…they will never listen to the call for change.
No other way to change than to change : our mindset; our attitudes; and our negative way of perceiving realities.
Elect Able people, with good leadership and mental capability. People with integrity. Do not elect people on Show Biz; or those who exhibit Show Biz tendencies, during political campaign. We want Leaders; not entertainers.
May I add a couple of reasons why ‘change’ is paramount and is urgently needed soonest. In the early 1960s, the Philippines was, indeed, the ‘Pearl of the Orient’. Korea,still, had rampant poverty; Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia looked up to us.. even sending over not just their students, but their middle-line executives as well for training; and, Vietnam was in the throes of the change-over from French domination to American influence and still to have an even worse fate.. the ‘Vietnam War’. It was only Japan that was showing signs of becoming an industrialized power.. although ‘Made-in-Japan’ was a popular pejorative for anything that was poorly made. The ‘Pearl of the Orient’ was riding high and handsome, but was showing signs of being stuck in ‘neutral’ even then, whereas, these others were moving forward.
We talk today of national leaders; the likes of Lee Kwan Yew, Mahatir Mohamed, Thanom Kittikachorn and others within the region. What is strikingly apparent is the seriousness and and the singularity of purpose of these leaders.. leaders whose rationale for leading was to make their country great. They saw their positions as a means to that end. With our own leaders, on the other hand.. Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, Pnoy and Binay, one gets the impression that their positions were, (and still are) an ‘end’ rather than a ‘means’ to achieve something great for the country. If, at all there were any such ambition, it was invariably for personal gain and/or for some dubious ‘legacy’. These positions were viewed as the achievement itself.. a reason to strut and preen, and take advantage of the privilege and opportunity.. for themselves.
As regards training and qualifications, Dr. Mahatir Mohamed is a medical doctor; Mr. Lee was a product of Oxford and Cambridge in England, and General Kittikachorn graduated from Thailand’s
National Defence College. The UP College of Law and West Point may be comparable to the schools earlier mentioned, but attending High School in LA, (Bong Revilla), or a HIgh School in Pampanga, (Lito Lapid), and even ‘night school’ at the Lyceum, (JInggoy), is hardly comparable.. not by a mile.
We might talk about the electorate and the electoral system; but I wouldn’t like to go there. We know what that’s about.
Here’s the 4th change the government could do to improve the Philippines: go “Back To Basics” by returning to an agricultural life that once fed millions of Filipino people–in which this country was naturally designed for–instead of the “concrete jungle” the Filipinos have turned this country into, out of self-serving interests (profit) and arrogance (to appear modern and “world class”).
Authors and bloggers here at GRP talk as if we know the answers, but is anyone really doing something concrete to effect this “change”?
Or is GRP just a wishing well where we can all throw our 2 cents in and hope some genie will hear us?
Is any politician even reading all this? Who is the audience if GRP?
Can at least one influential person here stand up and give us feedback?
Aquino’s YellowTard Trolls are attacking the GRP Blogsite; and hacking my computer. It just show, they are reading our Blogs .
Yep, I was a victim of that.
So you’ve never heard of a positive testimonial of how GRP influenced a politician or government official to adopt the suggestions offered in the site?
I really think GRP core people should go up to the mountains and do some deep reflection on whether merely crying “emperor has no clothes” is effective as a strategy to effect the desired change in this country.
Because if nothing is changes, this is all just a useless exercise.
Real Change only happens when you WANT IT, and WANT IT A LOT MORE THAN YOU FEAR IT, and want it a lot more than you fear STAYING RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE NOW. ‘Til then, you will only commit to the level of dipping your toe in the deep end of the “Change Pool” and lie to yourself that this “proves” you are at least “TRYING” to change.
Failipinos in the Failippines? NO, THEY ARE NOT.
zaxx,
How can the authors, bloggers, and the general Filipino population do anything when eveybody is in a different frame of minds of what is wrong with the Philippines and who is at fault?
This has been the legacy of our people from the very beginning–to be self-serving (kanya-kanya) and aristocratic (hambog)–and the reason why the Philippines is so screwed up as a nation.
Yes, I’m including myself in that self-serving and arorgant population. I just wish the rest of the Filipinos, in the Philippines and abroad, would do the same instead of just pointing fingers at each other.
A little humility of admitting that we’ve all contributed—directly and indrectly–to what’s going on in the Philippines today, will tremendously help guide us in the direction of solving our problems as nation.
Aeta
@Aeta:
Yes, we are all to Blame; because, we elected these Clowns and Thieves…
“Natanso tayo palagi tuwing eleksiyon”
Yes the man in the mirror is to blame. Thanks for reminding me. It’s a lot of work shedding off the remaining traces of the dysfunctional Pinoy mindset I got infected with. Still work in progress …
Work In Progress (WIP). Same here, zaxx, as well as every person who calls himself/herself a Pinoy; although, many are too proud to admit it.
09Toro007Hayden0072,
And we Filipinos are supposed to be intelligent, educated, socially sophisticated, and “world class.”
Am I missing something here on why we can’t boycott our own government and all its stupidity?
Aeta
@Aeta:
“Supposed” is the word. It means presumed, not actual. Some are educated, but not intelligent. We are not “world class”. We are “servants of the world”….mostly: domestic helpers, home health care workers, manual laborers, etc…
There are graduate in universities, but, if they go to industrialized countries. Their fields of study are not recognized; because the Colleges, teach Obsolete Subjects, especially in Science and Technology.
In the U.S., the subjects are so advanced, that the text book, you use this year; will be obsolete in the next school year.
077Hayden007Toro999.99,
So is it safe to assume we Filipinos are just a bunch of “Over-educated Idiots,” who managed to convinced ourselves that we “know it all,” but really don’t, out of pride?
Aeta
there a little chances na matupad ung mga changes the sinasabi mo. Hindi lng ung mga pulitiko/or govt officials ang problema dito. Ang pinaka-core na issue dito na dapat i-address ay yung ating gov’t system. Ung sistema mismo or ung kultura na nabuo ng sistema ay ung tanging bagay na sumisira sa ating bayan. This system makes our good leaders corrupt. This system makes our good leaders a bad leaders. Kahit sino pa na matalino o sobrang bait o tapat na leader ang mahalal na pinuno,wala pa ring mangyayari sa ating bayan.
Ang tanging paraan para sa pagbabago ay alisin ang corrupt na sistema, alisin ang maling kultura na binuo ng corrupt sistema.
Sa pagalis ng sistema, doon papasok ang pag-amyenda ng saligang batas. Doon din papasok ang paghalal ng mga bagong pinuno. Ung pinuno na hindi nalason ng lumang sistema.
Ang pinakacommon na pagbabago ng sistema na ating nararanasan o ating nakikita ay ung mga company restructuring o pwede rin ung team rebuilding sa mga sports teams. So pwede rin pala na mngyari to sa gov’t natin.
Sa pagbabago ng sistema ng ating gov’t, Syempre, tututol dito ang mga taong bayan. Kahit sinong mamamayan naman eh takot maulit muli ang nagyari noong marcos regime. O kung di man dahil doon, takot naman tayo sa tinatawag na uncertainty.
Pero kailangan talaga mangyari ito. Doon magsisimula ang pagbabago, hindi kay pinoy,binay,roxas,poe or sino man.
reyr,
I appreciate you clarifying what I’ve always known about our people:
“Ang tanging paraan para sa pagbabago ay alisin ang corrupt na sistema, alisin ang maling kultura na binuo ng corrupt sistema.”
So it is the ‘culture’ afterall–and its underlying values–that is the root of the problems on why we Filipinos and our systems are dysfunctional; and why we’re screwing up the Philippines as a result.
‘The Philippines is corrupt because the people are corrupt; the people are corrupt because the cultures is corrupt.’
Now I’ll take that saying one step further:
‘The culture is corrupt because the values are corrupt.’
Thanks,
Aeta
Pinoys love to talk. Those who claim to have solutions are failing if there is no corresponding action. This quotable quote comes to mind…
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
– by Edmund Burke
@ Grimwald, How about some actual ‘policies’ that could be set in motion to produce higher wage earning employment, bring down electricity costs ? Here are a few that would have immediate impacts!
1)Cutting electricity rates to that of Thailand would allow local enterprises to open up and produce competitively priced goods, the scam that is the electricity market in the Phiippines is well known, or at least it should be (there is no electricity shortage, it is a charade).
2)cutting import tariffs on all goods entering the country. This would prevent consumers that are spending OFW remittances from abroad to NOT be ‘TAXED’ again when buyig goods with OFW money. This would also allow for greater competitive markets all across the economy.
3) Implement an infrastructure improvement scheme much like what was done to alleviate the depression in Germany and the USA in the 1930’s and could turn the country into an actual country emerging towards first world status rather than the festering shit-hole that it currently is.
These three ‘policies’ would have an immediate IMPACT, I could produce a few more as well that would really make a difference both immedaitely and long term.
IF A FOREIGNER LIKE ME CAN SEE THESE THINGS OBVIOUSLY, WTF IS WRONG WITH THE FILIPINO’s THAT ARE THERE THEIR WHOLE LIVES? WAKE THE FUCK UP ALREADY !!! DOES SHIT HAVE TO FLOOD PEOPLE’s LIVING ROOMS BEFORE THE WAKE UP ? MY GOD MON !!!!