Instead of Totally Relying on the Government,

We Should Also Do Our Share of Action

By Apolinario Villalobos

The Philippine government in general, is corrupt. Even with Duterte, known for his abhorrence of corruption is around, the grime that for long has soiled the image of the country still sticks. This is because those who are being used as instruments in the perpetration of this hideous anomaly are still in place, “licensed” by the civil service eligibility. And, that is the sad reality….

The aforementioned fact should make us realize that it is futile to be always blaming the government for everything that we find not pleasing to our eyes. It is true that the government should take care of our needs as tax payers….short of saying that we pay ALL government employees from the topmost down to the lowest rank to serve us using the tax we pay. But, are we doing our share of action FOR SOME MATTERS THAT WE CAN DO AT OUR END?

We blame the government for the obnoxious public market and uncollected garbage…but are we cleaning our backyard of the long-abandoned and rotting garbage or ridding our front yard of the waist-high grasses that for long have grown thick or cleaning the street in front of our home or planting flowers or shrubs to help prettify our community or reporting to the police anomalies that we observe around us? Have we tried segregating our garbage and keep the recyclables and bury for composting those that should be, to lessen what are collected for dumping at the garbage site? Etc. etc. etc. Some of us even put fish scales and entrails in the garbage instead of burying them outright…simple act, yet, intentionally disregarded.

We blame the government for the drug problem in our community..but have we disciplined our children enough to veer them away from bad barkadas that introduce them to drinking, smoking, and finally, drugs? We blame the government for the internet cafes that are frequented by students who skip classes….but have we ever thought that such addiction started when we gave in to their whims to have expensive  “touch phones” that developed their fanatical adherence to this woeful technology?

We should realize that every time we point our forefinger to somebody as an act of accusation, our three fingers are pointing at us. There is a need to take a second look at ourselves…there is a need for a reflection to know, if at least, we have been or are….GOOD FILIPINOS! IF NOT, WE SHOULD STOP CALLING OUR GOVERNMENT BAD, BECAUSE WE ARE PART OF IT…INSTEAD, WE SHOULD DO OUR PART OF ACTION!

WE ARE THE PHILIPPINES. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS, PARTICIPANTS ARE CALLED BY THEIR COUNTRY’S NAME.