Why Is The Philippines Poor ?

Dear Friends,Here is a good article sent by Dr. Arsenio Martin of Fort Arthur , Texas ...Enjoy reading.

THE DIFFERENCE: The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country:

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt , that are more than 2000 years old, but are poor..

On the other hand, Canada , Australia & New Zealand , that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are rich.

The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.

Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw materials from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate in the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality! It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world's strongest, safest place.

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference..Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.What is the difference then? The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture & flawed tradition.On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.
10. and of course...Discipline

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in natural resources.We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. If you love your country, let this message circulate so that many Filipinos could reflect about this, & CHANGE, ACT!

My 38th Birthday

April 6, 2009, my 38th birthday, a Maundy Monday.

Waking up sweating at my sister's place down in the lowlands, I got greeted by a lot of people dear to my heart. Too many, that I had to reload my line  to reply in different ways of thanking these people who touched and shaped my life. Among the messages in my inbox was a message from my good old American pal. It was not a birthday greeting, it was bad news. He informed me that somebody died at  dawn of my birth date within our neighborhood, it involved the kids whom we know. Faces and names started shuttering in my mind. Who were the culprits? Who were the victims? Who are to blame for these crimes committed by our youth? Why do they commit such acts of violence?

LIVING WITH GENERATION Y

I have known majority of them boys and girls roaming our fast urbanizing community. My 2 lovely angels jive amongst them. I advise them things regarding good living, sharing the ethical theories of having a good life I learned as a Louisian. I taught them how to work in a printing press, dirtying their hands to earn a living, sharing the knowledge and skills I know. Majority of the boys within the neighborhood, both in and out of school, took part in handling printing press machinery and operations inside our family owned print shop. They developed their skills in these line of work, which I concluded that there really are no dumb people, only lazy people tend to be dumb. I now enjoy the benefit of having an abundant resource of manpower for our printing press business, which before was a scarce resource.

After a hard days work, we sometimes boozed our self up celebrating the fruits of our labor. As a responsible guardian I never let them leave our house once they had been intoxicated by the spirits hard drinks delivers, I let them sleep until the demons leave their fragile minds. I know who they are, and what havoc they might do to the community once released in such a destructive state. I ask them questions an inquiring parent myself will inquire. Seeking answers why they act so rebellious both in society and within their family. I knew them well like brothers, a way of earning respect from these young people.

We all went through our very own younger days. Wily, out of control, being young offered experiences that goes beyond the realms of legal discipline. Depending on the youth's socialization among the factors that affect his upbringing, he metamorphoses from a child to a young adult either as a law abiding individual or otherwise.

Neighborhood kids tend to be fraternal. They're an all for one, one for all gangsters of hot burning lava ready to blow off anytime, once provoked. A sense of brother hood, a kill or be killed attitude, that is what a neighborhood gang is made of. 


Knowing the youth of today, they tend to be responsive with what ever threat that befalls them. They get easily annoyed once a rival group threatens any member . I recall a movie entitled City of God. Ironically the title doesn't fit the movie's story, it is exactly the opposite. In the movie, young adults and children tend to find refuge not in their families. They find security and stability with their peers who held guns, used drugs and into prostitution. They don't believe in the power of education and parental control. But they do believe in God, and they were mislead that God had a purpose for them, kill or be killed to survive, a creed taught to every new member by the gangs big bosses. The toughest among the brood was their saviour, protector from the threats that awaits them in every corner of their territory. They didnt believe in the law, law did not exist. This isn't just a movie, it was based on real situations, real people. And it is happening now, a problem every neighborhood within the city needs to address immediately before hell breaks lose.

THE BLAMING GAME

Blaming others for the result of failure have always been the scapegoat of a lot of people. It is a way of saving face, delegating the failure to some other person or thing, a sign of incompetence and cowardice. Who then will we blame for the damage brought about by youthful offenders? Who should take the ire of parents who lose a dear son or daughter inflicted upon them by their fellow youth?

Living in a country with good laws assures a citizen of a safe and secure society to live in. However, laws remain as mere written doctrines embedded in books and records without implementation, lacking its true purpose, social order. It needs fangs to bite on offenders, it should be implemented to its maximum, with no exemption or whatsoever. We have laws requiring the youth to clear the streets of Baguio after 9 p.m., ensuring the safety of our children and the community as well. Republic Act No. 9344, an act establishing a comprehensive juvenile justice and welfare system, creating the juvenile justice and welfare council under the department of justice, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes, is just one law among a premise of other similar laws already implemented.

But on the dawn of that Maundy Monday of April 6, 2009, there was no order, law enforcers failed law implementation resulting to violence that could have been deterred if laws were implemented. Was it circumstantial? I guess not. A family lost a son and a son shall be leaving a family who is in dire need of his services to augment their everyday living, he is about to suffer the consequence of his rude act of violence. 


Are the law enforcers liable and should be blamed for their negligence? They came upon the group,reeking with liquor, hours before the incident happened, they should have implemented the law by bringing those present to the police station for their parents to be informed and let them go fetch their children, safe and sound. Merely shooing them won't take effect, they're tough and words ain't enough to rattle them. 


Parents too have obligations to be aware of every activities their children undergo, but on that night, parents seem to had been immune of the daily routines their children do. Can we blame the parents? Nearby neighbors who in one way or another could have prevented the incident, daring to go out from a distance from where the incident happened, warning them or even calling up the police before things got worse. Are they to blame too?

Thousands of incidents similar to what had occurred on the dawn of that Maundy Monday happens, everyday. Blaming each other won't solve the problem, it just worsens the situation. Laws are made to establish order in society. It should be implemented to the maximum. If only law itself can do what it was mandated for, if it could only roam and apprehend those who violates;implementing it's power; humanity in a civilized society will enjoy the benefits it offers. Blaming the law is absurd, but blaming society for creating lost young souls is justifiable.

There are two sides of every coin, and I do not generalized Generation Y, there are of course good
breeds among them.

Society must act fast, before our millenials take over, in chaos and not in peace,they are growing fast.... and in numbers.

I seek for a moment of your time upon reading this blog to pray for the soul of one young man who died on the dawn of that Maundy Monday of April 6, 2009, may he rest in peace with his creator,  Pray for justice for both victim and suspect , that their acts of violence influenced by a society that has created them be justifiably  served and that suffering  must not extent to life imprisonment for this young wasted man.