On change in the country (blog entry for Theology)

I recently came across this documentary about this Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, Jesse Robredo. According to the documentary, Jesse Robredo ran for the mayor position for Naga City, when Naga City was suffering from poverty. However with dedication and hard work, he was able to turn Naga City into one of the most promising provinces of the Philippines. He has created many job opportunities for the people and he has made the city more prosperous. This documentary made me remember Davao. I went to Davao earlier this year. One incident that struck me was when I was about to leave the car of my friend. I was taking out my laptop with me. My friend told me to just leave my laptop there. I was apprehensive. But my friend told me that the crime rates were so low because the mayor was so strict. Apparently when their mayor first sat in his position, the crime rates were very high. So the mayor imposed very strict rules and ruled with a tight fist. He would make sure that all criminals were all placed in jail or were severely punished. He was reasonable to deal with as long as you were following the law. This made the people afraid of him yet they admired the way he ruled the town. This mayor along with jesse Robredo, made me think about the situation of our country. It made me start thinking about the corruption.

Would the day come when we would have some change in the country? Can poverty actually be lessened?

I was thought about our president and felt a twinge of pity for her. No doubt, she is definitely corrupted. She has definitely amassed a big sum of the country’s money. But on the flipside, she must have been doing something right which is why the Philippines is not suffering as much. Yes we are suffering. Yes many people are getting poorer by the minute. But prior to this economic crisis, our economy has been moving quite steadily as compared to other countries. So she must have done something right at the very least. But this does not change the fact that she did squander amounts of money. Because of the many wrong things she has done, people have overlooked some right things she has done. And for this, I pity her. Because in the eyes of people, she will never be able to redeem herself anymore. 

 Trust is extremely important. In any relationship, be it with your significant other or your friend, it is important that trust be present. It is so easy to break someone’s trust but it would take a lifetime to patch back the broken pieces. In the same way, the mayors of Davao and Naga have won the trust of the people which make them very successful in what they do. In order to alleviate the Philippines from poverty, we do not only need a leader who has the brains to be able to think of ways to pull us from this black hole we are in. But we also need someone we can trust. Someone who will work for us and not against us. 

 Now that the Presidential elections are fast approaching, who do you think can actually lead the Philippines? Who can be the “Obama” the Philippines needs at the moment? Because a successful country needs good governance.

My 2008 Christmas Wish List

My boyfriend and other friends have been bugging me for my Christmas wish list. So here it is. 

1.  DVDs (The 10th Kingdom, Love Story, the Encantadia TV Series, and yeah yeah laugh all you want the Dyesebel and Marimar TV series)
2. Books(anything by Gregory McGuire, Philippa Gregory[’cept for the Queen’s Fool], Anya Seton,  Alison Weir[’cept for War of the Roses], Amanda Foreman, Linda Berdoll, Neil Gaiman [’cept for Stardust])
3. Tops (plain and solid colors of babydoll tops, tunic tops) I am a size small. But a size medium might be a best bet just in case the material of the cloth is different  
4. Cardigans (also in plain and earthy colors)
5. Dresses (bright colors are fine; preferred length would be an inch or two above the knee)
6. Scented lotions
7. Big bags for school in solid colors
8. a webcam 
9. Perfumes (L’occitane’s Green Tea, Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea, Clinique Happy, Ralph Lauren Blue)
10. Jewelry (earrings and a bracelet would be nice. diamonds would be nicer *wink wink* )
11. Ateneo jacket (i am a small coz the jackets are rather big)
12. lipglosses (shades of pink)

For my dear friends, please leave me the links of your Christmas Wish Lists

How we let out stress…

Last semester was extremely stressful. So one rainy night while finishing up some work at San Francisco Coffee at El Pueblo, we decided to let out some stress. I also took a video of Ade but I can’t seem to find it (sorry Ade) 

Reflection on a documentary

It has always befuddled me how the poorer the family, the more children they seem to have. There is definitely something wrong with this equation. After all they do have lesser resources and for them to have more children just plain disturbs me.

After watching this documentary yesterday on the poor Filipino, I started thinking about the problem. There is definitely a core problem but I could not place my finger on it. A lot of people would blame the government and say that all the problems lie in the fact that the government is not providing free food and shelter. Many would say that education is the problem. A lot of Filipinos are not educated enough hence they are not able to land good jobs. But then if you would look at it, the government does provide schooling at lower rates for those who cannot afford. So if this is the case, why are there so many Filipinos who are stricken and suffering of poverty?

I feel that the main problem lies in the ignorance of people. Education does a role in this. Many of the Filipinos especially in the metropolis are suffering because of the lack of opportunities for them. A big reason would be because they left their provinces in search of greener pastures, which they failed to find. With this I feel that the government should play a more active role as our society definitely has a problem. It is a problem on top of other problems. I am really not sure how they would go about. But one of the first steps would be to educate the Filipinos about the number of children they have. Because the government can only help so many people. Another thing that Filipinos ought to know is that the government does not owe them their life. Yes, the government can help them but they have to help themselves. They cannot keep on producing child after child.

It is a very big challenge for our government to turn this around as this societal problem has been long and is deep rooted already.