Why the Philippines is getting poorer

It is a fact that for over a decade our country was the second richest nation in Asia. Sad to say, it is now getting poorer due to the deterioration of our values. We ceased being clear about the standards we hold and the principle by which we judge. As a result, we have suffered a breakdown in areas like love and respect for our family and our elders, integrity, honesty, hard work, and loyalty towards all; commitment to education, belief in peace and stability and emphasis on obligation to the community.

You will agree with me, that “crisis of morality” is the root cause of what is happening nowadays. The problems that have beset our nation…the rice shortage, the crime wave and swelling poverty, loss of a sense of right and wrong among our leaders, men and women in uniform and citizens who lost respect for the law. It is only a moral and spiritual revolution leading to a “total rebirth” which will solve problems of national proportions.

We must remember that the child is a gift from God. He starts life as a single fertilized cell, a cell containing all the inherited factors…half from the mother, half from the father. Automatically, he undergoes a constant process of growth and development right in his mother’s womb. He comes, upon birth, a whole person with a distinct and separate identity.

And from the time of his birth up to six years the child gradually acquires and develops his individual character and personality. This period known as the formative years is very critical, for it is during this time that values, abilities, skills, aptitude, attitudes, knowledge and understanding are inculcated into his very tender and vulnerable mind; and these things are permanently carved in his whole being and will have a lasting effect on his intellectual, social, physical and spiritual development. Our children are the most important of all family values. Every newborn baby inherited all that has transpired before in the family and in the world, and will participate in all that has yet to come. Our family values must be centered on the children and if they are valued in the family, then their parents will be valued too. Here is an excerpt from a song about the youth…“I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride…” definitely we all share this belief. If the Filipino child’s health, social, educational and spiritual needs are adequately met then this country is assured that its future is secured.

It’s about time, “young people must be aware of the future, since it is only on the present that they can prepare. They can build from the lessons of the past, emulate whatever can be gleaned today, but the events of the future may not be to their favor if they dilly-dally too long.

It is therefore in this context that I authored a childcare book titled “Providing Proper Care to the Pinoy Child During the Formative Years” to ensure a just and upright society for the generations to come…by producing leaders and citizenry equally reared by the prescribed code of ethics in early childhood and personality development whose emphasis on moral, social, psychological as well as the spiritual well-being of every individual is the salient factor, for this will reflect in a person’s general performance as an adult. In the end, we can but expect a peaceful and happy life for all.

Fearful of the backlash of the crisis of morality, I organized a movement called “Crusade for a Better Youth of Tomorrow” a civic undertaking which I consider a personal challenge.

However, it is unfortunate that all these years evil continue to prevail in our country despite those who profess to be good, outnumbers those who are evil. This is simply because good men and women who know what to do are reluctant to do what they ought to do and they prefer to stand idly like mere spectators. The words from scriptures aptly affirm this, “anyone then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17).

I am inviting all concerned and civic-minded citizens to help raise a “New Breed of Filipinos” for the next generations by way of supporting my advocacy through dissemination of its existence.