Magalang, masipag, may takot sa Diyos

Young people will always have a “say” in today’s society. They are the assurance of our nation’s future. What the Philippines will be in the next 20 years may be largely shaped by the kind of youth flourishing within our country at these very hours. As an important building block of the nation, the youth and the way they do things therefore crucially matter. But the youth nowadays are so engrossed with what seem preposterous that they are predisposed to forget the values, which above all else, they should be espousing.

I have observed this for a number of times: When a senior citizen wants to get a ride in the jeepney, why good heavens do we not move freely toward the other end so that the old fellow doesn’t have to scramble his/her way through to the very tip of the seat (near the driver’s)? In the first place, what’s with the seat near the entry/exit of the PUJ that people would really love to stick their butts there? Sure, staying in that corner of the PUJ makes disembarking effort-proof later on. But it shouldn’t go so absurd as to prevent an aged woman to enjoy a comfortable riding experience in a public conveyance. Grabeha sad. We should give these people a break.

And then at the grocery counters, it’s peak time. People have been standing in long queues for quite a while now. And here comes young Dodong or Inday, stealthily sneaking into the line to get his/her way to the cashier first. Wow. Young Dodong or Inday, for all you know, if you would be caught by an equal customer who is willing to teach you the lesson you need to learn in life, better beware. Because some elders out there are actually ready to give you the hard drills of basic courtesy, the public version.

And it doesn’t only happen in a jeepney or in a grocery counter. It happens almost everywhere in many forms—from stampeding their way through a sea of jam-packed people just to get to the venue of a fireworks display (it doesn’t matter if they hurt a child, a pregnant woman, or an old person in the process) to going out of the Church in an unruly and forced fashion after hearing the mass, like they are chased by an apocalyptic asteroid after the priest’s final blessings.

In our elementary textbooks, young pupils are introduced to the innate Filipino values like being magalang, masipag, and may takot sa Diyos. Such important traits are harped at them year in, year out in their Makabayan subjects in order to inculcate to them the significance of these to their Filipino identity.

But have our youth missed out these simple lessons of life? Are they too bombarded with the idea of getting things done quick and instant? Light and easy? Are the youth who have fortitude and moral integrity now becoming extinct?

If our society is embracing a breed of youth that nurtures such barbaric traits, what is left of our future as a country is but an empty sack. It’s important for our youngsters to keep up with the world’s seemingly faster pace but never in the process of coping with the changes must they surrender the virtues that define the mark of a real Filipino.

This is not the best time for our youth to lose grip of our identity because our race has been making names in many different facets in the international arena. We’ve been producing among others the toughest of math wizards and inventors, top-caliber singers and dancers, this amid a world that’s beginning to see a better Philippines in terms of economic potentials. Together with all these good vibes, the youth must therefore strive hard to juggle with the good changes and try to correct their attitudes that can only derail this country from the path to its bright future.