First is “cancer” a curable disease in its early stage affecting an individual and second is “corruption” affecting the majority of our people that is getting worse as the years went by.
As a concerned senior citizen (76 years old), I am reminded of the time when our needs were simple; so simple that nothing matters to us but to live and die in peace. Some of us faded away into oblivion to join the endless caravan of our departed forefathers who once upon a time led a simple and frugal life.
It is a fact, that a few years after World War II, the “traditional Filipino values” have greatly deteriorated. It seems that we have 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 instability and emphasis on obligation to the community.
In my view, this problem is attributed partly to parental neglect considering that values formation starts in the home. What parents do, teach, and say to their children in the formative years whether right or wrong is inculcated into their very tender and vulnerable minds that will have a lasting effect on their physical, spiritual, and intellectual development. And to check this problem, the Pinoy Child book I authored, a 1997 national betseller written in English/Tagalog with over 400 illustrations that includes the four essentials of child-rearing… Health, Care, Safety and Education can guide parents in raising these children. On top of this, I formed a movement aptly called “Crusade for a Better Youth of Tomorrow” inviting concerned citizens to help raise a new breed of Filipinos in the generations to come in order to become better children of God and upright citizens of tomorrow.
We must bear in mind that the family is the principal school of the social virtues which are necessary in every society. Children should be taught to know and worship God and love thy neighbor. Our children are the most important of all family values which must be centered on them and if they are valued in the family then their parents will be valued too.
It is my observation that President Aquino is sincere in addressing this perennial morality problem through his “Daang Matuwid” program focused on reforms which is not enough. With all due respect, what is needed is change… not a change of man but a change in man. Granting such reforms will be successful, what guarantee that corruption will not recur after his term of office?
It is really unfortunate that many of those people I invited to help raise a new breed of Filipinos seem to be indifferent. What I am trying to impart is not about me, it’s about us. I hope and pray that our readers will join this movement which is or national interest in order to bring joy and peace in the home, hope and responsibility to our youth as well. In doing so, such undertaking will pull us out from the quagmire of poverty caused by corruption. Let us therefore join hands and together begin to invest in our children’s need to build a stronger foundation for the future.