On helpers and hogs: Praise for 'A tribute to yayas'

Yes, it takes a Mike Acebedo Lopez to write about yayas. And I take this opportunity to thank him for coming up with such a touching article ("Our Manang Pelang…and all the yayas out there", The Freeman, Sept. 7, 2013 issue).

Truly, yayas are the ones who stay with us most of our waking hours. They are our earthly angels who do countless errands for us, guide us, bear with us, love and care for us. Oh, we cannot just throw away memories…

As there is a Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day, etc. I look forward to the day when we will also have a Yaya's Day or a Househelper's Day. It's about time we honor such persons in our lives. Human beings that they are who have played such significant roles in our lives. Day in and day out.

Mabuhay ang mga yayas! God bless you all.

Henry L. Yu, M.D.

What do I think

Why do we blame the system, not the people who did wrong? It happens all the time. When terrorists harm other people, we blame Muslims. When pastors and priests are plagued with scandals, we blame Christianity. When black people get hurt, they call whites as racist. When same-sex marriage was introduced, they blame the homosexuals. When the Reproductive Health Bill came out, they judge the non-religious as "immorals". When Napoles got caught, they blame the pork barrel. Do you see how it does not make sense to me as a 17-year-old?

A society needs a system to function and within that system, there are always people without remorse who take advantage of our trust. Why get mad? Is there no God who sees and takes the account of all the things we do? Why do we take matters into our own hands granting that we call ourselves Christians and we believe in the higher order of things? We know that they are going to pay for what they did.

Should we abolish the pork barrel system? I say we start practicing our faith and walk our talk. People like Napoles were born out of the deep culture of poverty and that the only way to get ahead is to take advantage of other people. Why don't we start to build a society that allows us to help one another instead competing?

In school, we have been taught to compete, and not to collaborate. We have been taught to get ahead instead of becoming humble and serve those who are in need. Back when we were young, we have been taught that being poor is a bad thing but Jesus said fortunate are those who are poor. It is not the pork barrel system but our poor spiritual development that leads us to steal. We can change the system but still people will always find ways to cheat.

Let's not go out to the streets but do the rallying in our hearts. It is our hearts that needs change and not the system. All we can do is pray that our politicians will be guided with their decisions. We should still show that we trust them so that they will be encouraged to be honest.

Zyra Madel B. Uy

BS-Psychology student University of San Carlos