Eye Opener Column
The things that we do everyday need change.
And change we must do to survive
The world is now hit with sad economic turmoils, especially the financial markets, where prices of stocks have plummeted beyond control. Sadly enough most hit are countries like the United States, United Kingdom. New Zealand, Germany and possibly Australia, which countries are now officially in recession.
I would not have an idea how long these countries would wallow in recession, but somehow, the Philippines has already started to feel the effects. As a matter of fact, news has filtered that overseas Filipino workers have lost their jobs in Australia and also in Taiwan where some factories have closed.
For the province of Bohol to survive these economic woes, there are hosts of options. And we must think about these things now. Let us not lay in content while the world is suffering. Boholanos must strive to increase their agricultural production, and make better utilization of our human skills. We must improve our ways of earning a trade and seek better economic returns. We must be ambitious in our efforts and make the difference. It is sad enough to continue seeing unutilized idle land throughout Bohol. These lands lay unproductive, maybe simply because some are owned by absent owners.
Bohol is not in the best of economic times. We were told that even in subdivisions, some house owners, who before had lucrative income are busy going from one house to another just to borrow money. Teachers are the hardest hit and some financiers are making some good money charging usurious interests. But the poor teachers cannot do anything as they depended on their salaries and have no known source of income, except maybe for some. The buy and trade business. My mother was a grade one teacher. But I am very proud of her. In our poverty, she was able to make ways to make sidelines. She worked on selling classroom materials for the teachers to use. She had her own way of printing things in our house and from her customers, she would ask them to set aside money. And they have a pool. And every teacher would be assigned a month, which she can collect the teachers contributions without interest, a way out from the financiers. She would always collect her share during our Inabanga town fiesta so we would have money to spend. Correction, we are not wallowing in poverty or looking for food for every lunch or dinner, back at that time, you could have fish for P1 a kilo and ten centavos would be enough money to buy merienda. Luckily, all of us six children went to school. Sa mga igsoon namo, wala man pod masyado naghirap, pero di pod datu.
Typical example is my brother Castelar. A retired guy from the United States, he has come home to stay for good in Tagbilaran City. Aside from making annual trips to the United States to buy things which are in demand in Bohol, he now thrives on selling tocino to his rich friends, and believe me, he is making a comfortable income, but he is never ashamed to earn his decent living. But what do others do, they wallow in their laziness ashamed to make an earning that some people may think, that they are no longer rich. Mauwaw ug mahibaw-an nga wa nay kuarta pero popular sa buong subdivision na mangungutang ug kwarta. Di ba mas uwaw na.
I am sure that in the middle of all these financial worries, our leaders could still innovate with something dramatic and revolutionary to bring about changes in our sad economic lives. Our leaders cannot just stand motionless and unable to help our co-provincianos. Hindi na porma ug good PR that we need of our public officials. We must have those who know to innovate and spell the difference in the administration of their offices. There are progressive places in Bohol's towns and there are those which are lagging behind? Why, is because people are lazy or they do not have the initiative to work. This is the thinking and initiative that we should change. And we can never run out of innovations. Ideas must be allowed to flourish and institute reforms in our systems.
Alas, it is hard to change. Dunay tay mga old traditions and practices which can hardly be eliminated in our daily living. These are the things which brought down the Boholanos. And we need to change that.
Firstly we send our children to complete an education, which is merely based on fancy. Since it is a course loved by everybody in the community, then the parents want to prove something that is, they can also have the ability to have their children complete the course.
But sadly enough, we are not thinking of the ability of our children to find employment after graduation. Is the course, he or she is taking will enable him to find immediate employment after graduation?
For instance, many of our graduates in agriculture never practice their professions upon completing college. Ironically jobs in New Zealand wait applicants who have completed the agriculture or veterinary medicine course, and who have two years solid work employment as dairy farmers. Dairy farmers jobs' pay as high as $34,000 annually, which is more than one million pesos yearly. Is this a fair and honest deal. Even women can be utilized and hired.
While we are now talking or speculating as to who are the potential candidates in the 2010 elections, nevertheless it would be a nice idea on the part of the prospective candidates to think about the programs and reforms
That these people will institute when they will assume office. These have to be economic programs to show our people how to make money doing a lot of things. It is not just be enough that they are contented with their own simple daily lives. We must teacher our people trades, which will generate income and aggressive as that hindi pakitang tao lang. The efforts must be deep and successful, not just for showing to the people to prepare for the next reelection.
Some bank people in Bohol told me that Boholanos every month receive a lot of allotments from overseas. What are they doing with their income, many of them deposit their money in our banks. Our banks are awash with cash but sadly enough, they are not utilized in Bohol for productive endeavors, they are brought to other provinces to finance projects. Niluto tayo sa sariling manteka and people elsewhere make use of our money. Our people should be taught how to borrow money and make use of the money for productive endeavors Our public officials must work to demonstrate to our people how to earn money to survive
One municipality in Bohol had this idea to train people how to farm and start with how raise vegetables in their backyard, but the problem is, when everybody saw the potentials, everybody did it and nobody would buy the vegetables already. Our public officials must find ways teaching people trades, and they must also work to find ways and means to sell products for a good income That is part of the whole venture.
Our own people are afraid to use the cash for productive purposes. So quite obviously, we thought that Boholanos do not have the money to capitalize on productive ventures. Our people must be given the correct incentives and initiative. They must be sown the way
In the coming elections, in 2010, we must look for a change. We should not be looking for candidates, na maganda ang PR and is able to attend every social engagement there is in town. We must stop looking to these people as potential sponsors for town fiestas and weddings. We can look for someone else who are not engaged. If we cut down this ugly habits of inviting every public official for our weddings and town fiestas, then maybe 50 percent of their gasoline expenses will be cut down. These public officials have long considered these social functions as part of their jobs so they also spend gas on the public coffers and some people do not find anything wrong with that.
Let us look for candidates, who are well educated and very experienced in the art of doings things. Are they Internet savvy. Today, it is considered to be a disaster if a public official does not know and even know how to operate a computer or make use of the varied uses of the Internet. Every municipality could already be micromanaged by software programs, which will monitor all source of activities in the municipality so that the mayor could just wait for the reports and utilize his time for more productive endeavors. Let us stop this habit nga kinahanglan tagdon gyud ta sa atong Mayor otherwise di ka na mo suporta sa sunod elections. Let us stop that bad habit, it is only suffocating our ego. Let us allow him more time, to think of ways to improve the municipality and think of ways and means for the municipality to operate like a corporation. I am sure that some of these smart guys have already been elected as mayors, and we should encourage people of these caliber to occupy our positions in the municipal and provincial offices. I may sound to be a lonely guy in the desert, but by all means let us revolutionize our ways to seek better ways of living instead of wallowing in hunger and poverty.
I may sound like a teacher but these ideas are borne out of the sincere desire to make revolutionary changes in our way of live. Let us dispose of some our emotional burdens ilabina yung pangluod, daghang tao nasira ang mga relasyon because of that. Let us start sticking to the realities in life and live with that. Hasta Amigo. - from Eye Opener, Sunday Post
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