Philippine Labor Force Essay

Just from taking a look of the stark reality of Philippine Society today, any one would say that it would be a no – brainer to answer the question of possible change. Change, in the Philippines? They say. Impossible. Yet in spite of the dim reality we are in do I gain the audacity to say that the Philippines is not a hopeless case, I believe it is not, for the simple the reason that if I believe that nothing can be done to change our country, then that is how it will be. if I believe that there is still hope, that something can be done, then I can be a precursor of change, and hence, something can be done. Anyway, we have nothing else to lose, and everything to gain, and as such we should put ourselves in that perspective. I think the reason the Philippines is the way it is today is because somehow, someway, we, us Filipinos, somehow caused all of this to happen to us. Of course no individual would dare intentionally wish upon themselves poverty, what I mean is, as a collective, as a people, as an entire race that had spanned generations and generations of culture, we have somehow allowed our society – which could have flourished into a rich nation – to deteriorate, very, very nearly to the point of no return. We have allowed ourselves to blindly steer into the direction of poverty when we were heading into the direction cities such as Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong are in now. Many actually do believe we are at that point of no return already. But if everyone thought that we cannot change, then how then will change be possible? If we collectively keep denying that we are responsible for this Philippine mess we have collectively gotten ourselves into, then change becomes impossible. If we accept entirely that we are – at some level – all at cause of how things are now honestly, graciously; until we accept responsibility for the whole of our reality shall we gain the power to change part of it. So therefor, I shall accept that I am also responsible for all this mess. As a youth with certain ideologies, this is one thing I can do, accept that I have contributed to what is. I am responsible for the deterioration of my country, of its rich culture, of it’s society. I have allowed crime, poverty, corruption to flourish. So therefor shall I become an igniter of change. I shall bring people to the awareness that change is still possible. If ALL of us would accept everything as a part of their creation shall we be able to change everything. As Jose Rizal had wisely said,† Ang kabataan ay ang pag-asa ng kinabukasan,† never has that quote made perfect sense until now. Imagine if everyone thought like that. Progress would come about to our country fairly quickly, wouldn’t you think? My duty as a student may not be as grandiose as those who go out of their way to change lives, build villages, and adopt babies from those in need. My duty is simple, yet absolutely vital. My duty is bring everything I have said above to as much people as I possibly can. Awareness is start of wisdom, as the saying goes, and in juxtaposition, collective awareness is an absolutely powerful igniter of change. If we all want it enough, it happens. I wise person once told me, that the people are the true movers of change, never the government officials. Government officials follow the people. This has been perfectly demonstrated across history; from Greek governance through public opinion, to the breaking down of the Berlin Wall, to the Chinese revolutions which shifted 1920’s Communist China which started through student visions of a better China, to our very own EDSA revolutions, our own 1986 revolution. Change comes in numbers. True change is a collective effort, People Power at its most powerful. As such I cannot stress any further the importance to instill the ideas in others a sense of hope and optimism for the future. From awareness, comes action. Ideas beget action, and so does my actions as a student after imparting the ideas of hope to others. I would probably, as a student – architect, physically help In projects that aim to provide housing for underprivileged folk in scales similar to Gawad Kalinga, and maybe soon, hopefully, provide them that with my own resources. I would probably also, bring about new innovative and convenient design solutions for the impoverished, such as the recent mind-blowingly innovative creation of the coca-cola light bottle, wherin a steady stream of light is made available in low cost housing from just installing a 1. L bottle into rooftops. Some other creation that would greatly benefit the mass population is something I would like to create. Probably also, I would like to teach others who want to get into the construction industry tricks and tips and gaining skillsets required for masonry and carpentry. I want to help people learn how to catch fish with a fishing rod, instead of giving them the fish. I think they would greatly benefit from that. This has made me see the possibility of what we can do to improve Philippine Society. Call me crazy but might it be possible that we were given this framework of poverty that we may find the power within ourselves to change it? Could you entertain the possibility that we were born into this country, this context of poverty, that we might change it ourselves? Singapore has done it. The US has done it. China is doing it. Why can’t we? We have nothing else to lose, and everything to gain, and as such we should put ourselves in that perspective, and watch reality change before our eyes.