When asked about the Philippines’ biggest problem, specially now that the Presidential elections is but two years away, I suppose one would answer education, governance, poverty, criminality and hordes of others. Not to downplay all the major problems we speak of today, i believe there’s an underlying problem that’s being overlooked right now — and that’s attitude.
Simple, plain attitude.
Because the way I see it, these problems did not happen overnight. We didn’t just wake up one morning dead broke as a country. All these problems started small and eventually accumulated and worsened by the day. All because one, two or more people decided not to act and remained indifferent to the issue at hand. These people were short-sighted enough to see past than the current situation or were simply insensitive enough to care about the adverse effects of their negligence or indecisiveness to other people’s general well-being and right as this country’s citizen.
Having felt neglected and abandoned, most citizens responded the same way to other people they’ve dealt with. They too became indifferent and assumed that they won’t be as directly affected as others. This has become a vicious cycle, as never-ending as our struggle as a nation to rebuild our reputation and economy. Remember “pay it forward” — but the opposite. That’s what happened.
But what can we possibly do now to address this problem, you may ask? The answer lies within ourselves. We need a radical “change of heart” and we need to do it now. It’s always been said and quoted from one of the greatest philosophers, “Aesop”, that “one little act of kindness, however little — is never wasted. Everyone must act now and contribute what they can to push for “social transformation”. You don’t need to run for President. All it takes is one little act of concern. Let us care enough to throw candy wrappers in trash bins, to segregate our trash at home, to obey traffic rules, to help people in need as much as we can, to think twice before speaking ill of another, to scrutinize election candidates before voting for them, and many, many more little deeds that we’ve abandoned because of indifference.
I know that social transformation, like the current problems we’ve created will not happen overnight. But if we do something now, it will make a world of difference today and in the generations to come. And it’s definitely better to do something about it than to sit and wait for the ultimate destruction that is to come.
RJMarmol.com 
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