Bringing Hope to the Filipino Nation

My PA 11 paper 3 years ago.

The task of nation building is indeed massive, but the challenge is not insurmountable if all Filipinos learn to work together. Not one group or agency can do it alone. Government is not hopeless, but it is helpless without the support of civil society. Each Filipino must take part in realizing the dream of the Filipino nation rebuilt. So I would like you to see this not as the absence of the government but a collective effort initiated by the civil society to alleviate suffering from poverty and rebuild the nation.

Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a movement aiming at building integrated and sustainable communities focusing first and foremost on depressed areas throughout the Philippines then the world. Not one organization has the capability to rebuild the country, not even the government. The challenge that lies before them, the very stability and growth of a people and nation, compels more and more of us to work together because GK believes that when you give people better chances, you’re giving them access to better life.

This movement doesn’t only help the poorest of the poor but also those people who need helping. They start with establishing caring relationships with those who are among the most used, abused and neglected of society. GK then moves quickly to help restore the dignity of the poor and marginalized and revitalize their capacity to hope and dream.

In 2005, UP Gawad Kalinga was established and just after a year, membership boomed to three hundred proving it to be one of the fastest growing organizations in the campus. But unlike the GK National, as what we refer the mother movement, UP Gawad Kalinga is being organized by students with the primary aim of involving the whole UP community in this great cause. Now, that this student-led organization is handling its own GK community popularly called Iskolar ng Bayan GK Central at Brgy.Culiat, Central Avenue, Quezon City, efforts must be doubled as time and resources must be spent wisely.

As of November of this year, 5 houses are ready for occupancy, 5 more are on its way and these are made possible by the students and donors who are giving assistance not just financially and more importantly, manpower.  One example is the 1^st Mega build at the site last November 25, 2006 attended by more than 300 people. Students from various colleges and different affiliations worked together and exemplified Bayanihan with the residents of the GK Village. Seeing these people happy despite their situation is a humbling experience.

Equipped with the knowledge that more than half of the Filipino population live below poverty line, being poor is not something to be ashamed of but doing nothing to change the state of affairs is. The gap between the rich and the poor is incessantly widening. A bridge must soon be made.

Providing basic services should be the government’s major concern. If only 5 families are affected by poverty, illiteracy and hunger it is just a personal trouble but if half of the 82 million population of the country are living in the same state, we already have a crisis.  Free, quality based basic education and reliable health care are  needed but the question of the capability of the government to provide such services must also be raised.

The government won’t be able to live by itself alone. The three sectors of public administration are interwoven in such a way that it would be impossible to live without each other. So I define Public Administration as the collective effort of the government, the civil society and the business sector to properly address and take action to the economic, political and social issues. But are they able to? One common reason of the inefficiency of the government to address our problems is corruption. Caiden wrote that corruption is still a way of life in low income countries where public employment depended on one’s having the right connections is grossly overstaffed for the limited workload. Paying people 10 people to do the job of one is stupidity and a waste of the government’s money.

As far as I know, Sweden is the only country brave enough to open its documents to the public. Doing the same in the Philippines will only unearth anomalous dealings, uncharacteristic transactions and would only attest the inefficiency of many of our public offices. We’ve set so high expectations of the government but our responsibilities must also be fulfilled for it to function better. .People also tend to think that if an institution is handled by a civilian, it would function better. We, citizens are so idealistic that we are so into our imaginary kind of society. We focus more on what ought to be that what really is in front of us.  The sad part is they won’t be able to please everybody, whatever the government do or how much effort they exert.

The ordinance banning the use of Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) in refrigerators and air conditioners satisfied environmentalists but displeased the producer companies because it would mean remodelling which in turn means extra cost. The clearing of the “bangketas” of illegal vendors pleased Department of Tourism and other concerned people but it certainly infuriated the vendors. Working for the government is no easy job.

Making our nation productive and prosperous is not just the job of the government. Each Filipino citizen has a vital role to play because we must all administer the public for public administration, as Waldo has stated, is a rational human cooperation calculated to realize given desired goals with minimum loss to the realization of other goals. And the statement given is so like Gawad Kalinga.

GK reflects the determination of its partners to heal relationships in society, from within the family to the national environment. Rebuilding broken relationships translates to bridging gaps between people, and opens new and unlimited opportunities for human interaction and the exchange of resources.

GK defines resources as beyond the monetary to that which has value to life and community. That is why GK goes beyond the management of funds to the management of relationships and sharing of resources. Architects and engineers design houses and create color schemes, doctors and nurses can attend to the people's health, teachers can contribute their time and knowledge to the young, and business leaders can tutor others towards economic enterprises

GK envisions empowered communities whose residents are not just receivers but are givers as well. The work is not about charity, but stewardship. It is about uplifting the dignity of the poor by building their capacity to respond to opportunities and enabling them to reach their highest potential and by doing such, we create heroes. Not dead heroes of history but ordinary men and women who choose to make sacrifices for the greater good.  In Gawad Kalinga, you don’t need to die to be a hero because what our country needs is living heroes.