veosa oes s. roves Borcer comm ae iON ARTS Jan. 13, _ 12 LITTLE THINGS EVERY FILIPINO CAN DO TO HELP OUR COUNTRY ALEXANDER L. LACSON“Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men? ts the music of a people who will not be slaves again.” French Revolution Song Les Miserables Broadway Musicale “The time to stop a revolution is at the beginning, not at the end.” Adlai E. Stevenson Presidential campaign, 9 September 1952 “There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few we can solve separately.” et _yndon B. nson uy NATO Alliance, 28 November 1964 “All our strength is in our union. All our weakness is in our discord.” Henry W. Longfellow In “The Song of Hiawatha”, book i “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." Oliver Wendell Homes Justice, US Supreme Court “The salvation of the community (nation) should be the common business of good citizens.” Aristotie “Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.” Daniel Webster BunkerHill Monument, 17 June 1825 vii [rrrNew York, 15 March 1837 “Our world has become a dangerous place to live in, not be- cause of some people who are evil, but because of the many (people who do not do anything about it.” Albert Einstein “® is enough for good people to do nothing, for evil people to succeed.” Jose Rizal “Hunger blinds. Hunger kills. A hungry man is a dangerous per- ioe” Victor In his book “Les Miserables” “Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or ... we shail all hang separately.” Benjamin Franklin Before The Declaration of Independence, 1776 “Build a wall around your home. Build it high! Build it strong! Place a guard on every comer of your house. For |, the Filipino who has been silent for three hundred years, will come to you in the night while you are feasting, with my cry and my bolo at your door. And may God have mercy on your soul! Reul Manglapus Land of Bondage, Land of the FreeFOREWORD Two years ago, on 20 August 2003, on the 20® anni- wersary commemoration of Ninoy's assassination, | had talked about the People Power Movement. | said then that the People Power that ousted the dictator still had to be hamessed to create jobs and livelihood, deliver social ser- wices, bring about peace and order, and improve the lives of all our people. Today, | am glad thatAlex Lacson is telling us the same thing in this book. Alex believes that while People Power can remove dictators and corrupt leaders, he urges us to find ways to use and harness People Power to help build our nation during normal times. Alex suggests that we per- form the 12 little things in this book. It is good to read about Filipinos like Alex Lacson who continue to be very positive about our country. Very often, we hear people complaining about conditions in our coun- try and always putting the blame on someone else. It is good that Alex believes that the answer to our problems lies in each and every Filipino. Each of us should ask our- selves — What can | do for my country? This book is very timely and practical because it is comparatively easy to do the suggested 12 little things to help our country. | truly hope that this book will be read by many, many Filipinos. Mabuhay ang Pilipino! CORAZON C. AQUINO President of the Philippines, 1986-92 &FOREWORD is Forewarned | had never met Alex Lacson — nor read him — until he sent the manuscript for this book to my house, asking me for @ foreword. I read the manuscript and said, wow, yes, | would be happy to forewarn readers about it. And | made my own 12 little dont's about the book. MONS 10. 11. 12. Don't buy this book because you will be bothered by it. Don't read it because it will change you. Don't keep it because it will bore a hole in your conscience. Don't give it away because it will never be returned. Don't dance with it because Richard Gere will never ask you, “Shall we dance?” Don't eat with it because it will give your boyfriend indi- gestion. Don't send it to President Gloria because she might in- clude it in her next “State of the Nation” Address. Don't mail one to Miriam D.S. because she might pro- nounce it better than hara-kiri. Don't be hung up on Benjamin Franklin because Alex Lacson is addicted to him. Don't cry for Argentina unless you want to cry for the Philippines, too. Don't join my Adopt-a-School project because Alex Lacson says so, too. And lastly, don't do alll the things Alex Lacson tells you to do, or else we'll all end up in heaven. Heaven forbid? EUGENIA DURAN APOSTOL Chair, Worldwide People Power xiMESSAGE Our author is both prophetic and patriotic. A prophetic witness is ahead of his times. He intuits and proposes changes in life and institutions that ‘@re urgently needed, even when such changes are resisted by the status quo. The persistence and courage to be a “voice ir, the wilderness” or “a Grop in a bucket” will, in God's own time, have a ripple effect until what began as a dream can tum into a nationwide, living miracle. This, | believe, is what Alex Lacson has initiated with his inspired book. And what precisely motivated our author is his deep sense of pa- ‘iotism — his compassionate concem for our country and our people. The values proposed are not new. In fact, the Ramos administration had initiated a Moral Recovery Program of “Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, at .” Butit was kind of abstract when it came to implementation, ‘so it did not really go far. What is attractive and new in Alex Lacson’s idea is that his “12 Little Things” are very concrete, practical, and doable — within the comprehen- ‘son and capacity of every ordinary Filipino to implement. What our citi- Zens will need is sustained and sustainable motivation. This is where we will need leaders in our homes, barangays, schools, and institutions who will lead in the propagation and imple- mentation of these “12 Little Things”. The voice of the Almighty is in every single one of these “12 Little Things" that respond to His universal law: Love + Justice = Peace. His ‘pyisible but spiritual presence is there when we follow traffic rules, ask ‘er en official receipt for what we buy, boycott smuggled goods, all the sy to teaching our children how to love our country — this one and only Philippines that God has entrusted to us. May Alex Lacson’s book, and its possible translation into Pilipino, ‘ec its way to as many homes, schools, and institutions as possible. As | eve always said: To love our country and our people with deep passion ‘=e compassion — this is what can make our nation great. To live a life wi the unshakable conviction that the Filipino and the Filipino nation are worth living for and dying for. RUBEN M. TANSECO, S. J. Center for Family Ministries‘MESSAGE Alex Lacson's book attempts to coalesce a number of basic ideas, basic concepts, about civic duty. He be- lieves that if every Filipino were to absorb them into their day-to-day lives, the Philippines might begin realizing the promises it has held for its people for so long. | agree with him — for just as important as it was to have a Jose Rizal, an Andres Bonifacio, or a Ninoy Aquino — it is equally important to have every Juan de la Cruz committed to seeing his nation succeed. Follow the law. Buy Filipino. Speak well of our people and our nation. Respect our fragile environment. Honor and protect the sanctity of the electoral process. Pay your people a fair wage for a job done well. Instill Filipino val- ues of pride, honor and excellence. These are time-tested, but often overlooked, values in our society. And itis worth- while to be reminded of them, as often as possible, if only to get these values instilled and practiced. | encourage every Filipino to do his appointed tasks in life, honorably and well. If all, or most of us, simply do this, we could be making the most important contribution to a strong Philippines, to a better country. Because if we don't, who else will? Mabuhay ang Pilipino! MANUEL V. PANGILINAN Chairman & CEO, PLDT10. ; 1. ; 12. 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country Page Follow traffic rules. Follow the law. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt. Don't buy smuggled goods. Buy Local. Buy Filipino. 417 When you talk to others, especially Sees speak positively about us and our country. ...... 25 Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier. oe 3S Do not litter. Dispose your garbage Se Segregate. Recycle. Conserve. re = 43 Support your church. During elections, do your solemn duty. Pay your employees well. Pay your taxes. Adopt a scholar or a poor child. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country. oilThe 1st Little Thing FOLLOW TRAFFIC RULES. FOLLOW THE LAW. “Traffic rules are the simplest of our country’s laws. Sut when implemented, it paints a country of strong laws." (Author) “The best way to build a dream is by attending to the little things that comprise it. Its foundation is in the little details; its beauty in the fine points.” (Benjamin Franklin) “lam, indeed, a King, ’ because | know how to rule myself.” ’ (Pietro Aretino) L- Le a 1Vee cranial i book - following trafic rules was designated as ‘Lite Thing? ‘The answer is simple, Trafic rules are the simi ples of our laws. I we leam to follow them it could be lowest frm of national discipline we can develop. Since is totally without monetary cost, it should be easy for us do. It should therefore be a good star “Trafic rules are the mast commonly applied of laws, Weare contonted with them everyday —from ing til evening. Thus, wether to follow trafic rules or is @ question that we al face daly. tis a challenge confront us everyday. We can try today, the next day, third day, and onal subsequent days. And if we today, we may aso succeed tomorrow, and on the thi day, and the days thereat. “if you do an act repeatedly for 30 con days it becomes a habit” said author John Maxwell. ‘Someday, our repeated act of folowing trac could become a habit and hopeful, a national di Someday, ou repeated ac of following trafic rules, wi are the most ordinary of our laws, can lead us tofolow ‘more difcal and more important of our laws. ‘Someday, it can lead to the development of culture of respect forthe law among us as a people. 2 For discipline is ikea ladder, Before we can reach op, we haveto start athe boom. And we can only 90 pone step at atime. ‘Allthe big things inthis word started small some , sometime in the past. They all began a3 an idea, ‘thought. Thoughts ae poweru, for they become ao- And actions can become habits And habits can be- ‘a way of life. And our way of life can become our ‘28 a people and as a nation. ‘This principle is universal, andis as old as time Tobegint all we need to dois to give this t*Litle ~ Follow Traffic Rules ~a serious THOUGHT today. to ty to act on it everyday, unt t becomes @ habit it becomes a way of ie, untlit becomes a discipine. [And there are so many rewards in folowing trafic (One ofthese thatitcan save ives ltr yous, Joved ones, othe innocent ones onthe road can fives fom acidens, heart attacks, or from guns of ‘and viggerhappy divers. tcan bring you home alve Jn one piece, I can aso save you money from car 3 well as headaches from quarreling withtheantseaor of crc, When we flow tai es, we tecome god anbssadrs. When we vite em, is wwe bevome bad examples ofthe Flip race. Anoter bereft we can dive from folowing ferns is ctr in nature. Cuting @ persons ane rohtl wayis or ofthe wre tafe ols ee ten eu at te ane or gt of way of arate oust comple aot spent bat che the wal a al hose who ar folowing te ine. When you ‘This simple act of folovng afc rues has an snacton rg ho vik u ony. nein of touts, who usualy have een eyes on what they 88 t, youre being sesh and unfair to those who came fore you. Literally, you step on thei oes. sud th county they vs be singe betel series pani gon cre oth Fina aol. When ‘hese tours go home to ter respective countries, We cane su hal by speak god tings about he Fl no. Fer al we kw, x tne they meet ipo the counties, haber a doctor ora domes, hy st shit Fotki espa ceed spinessed when they were in our county. ‘dren who are often romal behavior to dojust hat and bedisrespectil of ‘ers, In their young minds, they may tink tis acceptable | step on oer peopl’ tes. nthe other hand, ifwe follow the line instead cating aking souls or cin wi ik Jovng the nis te rght conduc. Inte ourg i tyler pale, isi espet ha | have been fo Japan pray in Toyo and cknawa, number ofties, nd | was aay amazed at ew rivers ter vat saingly hank thors. They cet honk the bom when rly ness). “This understood to mean that they use ther homs cute espany, wih nutey ther vers and pattie vrtes dese neat. vas he ‘ation Europe, oat stn the counts vied wih sw hiya anit past he tie, | worded ew it would be ike to vein a county wher hee seems soe so much respect and courtesy in te a. ture asa people. Tereis so much cure tate pass tour chicken when w flow or dsbeytafordes. 4 5But perhaps one of the most important benefits we will attain when we learn to follow traffic rules as a habit — and as a national discipline, is the psychic reward of na- tional pride and self-esteem. When a person performs a good deed, he often feeis good afterwards, usually with ‘some measure of pride and self-respect. The same thing can happen to a people who succeed in doing a small but seemingly impossible thing to achieve. If we develop this habit as a national discipline, it will be a huge victory for us as a people. It will be a monu- mental step. If we will do it consciously for the country, knowing that our country needs it now — we will feel proud every time we do it. And gradually, perhaps even uncon- sciously, we will regain our pride and self-esteem as a people. This simple act of following traffic rules can go a long, long way in our march towards the kind of society we dream for ourselves and our children. One old Chinese saying goes: The journey of 2 thousand miles begins with the first step. Perhaps following traffic rules could be our first step — to national discipline, to nation-building.The 2nd Little Thing te at gest eatGinbhybsets SS WHENEVER YOU BUY OR PAY FOR ANYTHING, ALWAYS ASK FOR AN OFFICIAL RECEIPT ie “None but ourselves, who are our greatest enemy.” (Henry W. Longfellow) Our people's habits can be the destiny of our nation.” (Benjamin Franklin)Tic or asa tigre atti fot When we buy product or pay fora sevice, the Price we pay already includes the tax, Under the law, the ‘seller (as the tax-paying agent) is obligated to remit or for- ‘ward that tax to the government, ‘But ifthe seller does not issue an official receipt ‘when you buy a product ~ pethaps because you did not ‘sk for itor worse, you were asked but you said never ‘mind - the seller may or may not remit the tax tothe gov- ‘emment, Since you didnot ask foran OR, thee sno record ofthe sale transaction and therefore the goverment has: "no way of knowing it Ifthe seller chooses not to declare the sale transaction to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the tax that you already paid forthe product will not be remitted to or collected by the BIR. Inshot the tx that you sready pad forthe prod uct will ust be pocketed by the seller, Example: ‘Let us assume that you bought @ product for @ Price of P110. The P10 ofthat price actully represents the 10% value-added-ax VAT), Letus assume further that, ‘ofthe price, P20 is the profit ofthe seller. Ifyou don't ask foran OR and the seller chooses not to remitthe P10 VAT {othe BIR and therefore pockets, then the seller actualy 0 ‘gains a total of P40 from your sale transaction. there are 10,000 sale transactions in one month without ORS, the ‘government is deprived of P100,000 worth of taxes. On the other hand, the seller, who chooses not to remit your ‘aid taxes tothe BIR, eams not only his P300,000 proft ‘ut also the P100,000 in taxes you paid which he pockets. ‘According to BIR reports, bilions andbitins worth ‘of taxes every year are not remitted tothe BIR due tonon- Issuance of ORs, Bilions of pesos of taxes that are merely ‘pocketed by many sellers around the county. lions of ‘pesos of taxes that can be of great help to our government inthese tines of crisis. Tote a speci example on this, itis estimated that from 1997 to 2004, around 1/9 of VAT has not been ‘llected, In absolute amounts, BIR puts it at roughly P40 ‘lon a year of uncollected VAT, or atta of PZ80 Bilion ‘of uncollected VAT inthe last 7 years. This P220 Billon ‘eters ony to VAT forsale transactions reported tothe BIR. but not yet collected at present. Those sale transactions ot reported to the BIR, perhaps because we did not ask for ORs, are not yet included inthe amount. Can you imagine i the government is able to col Jectthis P40 Bilion VAT uncollected annually? There may be no need to increase the VAT from 10% to 12% since ‘Be increase of 2% is expected to rase only from P35 Bi- ‘fento P50 Bition, *Toads this problem, the solutions realy very simple, Just ask or an OR everytime you purchase some- thing, or whenever you pay for a professional service, Remember that whenever youd this, you are helping our county which sina serous ancial ris these days, The pont hee is tha, al of us Fipnas ~ as buyers, cents or customers wl ust ask forthe oil recep fr al oupuchases, te busessmen and po fessionals wil be forced to rei the taxes we pay to the BIR. ndoing so, we actualy ensure thatthe axes we pay forthe goods and services we by tly goto the govern- ment and ae not merely pocketed by sels, As aresut, cur government willbe able o collect more taxes. ou governments alo colect more taxes very yar, our country wil need to borrow lss fom ine. national nancial nsitutons to supl the defistin the na- Sonal budge we boraw ess abroad, our foreign debt will notincrease as fast and may eventual lower as we pay annually Increased tax collections and less foreign borow: ings will improve ou cre standing inthe iterational finance community And according to our economists, all {hese wil somehow strengthen cur peso, among oer Possible good effects, This means thatthe value of paso wil become stronger. This means that our peso wil be able to buy more goods inthe marke. tt ‘More importantly, and this is where it gets really cut goverment willhave more money to devote infrastructure, health and social services, and /other benefits one usually expects from the govern- In short, by imply asking for ORs fr lou pur- you and I can actualy help the goverment in in ‘our tax collections every year, in solving our 'sbudget def, in reducing ou foreign deb, in im- jour intemational credit standing, in strengthening jvaiue of our peso, This means that hres actualy something that fey. And tis des not cost us any money merely e- ‘ire a change of attitude in us. Just a simple discipline foreach one of ss rqued, Buti weal decide to do ‘Roving tat our county needs it now, itis actualy an ‘sof patriotism and national discipline, ‘And good news to those who ask for ORs! You ‘@ actually win from P100,000 to P1 milion by simply ‘wing your OR number to a BIR celiphone, To encourage ‘people to demand ORs for every purchase they make so. ‘business establishments will be compelled to remit the ‘exes othe goverment, BIR Commissioner Wily Parayno fs come up with this very creative projec. 8| hope we support it. | hope we learn this habit ‘asking for ORs soonest. Our country needs it badly now. Remember, if we do an act repeatedly for 30 secutive days, it becomes @ habit. ‘The Great American Benjamin Franklin had some thing important to add to this subject. “Our people's: ccan be the destiny of our nation.” Franklin wrote that in is) book “Poor Richard's Almanac”. In 1776, when had just been born as a nation, that book had a influence on a people who now called themselves cans.The 3rd Little Thing BO NOT BUY SMUGGLED GOODS. BUY LOCAL. BUY FILIPINO We men can be a patriot without sacrificing for his country.” (William C. Brann) “The patriots are those who are willing to offer anything for the country, even their precious lives if necessary.” (Adlai E. Stevenson) 7ur markets in the country today are being with all kinds of cheap imported products, made from Chin8. Including the most simple things fi safety pins and ballpens. Many ofthese foreign goods tive in our country through the legal route. But a great ‘of them come through the ilegal way, thats, via smuggfir First, the smuggled goods. Did you know that every year around P140 Bil of customs taxes are not collected by our goverment smuggled goods? Thisis according to @ 2004 study by Center for Research & Communications (CRC). P140) lion yearly is a lot of money. That's 15.5% of our nat budget for 2005. if we can only collect at least 50% of ‘amount, there would be no need to raise the VAT to 12 \When imported goods are smuggled into our try, our goverment is not able to impose and collect taxes due from them - customs duties, tariffs, andthe 1 VAT. As a result, smugglers are able to sel these i goods in Philippine markets at very cheap prices. And: buyers are often tempted to buy them. As a result, no buys the more expensive local products, kiling local panies and industries, and resulting in the laying off workers and eventually in higher unemployment I ‘Smuggling is a crime. A socal evi There are two things we can do to lessen or stop smugging in our First, we should stop buying smuggled goods. ‘Now on our attitude of buying only imported goods. | remember what Barth Suretsky, an American who been residing in the Philippines since 1998, wrote in Letters to the Editor ofthe Philippine Daily Inquirer ‘months ago. | clipped that letter, because | found so truth inthis foreigner’s view of us Flipinos. There he can think up for themselves. Foreigners are ‘ooked up o andidolized here. Foreigners can {90 anywhere without question. in my own personal experience, | remember attending recently an affair at @ major museum here. | ‘had forgotten to bring my invitation. But while Fiinos entering the museum were checked ‘or invitations, | was simply waved through.”The protien wth bung mpated gods s less taxes goto our government while big chunk of| capital involved goes out of our county. Letme explain. When we buy an imported prok perhaps 50% ofthe price we pay for that product goes of our county For example, if that imported good you 000in yourfavorite department store, maybe (or 25% ofthe price) wil go tothe department store as retail profit. Another P250 (or another 25% of the will goto the dstrbutor or franchisee in the Philippines the imported product. But the remaining P500 (or 50%) the price wile paid forthe purchase rive from he facturer-seler ofthe imported produc, which most based in China, Japan or the US. This means that i 20 ition out ofthe 84 mil Fiipinos buy imported products at P1,000 apiece month tis equivalent to P20 Bilion a mont, of which Bilion oes out ofthe country as payment othe man turers abroad, In a year, that’s P120Bilion, Thats a ‘capital that goes out of our county. That money or capital suppots the foreign ries that manufacture these imported products Itsy ‘he employees ofthese foreign companies. I suppor farlies and chiens education ofthe employees of foreign companies tsupporsthe economy andthe try where these foreign companies are cated, 2 ‘What if, instead of buying imported products, the 20 milion Filipinos in the above example all choose to buy ‘ecally-made products? This means that the 120 Billion ‘would go to the local companies and would stay in Philip- ‘pine soil as capital that could circulate in our markets. This is what happens in the case of Colgate tooth- asl, which is produced in Thaland, orn the case of ‘lose-up, which is made in indonesia, Everytime we buy ‘Colgate or Close-up, maybe 50% ofthe price we pay goes ‘ut of our county. Hence, f Colgate and Close-up eam 100 Bion per year, maybe PSO Bilion ofthat goes out fhe Philippines. On the other hand, there's Hapee toth- ste, which ofthe same quality if not beter, but which 18 100% Filipino, Even ifthe manufacturing company is 100% for- ‘Nor-cwmed but located inthe Philippines, atleast part of ‘be money goes to the employment of Filipino workers, ‘Pet families, andthe education of Flipino employees’ iden. Thus, our simple act of buying local products is Support for our county, especialy in these times ‘Our country needs every little bit of help from each of us. tis an act of sacrifice, itis an act of patriotism, ‘n act of good citizenship.When | wrote this portion of the book, | had just returned from Seoul and Gyuanggi, Korea where | was invited to speak at an international conference on the en- vironment. Our hosts brought me and their other foreign guests to the villages of farmers, fishermen and vegetal planters in Suwon and Myeangri. | was surprised how triotic the people there were. From the most basic modities to cellphones to notebook computers to cars, Koreans | met and saw patronized Korean products. have an aversion to foreign products, particularly J: nese and Chinese. They are not as eager as well on Ameri- can brands. It may not be good economics also to ask our People to buy 100% local products. Instead, what | sug- gest is for us to take a “50-50 buying attitude.” This means that we must develop the attitude of using at least 50% our budget to buy locally-made products, and allocating the other 50% for our favorite imported choices. If we all take seriously this 50-50 buying attitude, it could be another big push for our economy and for our People. It will retain capital in our country. It will build local industries. It will build Filipino brands. It will create more employment for our people. It will send more FilifThe 4th Little Thing WHEN YOU TALK TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY FOREIGNERS, SPEAK POSITIVELY OF OUR RACE AND OUR COUNTRYof der Carnet onecaee See | an he Np vo sles at and aso hss. Faris cand he nics whohae can. Pacey yore mele hero cansay at have Sc witht sie wr. tis ey hota, de Pr lade eal with the foregnes, ether ere or abroad, is what ia ‘Dey say nd do which create impressions about us too. And | must say hat wear indeed a people who 28: Constant tk of negate tings about our county and rian revere ea a curseves, Worse, we even aug tit | donthnow whore aoe : ‘ei poverty and misery, Whichis understandable, These we goths Peaps 3s Jse Rizalimpls, fromthe Span. earn ‘hey el you so you may ply them, hoping tha you would 13 who laughed aloud, not boisterous, : Pelham. They dont laugh tte contion Infact, many when yada Pheasant nds, MP cdi wae The mestizos and some spsip natives laughed with them, at sfc arene cir td an et tr Span ad nd So guess this th Lite Things bes aderessed Cede he Pipi ands to Americ in 1898, the mes- Dh ade ide cu no coy oy ‘aos and some prosperous natives continued the tradition rer of sel-bshng -auging at our delet and faut Spirent ince, We eh mot uty ois socl Toy i rar has reaches lteughvih ‘We should make a conscious efoto stp tis postive twist. is now seen as a positive tat of the Fla, a vay oon wih te cites rie, Sty ed el-aptten We sod tap lng ? a “Poor tris" abut ourselves to foreigners, ncuing to Sure curnaonl deeds and problems enter IB "U*?#S* 880s, fend and relates abroad. Instead, ; * shoul star focusng on the postve aspects of cur Us cng tthdays, partes and soil gatherings, They ‘tonal being. Ther ar somany god thing we can ak paren ake sed psf convertion. But hy do ‘bout ourselves as a peopl and asa nation nat fala send across the negative message, : We area peopl capable of greatness, Our race se of is tues meson, endure. eS produced the fikes of San Lorenzo Ruiz who, in the toc, especialy in tines le hese, z a{face of torture and death, did not yield his faith in God, The kes of Sister Christine Tan who, despite coming from ‘material well of background, refused her inheritance ‘nd gavel to God and the poor whom she served unt her death. The kes of Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino who devoted the best of themselves ~ ther talents, their ener- es, and eventually their ives ~for the country. The likes Of Gen, Gregorio Del Pilar who, at age 21, chose to die defending Trad Pass with only a handul of armed men, ‘some only with bolo and spears, against the advancing “American troops, § times more in number and with ifs, $0 that Emilio Aguinldo coud retreat and bul the infant Philippine Republi, Yes, we are a people capable of greatness, of making supreme sacs. Dr. Josette iyo has masteral ‘and doctoral degrees from one ofthe top schools in the counity -De Le Salle Univesity where she used to teach "ch collage students, and was paid well fort. But she let that and al the glamor of Maia, and chose to teach in a ‘wy public high school ina rural area ina province, re- Caving a salary of ass than $300 a month, because ac- ‘coring to har who wil teach our children In recognition ofthe ray of her kind, the famous Massachusetts Inst- tute of Technology honored Dr. Biyo by naming a small and newy-discovered planet in our galaxy as “Byo" We are a race of honest, decent, God-fearing People like Nestor Sulpco, the Flpino taxi driver in New who, on 17 July 2004, drove 43 miles from New York to Connecticut, USA to retum the US$80,000 worth of black pears to his passenger who forgot atthe back ‘of his tax. Nestor even refused to be paid a reward. just wanted to be reimbursed for his taxi fuel for his This is honesty in its purest. Ths is decency most And it cccured in New York, the Big Apple City, alkinds of snakes and sinners abound, and a place , according to Sydney Sheldon, the angels no longer J, No wonder all New York newspapers called him ‘We area people capable of great talents, Manvel of Fist Paci of Hongkong and PLOT. Tony Caktong of Jolibee.Diosdado Banatao of Talwood Capital of Siicon Valley. U.P. Professor Caesar Jennifer Rosales ofthe world of gol. And many, more.Another aspect of ournegatve atu is our vith, As @ consequence, demands for beter benefits or talangka mentality — our tendency to pull each -ourwar veterans and forthe clean up of toxic wastes in down, wich is so pervasive in all levels of our society. ‘and Subic have not been seriously taken up by any aciinistration. Where did we getthis tat? Perhaps tis is a tural ofshoot of the Spanish conquistadores’ strategy Because of our talangka mentality, or partly due civide-ande-rule that set off regions against regions, ‘tour people and our country have never gotten far in inces against provinces, clans against clans, fai ‘against families, to prevent a united revolt. That's why longo and thelocanos used to look at each oer But | believe thet our negative thinking is nt en- leery, suspicious eyes. Same wit the Kapampangans a produc ofthe present. Qu tendency forse-bash- the Bleolanos, And more so on how we Catholics ‘and lack of faith in ourselves is also a product of our made to view the Musims in Mindanao, ses curistry, passed ono us by an lr generation, ‘by ur parents. As it was passed on to them by their own _Ths crab ently also eveved party as a 3, our grandparents, who ived al the ives in sub- ‘pission or subjugation by the Americans for 60 years and ‘before tal, by the Spaniards for 377 years. Dave Magalong, a friend, recently told me about “Jewish traditions. One of the most sacred Jewish tradi- ‘fens occurs every Friday night, on the eve ofthe Sabbath, the family head prays for every child in the family ‘wh asks their Creator to bless the child, his dreams and ‘sspirations in lfe. This ritual afirms the child, the whole of Wh his heart and his mind. And this ritual occurs every Fria, every week, »No wonder most Jewish people! know are Clentof who they are and what hy stand fr, and aes Cesstl in most things hey do, especial business And greatness once achieved, however br, stays ‘he man, or withthe nation. | cant recall now who ‘hose lines but remember having read them in some during my college years, In contrast, and for centuries, the ‘Spaniards ars fen shouted, in pubic atthat, atthe poor Indio Words "Tanga! Bobo! Tama!" Unfortunately, the indi swells the Flpino mestans and ustrads perhaps anole forthe rustraton ego oten used the same And this the irony ofa, Theres something 8 revoluton that humanizes the people, It teaches for others. 'tteaches social responsibilty the one Cares forthe weak andthe feeble and the poor and of Tangat Bobo! Tama” to their cidren These chil hungry, in whose minds and hearts, as history shows, in lum passed onto their own ofspings the same. ‘seeds of revolution are always planted, Ue words. Soweare whate ae fda people who \We, in today’s generation, should start new revo- a ase the one that wil defeat al the negative energies in We are 4 product of our past. s} ‘minds and bodies as a people. fwe: passing these tically, wear a producto the failures of cur eee! energies tothe future generation, it would be a byitset. In fac, would be a major oltural revo- Uke all the litle things discussed ‘above, this 4° Thing of speaking positively of ur nation and our- des nt need any money fo our pocket. only i change of atitude, a change inthe way we look Buta change that can very well plant he seeds in elum, wil have faith in their own selves.hen | awaken each morning, | observe some ‘The results of this experiment are quite intriguing. als, Rituals that | have developed only in the few years, and based largely on the lives of people | ha we change the way we look at and treat our public adopted as life models for myselt particularly our trafic officers, policemen and , would they also change their response, the way The ist of these rituals isthe opening of the B perform their duties? ‘at any page my fingers would lead me. eared this fa Chief Justice Hilario G, Davide, in a newspaper that I believe they would tured him. | thought that its @ most wonderful way ost lee One time, | was driving in Manila and made a 9 tum, I didnot notice that there was a small sign that The second of my rituals is o read a page onl wa right tum was not alowed. | noticed the sign too ‘he Dally Bread find his devotional book vey enlight When the trae ofcr signaled for me to pul over, ingasitreltes people's experiences ~thlcally strug were 4 other car drivers who were caught ike me. | ‘heir failures and tiumphs, thelr joys and sorrows ~ to God d al three car owners shouting at and ganging up on teachings, traffic officer, who was visibly pissed and piqued. All car owmers were given tickets, their rivers licenses (ne day the story in the Daly Bread was about cated. research study conducted by Kenyon Colege inthe Uni Sates, together with the US Navy. The purpose was When it was my tum, | greeted th trafic offcer «iscover how a particu tone of voce aflecs US salon nd afemoon He wasinitally surprised and looked me when hey are given orders. The experimentrevealed thal we ee, asf to check i was mocking him. Then | ad- ‘he way apersonis addressed or treated, determined to od hima oficr, the same way the Americans and large extent the way he would behave or respond to it. British address their traffic officers and policemen. Then pained politely ohm that | am generally a awsabid- For example, when a US salor was spokentoin | es cizen and that tis case, the sign was just so smal Sof oie, he woud aso respond ina sof voice, When itwas too late forme to notice. | Yod him that | was Was shouted a, he would respond in the same way. Sog to pay the fine, but suggested that he should rec-The 5th Little Thing RESPECT YOUR TRAFFIC OFFICER, POLICEMAN, SOLDIER & OTHER PUBLIC SERVANTS “As always, the educated, knowing what needs to be done, ‘must not wait for those who do not know what to do. The learned has the solemn obligation to show the way, the sacred duty to take the first move. This is how society leams from them. This is how education is shared to society.” (Author) “We should behave to our neighbors as we would wish our neighbors to behave to us.” (Aristotle) “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” (Confucius) 38But back to our soldiers, policemen and trafic of- ‘Another way of showing our respect for them is by offering them any bribe mney when we are caught ‘of us in the public assume that all our policemen trafic officers are corrupt and can be bribed. Thus, ‘caught, many of us easily offer bribe money just to the hassle ofretieving our licenses from the LTO. ‘ommend to his superior to change and make the bigger, so people would easly eet rom a good distr To my suprise, the trafic ofcer did not issue} violation ticket to me nor did he confiscate my license stead, he was very poite himself and called me sit’ a ber of tes and just advised me to be more careful time, But this is precisely how we comupt our polioe- and trafic offers. Ths is how our new and young and trafic ofcers get corupted. They eam it us, reinforced only by what they see in their seniors. think that this is how we, the public, regard them and profession. Sothiss the way they regard themselves their profession. ‘And you know what? This stuation happened ‘me a number of times, not because | wanted to, but ‘cause authorities change our traffic rules quite often that! ‘results in confusion among the driving public. Buti there's one thing | earned fom all these, isthe power of respect. Respect honors. It empowers. dligniles. makes a person proud. tmakes one fee hon rable. Atthe same time, courtesy o others is good mane ‘ners tis etiquette, tis class and elegance, tis als kind ness, tis seeing the value and digi inthe other man. i, in fact, a mark of most profound education. In Psychology, experts agree that respect is one ‘he most basic needs of man. Every man wants and Sires to be respected. Every man wants to be recog- . Every man desies to be valued and honored. So | really believe that if we treat our trafic offic- and policemen and soldiers with respect, they will e- “um the respect and become respectul of us. This kind of respect we should also give to wait- ‘ers, bellboys and messengers. A person who is nice to you but not to waiters is nota genuinely nice person deep inside. For respect knows no tile or status in life, Respect is about acknowedging the true value of a person - which is often not visible, For what is essential is often invisible to the naked eye, says author Antoine de St. Exupery. 8 two look at and speak to them with dignity they ‘wilook at themselves with dignity. we give them a patin ‘Pe back forajob well done nal ikehood they will make ‘Pe efoto perform their duties and responsibil well 2‘honor them, they will look at themselves in the mirror with honor, if we value their contributions to our scily, they wil value what they do for our society Thay are what they are because of what we are. ‘They are who they are because of who we are. ‘There's a universal principle on this - “You al ‘ways reap what you Sow.” Itis also one of Buddha's core teachings - “What- ‘ever you sow, you shall reap,”The 6" Little Thing BO NOT LITTER. OSE YOUR GARBAGE PROPERLY. GREGATE. RECYCLE. CONSERVE 1 see trees of green, red roses too {Louis Armstrong, in his song “What A Wonderful Worid!") 43@ are part ofthe environment. The environment is Dart of us, Whichever way we look at it, the envi- ‘onment and we, human beings, are linked to each other ina powerful sense. permanent landfil for Metro Manila garbage in their localities, Our human acs — inthe quest for foo, clotting shelter, luxury, dreams or folly - affect our environment and nature although always slowy and imperceptibly ‘when nature reacts, it could affect us all, including our chi ren and grandchildren - in devastating ways, including 'yphoons, foods, earthquekes, tsunamis, fuel shortage water supply and food chain degradation, skin cancer, and global warming due tothe depletion of the ozone layer The Natonl Sold Waste Management Commis 2" (NSIC) has also publ released is plan io shut svn he Payals cust in Quezon Cy. at presen, #1200 being haved of ote conta dump acy * Rociguez ia where most of Neto Manis waste ng trom, Some ae alegedy being dumped ata 100-hectare landfil in Sitio alangitan, Capas, Tarlac, Tree years ago, several soos, icing cit ‘cety groups, Ateady voiced alarm over he impending $298 Metro Manila Id rotknon how tego. wil dress the issue onan immediate, medium m 2ndlangem bss. jst hope tha they do it prop thority (MOA), is garbage, With a population of almo ‘4 million as of June 2004 and roughly 1;573,500 hous holds, Metro Manila produces an average of& 000 tons solid waste daly In 2002, was only 6 000 tons daly, {here has been a big increase of 25% in dally garbage j inthe past 2 years, But avays believed hata rat pat othe se 'Sin us, the people ‘We dump garbage in open dumpsites and tary andfils, Under the Clean AlrAct of 2001, incinerato are prohibited inthis country, and righty so, ‘And there are three ways by which every Filipino zen can help or participate, Theis ways infact very asc —thatis, by tow. Se garbage propery, which i, in the garbage can, 4 ‘The problem however is that we have run out dump sites and landfis. San Mateo, Rizal landfill has beand not on the foo o inthe street or inthe highway. cans, ec, The segregation wil allow the recyding ‘You know that ll the cites and municipalities in our co solid waste possible and alt ease. According to try spend round P7 Bilin annual just to haul our garam Ut Paper of the DENR and UNESCO (tiled “The age? Inadlton, the DPWH spends another P18 Mi ofthe Phiippine Environment), to produce one (1) yearly justo unciog our canals and rivers of plastics, palm 2" It takes 17 tees, 24000 gallons of water, 28 ‘pers and cans thrown iesponsibly by us? lon Btu of energy, 1255 pounds of carbon dioxide to @, and 1.5 cubic yards of landfill space. Put together, ths is an enormous amount of go ‘emment funds (ou taxes actualy) that the national Whereas used papers, however od and of what local government can save ~ and puto beter use — it me YP® Cn be recyed and can prevent the cting of only trow cu garbage propery Putanoter way, we cp mt Sand wl hs lp prevent he futher dnud aca hep cur gveren see ind bye fou forsts, and eventual prevent ods, Pastis ling our garbage propery. And in doing so, we will bottles are non-degradable and should not be buried make our suroundings lot leaner and healt, ground. They too canbe recycled. Usednubber tes be recjeled a oad or highway asphalt. House and Tobi glppey oc residuals can lobe coveted to holow books, feu odo a al since it does nt involve money on o pat Alitneeds usta conscios ft in each on To segregates not and should not really be cif. ‘or us. Allit takes isa lite discipline at home. Espe- 0 when you have househelps, alli takes really is 4 litte time and @ small effor to teach and educate househelps. Teach them once, maybe twice, and that’s ‘Nex! time around, all you need to dois remind them to it faithfully. More importantly, the education process not stop there. These people will bring and use that very village in every city and municipality in the count cdge of segregation and recycling to their future em- {oday. Under this scheme, we are being asked to seq pyers, and to their families in the provinces. One day, gate our garbage according to - fod lefiovers, pape ctildren and neighbors and friends will also get the ahabit. And when this happens, this should not be a prise to us, for this is really how education takes Can you imagine if at least 10 million households in country will segregate faithfully starting tomorrow ing? It paints a picture of so much promise. The third way to help or participate for every pino is to recycle and reuse instead of buying new thir The more we buy, the more garbage we make. The we buy, the more natural resources we consume. It is simple as that. Everything we buy, everything we use, taken from our environment. Someday, there will sui not be enough to take from our environment. That day may come during the time of our children, or grai children, or great grandchildren. By that time too, the ronment may no longer be able to take the garbage continuously dump on her. | have always wanted to do more for the envir ment, to help make it greener, to help make it clea always feel that it is part of my responsibility to my chil to ensure that they will have a healthy environment. It for this that I, along with 4 other young lawyers in 2 took on the case of the toxic waste victims from Clark Subic against the US and our government. Whatever pens to that case, | hope | am able to do some good to environment with this little piece.The 7th Little Thing pe 2 2 cud inos taiot Binet 200 eye! SUPPORT YOUR CHURCH ee wale Sanne ar reins “To love another person is to love God.” (Victor Hugo) “Works of love are always works for God.” Teresa)Selous And ight there and then, stuck me, What fall 100 during collection time. The amount is already ‘ats will donate even just 1% of our monthly net earnings for our whole family, inuding our 3 kids. Therefore, in 4 MR our respective churches —whether Catholic, Baptist, ‘Sundays, our family's total contribution to our parish church WNC, or Muslim? is P400 monthly, fora total of P4600 yearly. If we do this, we will empower our churches, SO Then one time, my wife and | did not have ‘eur churches will have more resources to help the poor 100 bilin our wallets. But had a P1,000 note. | was ‘spd neglected members of our society, Don't you think we confronted with the dilemma of whether or not to dons ‘wil be truer to our claim of being Christians or Muslims the whole P1,000. Or pass on this Sunday and ust dout "hen we support our churches? my regular donation amount next Sunday. My wie sient and | could sense that she was just waiting for | recall American writer James Fallows (Atantic decision. | was struggling internally. But when the “Wenthy) who accused us Fliinas of having a "damaged tion bag was handed to me by a pai of small hands, “eéture." He said that we take pride in proclaiming our ‘companied by a small voice ~ “Papa, your donation’ ~| 2s the only Christian nation inthis part of the world, ‘ook out the P1,000 note in my wallet and put it into yetwe do not even take care ofthe many poor in our collection bag, especialy the smallcidren ~poorand hungry and in the streets of Makati. For the rest ofthe mass, | was not able fo con: trate. | questioned the amount of faith | had, not only in | know exacty what James Fallowsis talking about. God, also in my church, How much do | support my chur i City has been my place of work for many years the house and the works of my Father Almighty? . As the financial and business capital ofthe county, it home tothe nation's really rich villages like Forbes twas during that mass when | realized that Dasmarinas Village, Urdaneta Vilage and Bel-Air, 400 monthly donation | give tothe church is actually “o mention the towers and highise residential condos even 1% of what | eam monthly, not to mention my wis people ofthe same class and status. And yet, in pract- /every street where there's a traffic light, there too are earings. oor children, beggars barefoot and malnourished. a‘And residents and businessmen and office workers al ‘Seemed fo have become immune to tis dally sigh, ‘hey do not seem to care or even notice how poor hungry these ite souls ae, They knock on car windows, but very few give alms. |, too, sed to refuse to give alms for le heard long before, ‘That these beggar children all edly work for syndicates, That they allegedly wil just us {he money fr cigarettes, or even shabu or rugby. AAfew months ago, | caught on TV the launching ‘Bondo Ng Pinoy project ofthe Catholic Church ed Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, Under this ne day, when we were stil residing in Maka, ‘ained so hard and my wife and | were caught in trafic female cid, very young she must be not more than 8 ld, tapped my car window. She hada thin, malnouri face, with buiging eyes. Soaked wet under a harsh rai she begged for money. !looked ather and could not Not giving something. My wife gave more, The project is based on the Theology of the 488 found in Luke 16:19-31. If we gather the let- the extras, the excesses from our tables, we can many ofthe hungry nour socely. This is avery noble laudable project ofthe church. deserves all our sup- Bishop Tagle of mus, Cavite cited during the that acon fo Pulse Asa and SWS surveys, t Flos al overt count ar actualy poor hie tbls teachings found inthe Holy Book. that isso,The CFC has a community program called Kalinga which aims to build 700,000 houses for free ‘the poorest of the poor in 700 communities in 7 That's why the project has been called 777, The CFC ‘been undertaking tis project for several years now, and on target to achieve its goal of 777. This isnot only a good project. Ths is Christ This is giving shelter to our poor brethren who are This is about sharing our blessings. Ths is about lv (one ofthe top two commandments of God —Love thy’ bor as you love thyself - where most of us, Christians cluded, fail. | also promised myself that someday, when would allow it, | will build @ beautiful chapel in Pinaginpinan, a paradise hidden in the mountains, {ected by 1 hour of travel distance from the heart Kabankalan City, deep south of Negros Occidental, (Quaint and laidback, itis a beautiful place. Albeit wit Church. Not even a chapel. | was born there. At a when it was only reachable by foot and carabaos, mother used to teach Grade 2 students in a public there,The 8th Little Thing DURING ELECTIONS, DO YOUR SOLEMN DUTY “The fault, dear Brutus, is notin the stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.” (William Shakespeare) “America wil remain the land of the free ‘but only for as long as it remains the home of the brave.” (Eimer Davis) “The people always get the government they deserve.” (John F. Kennedy)Cee TE rank honesty? Let me share with you the story of the late Pres dent Chung Hee Park of South Korea. After the Kor war in 1954, South Korea became one ofthe world’s poor est, with so much political instability, Then in 1964, a mie tary group staged a successful coup d'etat and instal ‘Army General Park Chung Hee as president. ‘As President, he tried to borrow money from countries, but was always rejected because of his cour very bad economic situation. So Park sent many mine borers, railway workers and nurses to Germany $0. ‘could work and send money back to Korea to help ‘economy. In 1964, Park visited Germany to borrow ‘Several hundreds of Koreans came to welcome him at aipot in Germany, and they cred when they saw They told him of their hard work, low pay, and of the treatment they were getting from the Germans, Park with them, openly, in front of the press and the public. German Chancellor was moved by the incident, and ‘many became the first cour to give a lan to Korea. P used the loaned money to build factories in South K PhDs, The country didnot have economists of high a 4, orign-trained or home-grown, Park himself did not ‘eve superatve credentials, But he was honest, both in ‘22 life and in the eyes of the publi, At the ime of his ‘ath in 1961, he remained a poor man, His ration was bee Rizal College. But ike Abraham Lincoln \Wastnglon and Park Chung Hee, ay Kara a Ha ‘17 March 1957, he had only P2,000 to leave to his Despite the many years he stayed in Manila as cone X an, Secretary of National Defense and later as . he never owned a house for his family in Mae Hs ends and sympathizers had to pitch nto buy @ for his widow and children ater his death. _ Magsaysay was leader buy adored and folowed by amos everyone inthe land. The Fino had ‘nim. AS @resul, he was able to make te Filpinos o‘work for]@.common dream, even Hukbalahap leader Tare, In 3 years that he was president, the county’s ‘nual GNP rate averaged 7.3%, the second highest in our nation's history. This happened because Magsaysay the support of practically all sectors of society, except opposition, Seeing their president as honest, most go ‘emment men performed honesty. Seeing this, busines men and people stated paying taxes propery. nately, death snatched him away from the nation. used by a leader who has characte.” Plato said "he 0 does not seek power s the most qualified to hold it” Honesty is the core of character, while character the core of leadership. And leadership is the core of ev- ‘success ~in every company’s success, in every team's clory, and in every nation’s march to progress, Accord- 910 John Maxwell, “everything risos and falls with lead- Honesty, more than a master's or doctorate ge, is what gives credibly. tis also the one thats tains it. And credibility is essential, because itis @ leader's lnk to the people It is what makes the peop {ook to one direction, follow a common vision, and perfo ty. Churchill changed the outcome of war against the a uniform ac. In shor, creibity is what makes zis. Lee Kuan Yew but Singapore fom a $25 milion follow the leader. oP in 1972 to a $86 Bilion GDP-iger state in Leadership is what built the 500 companies in the orid, according to Fortune Magazine 2002 book edition. @ Washington changed the course of the indepen- ce war against Britain, and gave birth to America as a Honesty, more than anything, is what makes (good leader, Its the solid core of the character of eve Why doy ofthese? ‘great leader in history It is the core of one's characte, ‘ ‘says George Washington, Remove honesty, and the Pe bac NN ha pd thas no character. der today. According to Ninoy Aquino, given a good ___ J) the Fipino wil ten great heights because the Lao Tau, a famous Chinese piiosopter, 88 =I sans inhereny a god follower, “In choosing a leader, characteris the most important ity. Intelgence and skils come second in importan Our Constitution gives each one of us the right to ‘Abraham Lincoln one ofthe greatest leaders mankind . et our leader, In fact, our right to vote is also defined in, ‘ever produced, had something similar to say ~"power Constitution as a solemn duty of every citizen to ourcounty, This is one of the very few instances in the Ci stitution where we, as citizens, are reminded of our ‘emn duty to our country. It is not there for nothing, It there because it is as it should be, a serious obligation. If we have bad leaders today and in the past, it not the fault of the many who know less, but the fault of few who know more but who do nothing or who don't ‘enough. Comelec records show this. In electoral preci of rich communities, the voters’ turn-out is always dis while in the precincts of squatter communities, the vot tum-outis astronomically high. If we want to see progress in our country, we start with the way we perform our duties as citizens, people, we must be involved. We must gef involved. are a nation of 84 million people - with 84 million he minds and pairs of hands. Can you imagine if these million pairs of hands work together for a common vis for a common dream for the Filipino nation? Dr. Jose Rizal said it eloquently more than ‘years ago. “It is enough for good people to do nothing, the evil ones to succeed.” ‘We are all part of the problem. We are all blame. But the good thing i, we are also the answer. are also the solution, ;,The 9th Little Thing PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES WELL “To whom much has been given, much will be expected.” (Luke 12:48) “You give but little when you give of * your material possessions. itis when you give of yourself that you truly give.” (Kahlil Gibran) imagine if there's no possessions; | wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger; A brotherhood of man imagine all the people, sharing all the world, woooh... You may say I'm a dreamer; But I'm not the only one someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one. (John Lennon in his song “Imagine”) 67phalanges about wishes and reincarnations. He said there's a reason for everything that happens in one's! ‘There's a reason why, for instance, some hate you with a passion. Or why others are very You through thick and thin, Why your househelp has with you for 30 years, or your driver for 20 years now ‘why your secretary stil works for you with unswerving alty despite everyting ‘There is a reason for everything, And there tbe a reason why, of the more than 6 bilion human (on earth, scattered in more than 200 countries on planet, these people — your driver, househelp and tary — continue working for you with unceasing loyalty My professor said that maybe, just maybe, people, in their previous lives, were very close to you. before their death in ther previous lives, all they for was to be allowed to serve you in the next life, which now. And thelr Creator, however they conceived Him be, ranted that wish Much later, in my private readings, | leamed said philosophy is actually one of Buddha's core ings. There's reason anda plan why certain people part of our lives.” Butof couse, this something thats in the realm intangibles, and metaphysis. And itis up to us, religion, whether to agree with tis or not. | am a Catholic, The Holy Book that | ty to read day also says that there's no accident in if, that ‘After | learned ths, itchanged the way !looked at ope | work with everyday A home, inthe ofc, and everywhere at any pointin ie. God knows serious and strict tend tobe, but God knows too how |r to deal wth them with ove, respec, Kindness, above al ~feimess and justice. Pato being fair to them is by paying them what them, or what they deserve, In fac, the way we pay employees ~ or the people who serv us cr Work for us the way we love, respect and treasure them. That is best way to quant ou love and respect for them. But there's another important reason why We pay our employees well. COurcounty odayisina very etic stat, 34 mi cut ofthe total 84 milion Filipinas live in naked pov-an bloom, $0 the trees can bear fruit, so the entre field an grow in|ush green aplenty. So the people around can ‘enjoy food, beauty and a clean environment. ety. Everyday, or practically everyday, we hear news of @ Flipina domestic helper inthe Middle East or in Singapore ‘or Hongkong who comes home in a coffin, or who jumps from a high-rise apartment of her employer, or who com> plains of having been raped or abused by her foreign em ployer. | am not exaggerating. Try to listen to Saksi News or TV Patrol or to OF W news. ‘The bounty must always be shared. Money thats ‘ept fo oneself does not build a family It does not build a community and @ nation, Profit thats Kept to onesetfis no 204, It does not make the employees, and ther families, eppy. It prevents the employees chien from geting 19004 education. Itprevents the employees and their fami- ‘es from enjoying the wonders of travel, the beauty and ‘ich majesty ofthe world, Cleat thisis atime when all of us Flipinos must take an active role in helping our country. This is a time ‘when all of us must do our share in helping our governs iment, in building our nation. Paying our employees well is one such way. lis ‘an act of patriotism, within our means. A good salary cam 90 @ long way. It will pay for your employee's chirens (004 education. It wil pay for vitamins and medication ‘make our youth heath. will pay forthe reading mater ‘als to make our youth inteligent. twill pay for the low-cost ‘apartment and house and lot to provide our youth a good, ving environment. So if you are wealthy now or in the future, you ‘must help our country by sharing your fortune with other Fipinos, especially thse in need. Invest in cur county ‘stead of somewhere else, and pay your people wel. 'fyow are successful now orin the future, you must ©) our country by bringing home the benefits of your ‘evcation and sucess. Foritis only through sharing that "7 can keep our people knowledgeable and intligent.t only through sharing of knowledge that we can ensure ‘A good salary to our employees wil ean a goal future for thei chidren, our youth, our nation's future In the words of Dolly Levi in the "Hell, movie, money is lke fertilizer. It can only be good, it ca only produce beauty, ifitis spread on the field so the pla est important responsibilty of every cizen, of every pa- etc Filipino, i)No exercise is better for the human heart than to reach down and lift someone else up, to serve others, to ‘enrich your community. This truly defines a successful life. For success is the sum, not of our earthly possessions, but of how many times we have shown love and kindness to others. Remember that in Luke 3:11, God said — “Who. ever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it to the hungry” Remember too what Abraham Lincoln said -"The tulimate measure of success is not what you have become. ‘or who you have become, but what others have become. because of you." ‘Whatever your concept of success may be, you always be guided by these beautiful lines from famous poet Ralph Waldo Emerson -"To leave this alittle better. .To know that at least one life has easier because you have lived...This, fo me, is to Succeeded.”The 10th Little Thing PAY YOUR TAXES “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” (Oliver Wendell Holmes) “By the taxes he pays, a citizen has every night to demand for a good and honest goverment.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt) 75ast December 12, 2004, the National Economic ‘Authority (NEDA) disclosed that our ‘emment needs atleast USS 7 Blin in 2005 to repay ‘country’s maturing obligations and to finance the like portfolio investments, OFW remittances and e income may not be enough. Initially, the governme planned to source it on a 78-22 rato. 78% ofthe a will be sourced locally while 22% will come from borrowings, But the problem with sourcing ic the 78% of the $7 Bilion is that it will dry up dollar su inthe local markets as well as deplete our country’s int national dollar reserves, such that it will make the d more expensive than our Peso, As a result, it will ed the value of our currency even more, On the other hand, if we borrow more dollars abroad, it will bloat our present foreign debt of US$S7 lion even more, especially since our country will be payi higher interest rates (higher than the previous years) cause our nation's credit standing has been downgr by 2 notches by Moody's Investors Service, Hence, ever course of action we take, our county is sure to ‘counter problems along the way. But these can be avoided if our government cat only collect more taxes. Othe many duties fa ctizen under our Const- paying taxes is one of the most crucial. Because ate the lifeblood of our government, of our nation {tis what we use to buy the basi textbooks for rillons of children inthe county, orto build addlional in public schools nationwide, According fo the ‘of Education records, we have a shortage of 744 dassrooms inthe public school in 2004. As a re- ‘st, at least 3,000 schools nationwide have an average ‘s2e of 100 students per classroom, 800 schoots have an Taxes are what we use fo buy the most basic of ‘neces, offen generic and cheap, that our Department of Heat ffl cstibute to 34 milion Fiipnos nation- ‘vide wh ve below the poverty ln. <{tis what we use to pay all our government em- poyees nationwide our sods, ou policemen, cur public schoolteachers, among many oer, ‘You may agree with tis or not, but | believe that ‘nore than 70% of our soldiers ae professional, that more ‘han 70% of our policemen also want todo their jab prop- ety andar infact wing orik theives to give us peace snd order in our streets and neighbotood. | believe fo nee that more than 70% of our public school teachers want to ‘rl the frst according tothe Hongkong Pitcal& Eco ive ther best and teach our students prope, omic Risk Consutancy Ltd and te later acorn to Transparency Intemational. tis estimated that around 200 bition is lost annually to graft and corruption, na 42002 study the World Bank said thatthe Philippines lost ‘pproximalely USS48 bition to graft and conption in the They just ned leaders to follow, They just need ‘Support and encouragement. ‘Viewed inthis light, the taxes that you and | pay ‘¢ actually not lost or wasted completely, A substantia Portion of the taxes we pay is stil put to good use, Be Cause there are many public servants ~ not only a few oF ‘Some = who stl do their jobs propery. There are many ‘hem, these honest and fitful ones, bu maybe many them are justin the rank and fil, lke you and me, Right now, figures show that our government's collection efforts only around 14.1% of our Gross Product (GDP) for 2004, one ofthe lowest in fa andin the world, Even Panamais better at 19.1% tax ratio, But they are there. Among the silent many through storms and scandels, notwithstanding the ‘guided ambitions and corruption of some oftheir ‘12003, P83 Bilion was collected from individual taxes, But 91% of this amount came from salaried {ts fortis reason tht we should continue ‘our taxes. The good ones in the government are sil ‘reason for us to continue paying our taxes properly. Challenge for us is just how to increase the number of ‘900d ones in the government.least 50 Billionaires and 42,500 millionaires in the who do not pay taxes property. Can you imagine if our businessmen and sionals pay more income taxes? Or four goverment able to collect 21% this year instead ofthe 14.1% as because we all decided to pay 50% more of taxes year? Ths means that our government wil have more to perform its duties and obligations to the publi burden we must all share. The task of buiding this nation isa task that we all must share. We all must contribute fo build the kind of nation we dream fr ourselves, Each one ‘ofus has arole in it Each one of us has a responsibilty 0 itThe 11th Little Thing RR eer a anCEE ST rae ADOPT A SCHOLAR, OR ADOPT A POOR CHILD ab pepsiane beste Se os a ctl “whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it to the hungry.” (Luke 3:11) “Remember, each one of us will stand before God for a judgement w...,for a personal accounting ..... — what did you do with all the gifts & talents | gave you?” (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 10:31) “Your life is God's gift to you. What you do with your life is your gift to God.” (Danish Proverb)Tinie atts 0 May adopt a poor child as a scholar, Or you ma adopt sanger- an absolute angel - asa faly ‘member, the one that you bring to your home and rise a child of your awn, Choose which one you are comfortable with Just adopt, Itwould ready mean alot~to the cid, fo you, to ur nation, and to our world, Toadopta poorcidas a scholar seems tobe the easier ofthe two. And fo do this, you need not ook far. Al YOU need todo look within your cen, among your rela {ives | am sue you wil beable ofnd one relative wh ‘eds hep you cannot nd one within your ln, | am Sure you wil nd one win your immedi cle - among ‘he families of your househels, yayas, ves, or mes. ‘sengers in the office, Itdoes not cos so much to adopt a scholar, There ‘are good elementary andhigh schools that don't cost much. Public Schools are tee and ther are some of them that ‘are really good. When Your adopted scholar gets good Grades nigh schol he might even eam scholarship o College. The technique therefore is proper motivation and guidance during elementary and high school, ‘AS an alternative, you may want to consider Crild Sponsorship project bya group called World Vision u ch allows anyone to send a poor child to school for a ration of P15 a day or PA50 a month. World Vision is. of an iterational organization that sends poor chi- to school to give them a better future, ‘Atpresent, more than 88,000 Filipino children are der the care of World Vision. Another 200,000 Filipino ren have already been helped by the group sine 1957, en you sponsor a child, you wil receive @ photo of your opted child, his or her yearly progress report, as well as chance to exchange letters with the child ‘You too can make a difference in the future of our You can send your donation via credit card, post- ted checks, Bayad Centers, or bank deposit. fyou want information about World Vision, you can visit its site at warw.worldvision.org.ph or call its telephone ber 372-7777. As another alternative, you may want to consider AdoptA-School Project te Foundation of World de People Power chaired by EogieApostc. Ths project ‘specifically covered by law - Republic Act No. 8525 -Through FWWPP, more than 200 elementary schools in varius provines have been adopted by var- program where teachers are taught new skis and ‘ods to become efectve teachers, ‘The second type of adoption is more dificult make, | am sure, But itis certainly the more noble ‘The resistance here wil be song, and itis based la on fear, ‘The fear of bringing a total stranger to your wit the new adopted mouth, you may not be able to vide much to your own kids, But itis af that point when the Christian in knocks. The sacifice we make fo save @ poor sou, innocent cid, and to give him a world where there's love, and a secure future, is a worthwnile one. iramenterte sy of Niche Regan, aueytois faer, ete US Preset Ror Vito! ower on CANthat Renal Reg ally adopted him when he was sil a very small child in 1945, Michael sad that he was very lucky because he felt ‘he was the chosen one. That Ronald Reagan gave him, ‘aswell as his (Michael's) 2 children, a wonderful life, Allow ‘me to quote Michaels eulogy here: ood evening, Im ike Reagan. You knew my f- ther as gover, es president. Bu | knw him as led, weno eyo a ite bt about my Ga... Ronald Reegan adopted me inthis flyin 1945, ||was a chosen one, | was the lucky one, And all of ‘is years, he never mentioned that | was adopted tbr behind my back ori ont of me was his Son, Michal Edvard Reagan Wen isfy grew tbe two fas, he cit wak away fom the one o go tothe other. But he became father o both, Te Patt and then Ronnie, butts aveysto Meu, my st, and nyse We looked foward o thse Saturay momings when he woul pick us up, sting onthe cure cn Bevery Glen as his car would tum the comer fom ‘Sunset Boulevard and we woud etn and fo his ranch and play games and he woud avays make su tended up te‘We would swim and we would rid horses or we'd Justwatch him cat rewood. We woulbein awe of cur falber As years went by and became older ‘andfound/a women would mary, Coleen, he sent me a letter about mariage and how important it was to be fatto the woman you love wih @ PS: You'l never atin trouble you say love you at least once a day, and fm sure he tld Nancy every dy "ve you's Coleen... ‘Atthe early onset of Alzheimer’ dsease, my fa therend would el each other we loved each otter ‘and we would give each othera hug. As the years went by and he could no longer verbalize myname, ‘re recognized meas the man who hugged hin. 80 wher | would walkin the house, he would be here ints chircparing up hi arms for that hug, hello, ‘nthe hug godkye. wes blessing ty brought on by God. ‘We had wonderful blessings of that nature. Won- erful, wonderful Nessngs that my father gave fo ‘me each and every day of my if. {was so proud to have the Reagan name and fo be anal oga'sson. Wale geal toa” Re gave ime alotof its asa chid. Gave mea horse. Gave me act. Gave me elt of tings. But theres @ git ‘he gave me that | tink is wonder for every f- tharto giv every son. Las Saturday when my thr opened is eyes for the last time, and viualzed Nancy and gave her ‘such a wonderful, wonderf it When he closed his ees, that’s when | ealaed the git hate gave tome, the git that he was ol to be wit is Lord and Savi, Jesus Chris. He ad eck in 088 on fight fam Washington 1. to Point Mugu, tome abou i ve of God, his love of Chi ahs Savior. ht now then whattl meen Bul ety cetahly know ow. ‘/can'tthink ofa beter gif fora fathero give a son And apo hoor my far by ing my son Cameron and my daugho Ashley that vty same git he gave tome. Knowing where he is this very moment, this very day, tat on Heaven, and can ony promise my father this, Dad, when go, wi goto Heaven, to, And you and and mys, Maween, that went before us, we wil dance with the heavenly hsto angel bore the presence of God We wil 4h itmelanona and Alceine’ fe, Tank ou for ltng me share my fether, Ronald Wison Reagan, 8Do you know why | wish we really could practice adoption as a nation? It is because we are a Christian ‘people, @ Christian nation It should be in our culture te take care of our kindred, of the poor and the hungry arouné us Can you imagine if2 millon families in our cours ‘try would adopt 2 milion poor children, either as scholars ‘or as members of our families? That's 2 milion young Fit pinos who will be given access to a better future, In tum. that's 2 milion Filipinos who, in the future, can give us & better nation, No doubt too, this is one of the fastest ways. {o close the gap between the rich and poor in this country {tis one of the best paths to national progress, And it very Christian, Itis an act of people power, too, in is pus est form. lf we doit, whata beautiful race we would be, € beautiful nation ours would be. For what do you cal: people who takes care of ts poor and hungry children? ° ‘A beauttul people,The 12th Little Thing BE A GOOD PARENT. TEACH YOUR KIDS TO FOLLOW THE LAW & TO LOVE OUR COUNTRY “Be the change you want to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi) “We can change the future by changing it today.” (John Maxwell) “Today's children will someday rule and lead this world. But whether they will be bad rulers or good leaders, will depend largely on how we raise them today.” (Author)Sau caeanda his way ~ “Sa mga mata ng bata, ang mali ‘nagiging tama,” (In the eyes of a child, what is wrong be: ‘comes right). The TV commercial showed a father driving a car, violating a traffic light, his 10-year old son seated beside him at the passenger side, looking at his father. How true that message is. Every child in the word acquires his concept of right and wrong, his definition good and evil rom his parents. He acquires it from what the sees in his parents. The family is the core of every society, the foure dation of every nation, and of the human world. Our stitution states that. Every Consttution in our world afi that. The United Nations made a declaration on that. ‘What happens in the family will eventually ‘pen to our country, and the world. | we teach our children to listen to each they will someday know how to listen to other people ‘our society. f we teach our children to respecigach views, they will someday know how to respect ot people's viens. ‘we teach them to sacrifice for one another and ‘we teach them to be united in small things and big things, they will someday know how to act in unity as nation. lfwecscpjne them to flow ourhouse rls, they someday know how to follow the rules and laws in our ‘So much of our nation's problems today ~ like the ‘of love for country, lack of respect forthe law, lack of for others, lack of unity, among many others ~ be~ at home, with what we parents show to and teach our Truly itisin the family where the child learns tobe | and grateful. Its there that he learns to say se, ‘sorry’, excuse me" and “thank you." {tis in the family where the child learns that to lie cheat and steal are wrong, and that to condone any of is equally wrong. Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, father of the modem ia, says that what you see in every family, you will in the nation.|tisin the famiy that the famity cultures p ‘led. And ina larger scale, itis there that ‘our culture ag; People and as a nation ig perpetuated, echiden weuld ron upnioveandpeac, te wie Wott to wil experience ove and peace tt a , ‘American author James Fallows said that we, ‘Agood sentence 4 people, have @ damaged culture, Perhaps he i shidren wil someday have God fearing and patito it. ‘And maybe this is due in large measure to almost 6n8 as children, Years of Spanish rule and another 60 years of Amer amination ofthe county, during which period, we as When ou area good parr, you ise goo chi. People were deliberately preverted fom working Sn who wl mos italy becoe god Fas an ci. 88 a people and as a nation as the foreign rulers feared) ‘22ns ofthe world, You can Actually help make our country United revolt from us Flpinos, ad Our Waite beter, When you rea good parent 201 Gn scaly hl change te ft of cur county, But the foreign invaders are long gone, We 2 aye cur vot When outeach york te od therefore in a postion to correct the damage, if ever iS any, And the solution to that isin every family, pa larly, in the parents of ‘every household, Ghent presen sta of cur nation vith somany Potenshatve dren now where begin soe + or chien aeavays a good staring pi, They ‘have always believed that becoming a good: ther is one of the best Yet simplest acts one can do) ‘make our country, and our ‘world, alte better, A Imagine if ll the fathers inthe world would their children to help their oor neighbors, to follow Actrdn to Mi Tomas Osias, Executive Director law, to be honest and fair in dealing with others, to he Naloral Commission on Popatn, anos 4% tel county, and to rey to God? Al the chen in County’ 84 illonpopdtn are under te age of world woud 9fOW up someday to become ff Thas386 iin Fines blo he age of 15, These 9004 citizens, and yes, good fathers themselves, And SiS nigh schol and elementary and nda ® a ii eta ten, the majority of whom stl ive wit us, their parents. ‘n fact, 10 milion ofthese 33.6 milion ae already aged 10 to 14 years, Injusta short period of 4 to 8 years, these 10 milion will become active citizens of ur country either as voters andior workers. {fall of us, parents ofthese 10 milion children Fi pinos, would today stat teaching our respective cidren love of God and country, respect for our law and neigh bors in just a period of 4 to 8 years when these kids be- ‘come of legal age, our country will have an additional 0 rrlion God-earing, law-abiding and responsible citizens. This wil be new blood, a new generation of 10 milion Fle pinos with the youth, energy, idealism and dynamism to help us build @ better future for this nation. I hope we, dear parents, al see the mathematics ofthis, | hope we al see the importance ofthis, and our corucial roe init. We, parents, are leaders in a very definite way. Weere leaders of young souls, our children's, entrusted to us by our Creator. The lives, security and upbringing of these young souls area measure of our leadership. What wwe teach them, what we show them, is our responsiblity. ‘What they become is our responsibilty. Inthe book | ust recently finished ~ Bult To Last ~ ‘author Jim Colin talked about how some companies be- come great. Great companies ~ ik great product brands ~ are bul exactly the sare way — bit bit, step by step, ite by ltl, with discipline and hard workover the years, sustained by integrty, sacrifice, and fat, | guess building a nation towards progress and greatness i ike that too. We have to atend fo the many ft things in our national if, and start seting them right. ‘And our family, our children, isthe stating point for this, Each child is a potential good Flpino. Each child is a po- ‘ential patriot of our country. Our future i inthe hearts and minds of our chil dren.—_— ton the malty of whom sil ive with us, ther parents Infact, 10 milion ofthese 33.6 milion are alt aged 101014 years Insta shor peed of 408 these 10 ition wl become active ctizens of our cither as voters andlor workers. Hfallofus, parents ofthese 10 ion cidren pins, woul toda stat teactng ourrespctie ci love of God and country, respect for our law and tors, in ust paid of o 8 years when these Ks be come of egal age, our county wil have an adtonl 10 rrilion God-earng, law-abiding and responsible citizens. ‘Thiswilbe nw bood, anew generation of Orion Fie pins wih he yout, energy, alm and cya hep us uid beter future fortis ration. {hope we, dar parents, al see the mathematica ofthis, | hope weal see the importance of this, and crucial role init. We, parents, are leaders in @ very definite way. Weareleaersf young sous ourchidren' entrusted us by our Creator The lives, secutity and upbringing of these young souls area measure of orleadership, Wha we each the, what we sow tem, fou responsi What they become is ou responsibilty o Inthe book just recent fished - Bul ToLast~ ator in Cli aed about how some compari be ame reat. reat companion ~ ke rat prot! ands are bil exact the same way ~ ity bit, tp by st, se by itl, with esl and Hard work verte eas, sustained by integrity sari, and faith | quss bung a nation towards pres ard peatess ise fatto. We havea tend fe many te tings incur national if, anda sting ter ht dou fi, our hen, sth tating pnt forts. ach chilis a pote good Flipino. Each cli 2 po- ‘ential patriot of our country. (ur future isn the heats and minds of our Chik tren.A CHALLENGE BEA CANDLE OR A MIRROR “In this age of darkness, there are two ways of spreading light. You may either be a candle, or the mirror that reflects its light.” (Ninoy Aquino, while in prison, wrote this in his December 30, 1977 letter to Jose Antonio Gonzales) BUY ONE FOR A FRIEND Dear reader, if you believe in what this book says, please be a candle or a mirror. Buy one for a friend. And request that friend to gift one also to another friend. Network mar- keting can also be used to build our nation. To buy copies, please contact Tel Nos. 840-0338 to 41. Or email alacsonph@yahoo.com PROCEEDS WILL HELP SCHOLARS Part of the sale proceeds of this book will go to an educa- ‘tonal foundation that the author conceptualized several years ago.THE AUTHOR Alexander Ledesma Lacson, 40, is a lawyer by profes- on. He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines, Col- of Law (Class 1996) and has taken post graduate studies at rd Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Four years ago, he and his wife (Pia) had a serious discus- about migrating to the US or Canada because the Philip- 8, a8 a country, appeared hopeless as it only got worse year year. They wanted to know if they and their children would better off staying in the country or abroad in the next 20 years. They asked themselves this formula question — “Will the ines progress in the next 20 years?” if the answer is YES, they will stay. If the answer is NO, they leave and relocate their family abroad while they are still young energetic. But after a long discussion, they could not give a definite swer to the question. Until they realized that actually the an- to that question is in them. The country will improve if they something about it. It will not if they do not do anything. They realized that the answeris in us as a people, that hope in us as a people. Since then, Alexander and Pia decided to do more for the This book was written by Alexander and edited by Pia. This one of their ways of doing more for the country. ich the. author, please send an email to