Pointing Fingers

The fault in our nation: All of us seems to have notions as to what and why our nation is this. Some say we have incompetent leaders and flawed systems. We always have people complaining and bickering about the way things go in our country but that’s about it. We bicker. And that’s the only thing we do.

Mind you, I, too, love to voice my concerns.

But it pains me to no end that we people stop then and there. 

Hot and Cold

People usually act only when it’s “in.” When the rest of the people think that its a hot topic, they ride the bandwagon and start supporting causes. But when the hype is over, the lights are out and the fanfare has gone silent the whole arena filled with protesting crowds suddenly becomes a ghost town overnight.

Like, poof! And everything’s gone. People only show their support when the issue is the talk of the town. Take for example the Pork Barrel campaigns where the people defiantly flaunted their banners and shirts, flags and chants — it was incredible. Everyone was there! In that moment it seemed the people were finally wide awake and concerned about what is going on in this country. After the Million People March, and some random protests, everything went cold.

The problem remains, the fervor to have it resolved is gone. 

Three fingers pointing back

As anyone would point out, if you point a finger at someone to accuse, beware, for you are also pointing three fingers at yourself. And I think this applies perfectly for us. We always try to call out how this and that have failed and that this and that should be working on this and that certain people should come out and lead the people into making the country into a better place.

We make demands. But are we ready to act ourselves?

The problem with us is that we sometimes fail to see that we should start by acting ourselves. We can’t expect change to be brought out by a few men in office. And, while we’re at it calling the people in the government incompetent, who were the people that voted them in in the first place?

We forget that sometimes ‘cause the problems ourselves. It’s odd how people who demand that the government must implement acts for cleaning the city while they go on with their reckless and destructive attitudes, throwing trash where it shouldn’t go.

Are we really becoming a nation that talks endlessly but acts worthlessly?

Supremo

There was a time when the people actually acted towards a common goal. It’s the 150th anniversary of the birth of the man who founded the movement that made this country the first democratic country in Asia. Maybe we should act like the people he influenced during those turbulent times.

In those times, the people were taught by the Katipunan that while they are at war they shouldn’t lose their values. Andres Bonifacio and the rest of the founding men of the Katipunan strictly enforced rules and guidelines that state that everyone must be made equal and that people must respect their brothers and sisters. The people were united, but they never lost their ideals.

Maybe that’s what we need; we need to love his country as much as he did, as much as our forefathers did, as much as our heroes did. Bonifacio, so idealistic was he as he tried to free our country, named himself Maypagasa (Hopeful) in those times when freedom was nothing more than a far-fetched dream. 

They loved their country so much, valued it so highly that they wanted to improve it and lift it from its unfortunate state. We need to bring this back: Stop pointing fingers, stand united and call for real change. We need to love our motherland, and maybe in that love we might find a desire that would blaze us awake and push us onwards towards a brighter future for our nation.

We need change.

Contribute by Jhon Gorme