Accents
The big 12 Little Things
The title of the book is kilometric: 12 LITTLE THINGS EVERY FILIPINO CAN DO TO HELP OUR COUNTRY -- a play on bold and light face to emphasize what we can really do for our country. Author Alexander L. Lacson call them little but they are actually big because they take all of a Filipino's determination, patience, perseverance, and all the love of country "with fervor burning" in his heart. Or the patriotism that the average Pinoy conveniently takes for granted.
The 12 are herein enumerated each bolstered with excerpted comments from the author and followed by my own two cents' worth in italics. Where I have been most obedient, I swallowed 'em things like delicious morsels. Where I have been most remiss, I took time chewing to avoid indigestion. Swallow or chew the following as the case may be in the secret chamber of your being called conscience:
1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
You may ask why following traffic rules was designated as the 1st Little Thing. The answer is simple. Traffic rules are the simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it could be the lowest form of national discipline we can develop. Since it is totally without monetary cost, it should be easy for us to do. It should therefore be a good start.
OK, but let's have more well-defined pedestrian lanes, and do install more traffic lights in busy intersections to put the jam in its proper place in the bottle, and not in Iloilo City's streets.
2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
By simply asking for ORs (official receipts) for all our purchases, you and I can actually help the government in increasing our tax collections every year, in solving our nation's budget deficit, in reducing our foreign debt, in improving our international credit standing, in strengthening the value of our peso.
Noble reasons but see how the VAT intended to raise more taxes has overburdened Juan de la Cruz. OK, let's go VAT-able religiously, but does government use taxpayers' money wisely? See how junketing government officials squander taxpayers' money. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo went to meet the Pope, et al. with a coterie of 133. How many of them were at government expense?
3. Don't buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.
The government is not able to collect taxes on smuggled goods -- a loss of about P140 billion of customs taxes. If we can only collect at least 50% of that, there would be no need to raise the VAT to 12%.
Smuggled goods should never ever be patronized, but first things first: Stop the evil that is smuggling.
On the colonial mentality of buying "Made in America," do you know that a lot of signature brands in the US ( Florsheim, Victoria's Secret, Ann Taylor, GAP to mention a few) are made in the Philippines and in many other Asian countries like China, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh? These countries are providers of cheap labor to multi-nationals to the point of exploitation, ouch!
4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively about us and our country.
Our national defects and problems entertain us during birthdays, parties and social gatherings. They certainly make good topics for conversation. But they do not fail to send across a negative message.
Another aspect of our negative attitude is our crab mentality -- our tendency to pull each other down, which is so pervasive in all levels of our society.
The author's observation is generally true, but many kababayans I've met in the States (especially in our Filipino-American Association of Beaufort, Hampton, and Jasper Counties in South Carolina) speak highly of Lupang Hinirang and fellow Filipinos whose achievements have surpassed that of foreigners. Nevertheless, they don't gloss over the shortcomings of the Pinoy.
5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman, soldier and other public servants.
Respect empowers. It dignifies. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. Courtesy to others is good manners. It is etiquette. It is class and elegance. It is also kindness. It is seeing the value and dignity in the other man. It is, in fact, a mark of most profound education.
Need I say more?
6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
Throwing our garbage properly does not seem difficult to do at all, since it does not involve money on our part. All it needs is just a conscious effort from each one of us. If we can do it, it would be a simple form of national discipline for us as a people.
Touche! My column last month, A mess of economy and ecology, which included The Earth's Ten Commandments, highlighted this topic.
Numbers 7-12 will be discussed next week. Quite a dose of good citizenship we have here already -- six big Little Things to chew or swallow to the extent that your conscience pricks you.
(Comments to lagoc@hargray.com)