Strength In Numbers

With the dawning of a new era, the entire nation’s hope is again uplifted that maybe, maybe we can start collecting ourselves up from the slump we call poverty and start crawling towards a better life here in the Philippines. The entire nation breathed its sigh of relief and even cheered during the completion of last May’s election as the country was turned over to a whole new administration. Now, the new administration is thrust under the spotlight like a performer, cornered by a hungry nation as its audience. Almost everyone is unmoving as the majority expects our newly elected leaders to conjure a solution, a trick that will instantly make poverty disappear. Then, when our elected leaders fail satisfy the pleas of our country, words of disappointment are hurled at them like gunfire in a battlefield.

The discontents many of us voice out are often valid as we seek better lives for ourselves and our loved ones. The new administration is bombarded with expectations, favors and pleas from a slowly dying country. I cannot blame the people for demanding so much after all everyone has been through. The people who demand and expect so much from the administration are just most of us that dream of a better life. Who doesn’t want to live a better life after all? To add to that, the line “Kung Walang Corrupt, Walang Mahirap” (No corruption, no poor) of then campaigning NoyNoy Aquino highly enticed the masses and triggered their craving to at least eat thrice a day, which I believe is far from being too ambitious. We see how we are slowly being suffocated by poverty and we turn to our newly elected leaders, giving them the responsibility of taking care of our well-being, our survival. But what most of us does not see is that we are asking them to feed us, thousands and thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fishes. A feat that is impossible for any man.

They say that two heads are better than one, well, the Philippines is known throughout the world as the motherland of millions of millions of people and yet we are poverty stricken. They say that there is strength in numbers and yet our country treats over population as one of our numerous problems. It’s just intriguing how millions and millions of people, well most of them, can burden a society so much. What’s more fascinating is the fact that they do not see how they burden themselves and instead, blame it solely on the people leading them. But the most surprising thing of all is the fact that among all these people only a handful realize that the fate of the nation, the betterment of their lives lies not only the hands of the government but in their own hands as well.

We are the masters of our own fate, we make our own destiny. The government is present only to guide us as we trek our journey towards our goal. The most they can do for us is to eliminate the obstacle of corruption, not manipulate our lives towards what we desire the most. If we want something, we have to take it. In the end it all boils down to how badly we want something. Based on what I see, it seems to me that our countrymen don’t want a better life after all. In a doggy dog world, those who are merely waiting for a better life, a stroke of luck, are only really waiting for their ignorance to take its toll on them.

We are asking them to perform for us a grand miracle, a deed they are obliged to do upon being chosen to lead even though their failure is inevitable. We sit around pondering about how the new administration should be working towards our goal of a poverty free country where everyone is satisfied. Some of us hurl our disappointment at them, boldly using our freedom of speech but failing to use our common sense. I do not understand how Filipinos can sit around and complain when there is a lot to do to rebuild and stabilize our already crumbling country. We do not see how each of us can make an impact in our society if we only try hard enough. If we fail to realize this, we will forever be a country full of hopes, dreams and nothing more.