DU30-Team Filipino
When comments of people wanting Mayor to be the President of the Philippines started cropping up, I knew these people didn`t know what they were saying. I get it, people are so frustrated with the ones running this country...I too am a victim of sticky red tape and have my share of stories- I get it. Being from the North, I arrived here in the South to escape from a husband so far into drugs that his family thought our having a family was his cure. It took awhile to get used to life in Davao- the sense of humor, the easy going pace, the way to establish leadership to the most ornery person is to be abrasive and to promise them a good fight after the job is done (Yup! It works!).
Now, with a Davaoeno at the helm, people who have voted for him will have to learn the meaning of TEAMWORK in their lives. People of the LuzViMin getting ready for change is not that red and blue wristband or the fist emblem- it’s a start but true commitment to the DU30 cause is being a team player.
Parents
You and your family are the most important people in the recipe of change. Within your homes you have future citizens of this country. It is in your care that they should gain the sense of value and worth of self and the basic good. Call me an idealist, but I don`t think any sane parent raises their children to be criminals. The love of God and of country starts within the walls of every home.Parents, shame on you if you leave the teaching to the schools or the streets. I understand that survival is your priority each day. But for DU30 formula to work, obedience to the law, love for country and belief in the change is needed.
Believe that if you make sure your kids are at home before curfew, then they will survive not getting recruited by a gang or jailed.
Believe that when you break the liquor ban by letting them buy Emperador at Aling Baby`s 24HR store they will always think that following the law is optional.
Believe that if you do not show them how to respect others, they will not respect you when they are older. Believe that if you have no honor and even your child knows you lie about a lot of things, then they will grow up as cheats and liars easily bought when survival is at stake.
Teachers
The cliche says that you are the second parent when kids go to school. For me it means that you all have the responsibility to support basic good taught at home. What happens if the basic goodness is not there? Then you still enforce the basic good that you swore to do as a teacher.Stop selling to your children, they are far poorer than you are. They are students not your marketing niche. Be a teacher and educate even the uneducated parents who have entrusted their child to you.
Educate parents that their children will do better in school if the education is supported also at home.
As teachers, you are in the position to show how things should be done and planned in an orderly way.
Law Enforcers
Get with the DU30 program already! You all know the effects of lawlessness and disorder in a city. You also know the source of all that is evil is drugs and sick minded people who are power and money hungry. I don`t see the reason why you are men and women of the law if you coddle and get pay from the criminals.People in uniform should be proud of their line of work in public service, if you are complaining of the low pay and not having enough money to support your wives then may you choke every time you wear your uniform. May I suggest that you apply in a Security Agency instead (since it is not public service)?
Micro-entrepreneurs
To the ones filling up the sidewalks with your wares that pedestrians end up on the road?!. Please look to make your enterprise legitimate and give the pedestrians the sidewalk.I get it, you are also trying to survive- but not at the expense of others. To be a success is not to stay in the `I am a victim of poverty` state of mind. The government has programs that will help you put up legitimate stores but not on the sidewalks.
Pedestrians
I know that most of you have the idea of what the traffic light colors mean. To mention you in this rant should be a no-brainer. Red means stop or better yet do not die or have an accident. Sure nothing has happened yet, still you are gambling each time you cross the street when the sensor traffic light says it isn`t safe. This is one of the most ``optional`` law that people break.By the way, the striped areas of a street marks the place where it is best to cross. People in the government who also cross streets, if by chance you don’t see any pedestrian crossing lines anymore then please repaint them so no one j-walks again?
Business owners
Pay the proper taxes and live within your means so you have enough to keep your businesses afloat. Know that the taxes you pay have come from the hard work of your employees too. Also know that there are government agencies that are there to help you on what you can do to be better bosses.Do not consult your legal team when there is unrest, listen to your people and try to find a better solution. People over profits will make life better and less lonely.
People in Power
People in power of both Houses, Provinces, Districts and Baranggays please do not get too hungry for more. It is not to late to turn a new leaf and accept if ever prosecution is in the works. If there isn`t any then all the better reason to keep your nose clean and be a more responsible and country loving citizen.Media
I`ve worked for you in radio, tv and print, be responsible and do not sensationalize. You stop acting like victims, one time or another even as a fledgling newbie you have seen and some have even taken because it was the norm. How many envelopes have you opened last Christmas and New Year? No envelopes? How about the favors and the `gifts` your got in exchange for a favorable or just a no-mention? When the customs called your team to cover a container full of watches, weren`t you given a handful even before the police arrived (my source is 2nd hand and it happened in 1990s- don`t react if you weren`t a reporter then)?Neighbors
Just because the street you are in doesn`t have CCTV it is just not right to be noisy and have unlawful gambling every time someone has died. You make noise and too loud so much even if you know you are breaking the law. Tsk, another optional law gets trumped by the `poverty` card. Just because your in-law or relative is a policeman (or woman) doesn`t make what you’re doing right-WT*.Youth
The misunderstood and neglected of the elders so busy trying to survive and in the search of money (like it were a god) are the youth. There are good examples of people who have made it big despite the negativity at home.Brotherhood or sisterhood is not getting hurt first before being treated as one. Gangs don`t make you successful the way you truly wish. I know that a young person always dreams of the basic nice life in peace, getting into a gang who make it a habit to vandalize and test how far they can break the law is not the way. You get promised money, sex, drugs, booze, latest clothes and notoriety and you lose your self worth.
May you be a girl or a boy, the people who have corrupted you may say you are broken and that no one can want anyone like you are wrong. No one has the right to keep you in one place if you know you are moving on to a better and lawful one. Brotherhood doesn`t hurt and doesn’t make you what you don’t want by force or bullying or by attacking your self-esteem.
As I said in the start of this piece, change is coming and it involves the government, all of you and I. The government instills the law, you and I will follow- no if`s or`s or but`s.
Change is coming, you don`t need to look far.
