Tuesday, November 4, 2008, an election took place in the United States of America. It was peaceful, efficient, and above all, honest. The results were complied and released within hours not weeks. No one was killed and no one was bribed for his or her vote. How is that possible, we ask here in the Philippines?
First, I want to congratulate President-Elect Barack H. Obama and his family on a wonderful campaign and give all my prayers and best wishes for his future success.
“Now, what does this matter to us in the Philippines?” It matters much. There is an old saying in the global community that says, “When America sneezes the rest of the world gets a cold.” The entire world is affected, directly or indirectly, by every action of America. We only need to look at the current economic crisis we are going through.
Many countries in the world are looking for this relatively unknown new President of the United States of America to solve their problems. Whether people love or hate America; when there is a problem to be solved people look to America for solutions.
We in the Philippines have so much to learn and so much to change if we are ever to break out of our “Third World” image. This week, we received the dubious award of placing in the Top 5 Countries with People Going Hungry in the World. What an award! We have nothing to be proud of when we have even one person going to bed hungry.
Our political system needs to be changed so there is no chance that a political or family dynasty can control the government or country, either politically or economically, ever again. Look what happened when Bush Sr. served as President and then 8 years latter Bush Jr. served for eight years. These past eight years of his failure has put the entire world community at economic risk. Without major change in the Philippine governing system, we will continue on the down hill slide into a world status comparable to Haiti or Bangladesh.
I believe that there is not much we can change between now and the next election. What we can do is to prepare to follow Barack Obama’s campaign strategy. We need to redefine “People Power” to mean that the people will control the next election. We will tell the government what to do and not to do. We will not allow our vote to be brought for any amount of money. We will chose candidates for offices from the local to the national level that will answer only to us. We have a chance of our own to have a campaign of “Change.” We can not give up hope.
Will President Obama do away with our problems of crime, corruption and political theft…No. That job is up to us. When we solve our own problems, I, strongly, believe that America will look at the Philippines as a trust worthy partner in the global community. Until that time comes, we will be looked upon as a unstable child and treated like a child.
We belong to a global community and each country must do its part. Let us follow the direction of “change” in our daily lives. When we do that, I believe that an “Obama” of our own will rise up and lead us in a new direction where we won’t have to treat our people as an export product but treat them as human beings with a hope for the future. A country where our highest priority will be keeping families together and not making them “modern day heroes.” Where working abroad will be a choice and not a necessity. Where people will want to come here to invest and live knowing that they will not be intimidated by corruption, greed and “one-ended contracts” of government officials. I have family members who are OFWs and I and other family members would rather they be home to love their children than to be modern day heroes.
America made a decision for change this week. They gave their trust and their hopes for their future to the first African-American President. That says so much for faith in a chosen leader. If America could over come a long history of hate and prejudice against people of color than we should be able to summon the strength to over come our current corrupt system and start a new era for the Filipino people and for the Republic of the Philippines.
Again, our best wishes to President Elect Obama and his family from all of us in the Philippines. That said, it is, now, time for our campaign of change in our beloved country.
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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