Stop the Pork

Today in the Philippines we are currently facing, a couple of problems the pork barrel scam and the Zamboanga City Crisis. The issue that our country is taking in the most would be the Pork barrel scam because everyone is involved as long as you pay taxes, you are involved. The pork barrel scam is where the government would take our taxes and use it for their own good. A Businesswoman would ask money from a government official to take funds from the money given to them in exchange for allocating Priority Development Funds, which is the Pork barrel. They then would make fake paperwork with the government officials’ forged signature, to be allocated money. The government officials would now ask for their share of the funds from the businesswoman. Now, they would both have a lot of money going straight into their pockets. This scam started long ago, but the issue here that alerted the nation was on August 4, 2013 until today, and has already stolen about 937 billion pesos from taxes.

The problem of massive poverty and the mendicant attitude that had been nurtured in the Philippines has caused politicians to think that it is absolutely necessary for them to dole largesse out to the people in their districts in order to placate the poor and their demands/requests for assistance. The politicians would often ask for the money and force the business people to give it to them, it is like an addiction, the politicians would feel incomplete without it

This scam has affected us so much that it has many effects in many aspects on our country. It has changed our society to become angrier and more furious at the government because of their scams; the pork barrel is only the tip of the iceberg on our government’s corruption. The truth is our society only knows a part of what the government is doing to us and when this case was revealed we became confused and frustrated at our government because all the while thinking our money would benefit us it is just going into the pockets of the government officials. The scam has also made us lose our trust on the government, and we would want it to change because the funds should be used in improving jobs which will later on benefit our country. This would drive our society into chaos, starting rallied and campaigns to abolish these scams.

The scam has also affected our Economy, since the money from taxes are going to the pockets of governments officials, we our economy decreases as the money is being used for the development of our country. The businesses would, also stop paying taxes because these aren’t put for our benefit. Another effect is massive poverty because even those who are poor pay taxes, but they do not get rewarded of this, with government programs and activities to

alleviate them of poverty, this is where the money should be put to. The pork barrel funds are also high in demand because our towns’ people, people of the Philippines are very festive and often hold parties and fiestas which are from the pork barrel. Finally, for the youth, if they learn about this and see how much our money is being wasted by the government they would not want to pay taxes in the future leaving no funds for the government and for our country.

Politics have also been changed because of the Pork Barrel because these are the people that use our taxes for their own. The Politicians became richer while the people became poorer, the politicians should help the people alleviate from poverty. The executive and legislative branches of the government are also separated and do not require each other’s agreement. Which is why pork barrel is being passed, the other branch does not need to agree to pass these business plans that would take money from the pork barrel. They should now also spend their money wisely for education health care, jobs and other thing that our country lacks. If our taxes are used for this our economy would increase and we would no longer be a third world country.

Because of this scam our culture has also been changed has changed for the worse, our traditions of fiestas and other baranggay activities should be cut our lessesned because these are where the pork barrel funds are going to , so if we stop these then there wouldn’t be a need for the pork Barrel. The government officials have also developed a sense of greed where they would just take our money and keep it to themselves, if they do not do so they would feel empty, the politicians are addicted to money. We are also becoming too dependent on the government that we believe in anything they do and get so quickly, influenced by them. A small act of charity and you would be head over heels for them. This allows them to control us and win the elctorial campaign and later just take our money. It is not them who chooses to be a politician but it is us the voters

The solution to this problem would be to create more jobs for our Filipino people because if they already have jobs and can support themselves what would the pork barrel be there for, then politicians wouldn’t need to hand-out pork barrel which are funds they get from taxpayers. Our economy would prosper, but at the same time the government should also use the money for the benefit of our country. As this issue is very dawning and popular, the government could have possibly made the Zamboanga city crisis as a diversion, from their scams. They turned all media stations off about the pork barrel scam and made the Zamboanga city crisis an issue. Could the government be involved with the muslims?

Save the Philippines

Sage Co 9B06

The issues happening right now has cause both, the people and the government to drift apart. Some of the issues that we are experiencing are the pork barrel scam where billions of pesos are being stolen by the government and the Zamboanga city crisis which cause panic in our nation. These led to us the people rallying and fighting over the issues. Our country is actually a rich and our economy would flourish only if the government would use the funds properly. There are many ways, us the people could help alleviate all these problems and build our nation.

Our Filipino people could resolve its conflict with the government because this is the main cause of the quarrels by joining in peaceful rallies to express what we feel about the government instead of fighting and causing chaos amongst us. We could also attend seminars and outreach programs, and support these programs that the government has made for us. We could also attend mass and pray for all the persecuted and for our nation to resolve its conflicts. Then the people could help each other; help all the other Filipinos who are in trouble in times of need by donating and by participating in the relief programs. We should also pay our taxes, because after our rallies and revolts I hope that the government will put these funds into the benefit of our country. We should also learn to vote wisely, we should not vote on bribery but on those we think we be eligible for the position.

The government could use their funds wisely on, infrastructure, health care, energy conservation, government seminars and government programs. These things should be communicated to people, and they should invite the people so we would see where our hard earned money is going to. Our government should also implement laws about where our taxes go to and how much we should pay. We should also be allowed to use these government facilities. The government should also maintain peace amongst our people especially now when rallies are abundant and crimes are many, the government should discipline our people if they would want to fix our nation. Lastly, the government should slowly use our funds properly and perhaps in the future we could use them on even bigger projects and leave the third world. The government should also include politics in its educational system because for those who would want to become future politicians must learn to become just and fair while they are young. These should be distributed and influenced all around the Philippines, especially to schools in Manila.

Finally, us Xavierians could also help in rebuilding our nation by encouraging our family members to join in the peace rallies and government programs. We could also donate the small allowance we get to charities and fund raisers. We should also join the prayer services for the persecuted people in our country. We should participate in the school, nation related activities like relief operations and prayer services that we do in school. Finally, we the youth of the society should learn and understand about corruption, and how it ruins society and affects other people. We should also learn to go against it and how to fix it if ever we would encounter this problem because perhaps in the future we would become government officials, and we would know how to avoid this or fix it.

The main cause of our rallies and complaints is about corruption, and this is the source that we must eradicate. The only way to remove corruption is to give people jobs, so that people would be able to support themselves and they would not need to turn to the government for pork barrel funds. Unlike, Mary I of England, I would not eradicate other people but instead invite them because the more people there are the more income, but this can only happen through jobs. First, the government officials shall create jobs with our taxes, and then invite us the Filipino people and even those in the provinces to these jobs so that they would receive income and support themselves. We the more lucky people could help by respectfully paying our taxes, and if we own businesses we should open up more spots for others. Together we can achieve a better and Greater nation

Lance Cheng 9B05

Disease: CorruptionThe main setback to the nation building of our nation is corruption. It divides us and prevents growth as a nation because of wasted, misused resources, money. Not only does it paralyze our gov.t (because the gov.t is not progressing in their fight to uplift conditions in the philippines as it is paralyzed by greed and corruption of individual politicians) but it also divides our people, as our people do not know who to trust or follow. As such 2 elements of our nation state are in chaos and cannot function fully. This will cause our other elements to also be soon taken away, sovereignty and territory. (an example is the conflict for the scarborough Islands against superpower china, who are willing to fight and conquer for valuable territory and the MILF or MNLF who wish to be independent from the Philippines.)

Recent events have brought further light into the different corrupt acts our politicians have committed. One such event is the pork barrel scam, which is basically the abuse of the PDAF, a budget privilege allowing senator to use gov.t money to fund some of their projects.

Obviously the bill has nothing wrong with it, it is in fact a very ingenious idea.It has been however perverted once again by human greed and by corrupted politicians.

The temptation of corruption comes from the immense power the individual politician is given, and the knowing that they can get use this power for illegal acts that they can get away with. The pork barrel scam is one of those. Senators knowing they can pocket some money while

perhaps helping their nation or looking like they are. Some politicians like those part of the PB scam only think of themselves, they are not driven to serve their nation. They also don't have the patriotism, that would motivate them to prioritize helping their country as to their own selfish needs. 

That is why we need to choose politicians who are patriotic, fervently wish to eradicate the problems and sufferings of our nation, and are competent enough to achieve these. We need to unite against corruption first, if we want to be united as a nation.

To fight corruption, which is one of the main setbacks to our nations growthWe need, one, people to lead the fight against it and improve our nationAnd, two, patriotism to unite our nation, and motivate our leaders to stay clean and develop our nation.

Developing a Cure I believe that the first step to eradicating corruption and promoting nation-building is unifying our people through our love for our nation. Programs that advocate unity, and pride in our country should be implemented.Along with the remembrance of our colorful and proud history, and the times before, when the Philippines was at its peak. (We were once predicted to be one of the most successful countries in SE asia.)

Schools should create subjects that would be dedicated to promoting filipino pride in our nation. Our history should be revered, as it is a symbol of what we could have been, and what we can still be if we rise from poverty, and corruption.DepEd should create a subject called FLP (Filipinos love Philippines) to focus on our Philippine history, and promote pride for our nation. (Name is optional)

Rallies also allow individual filipinos to be unified towards a cause (outrage over wasted taxes) and we should put this to good use. We should hold weekly rallies in every barangay or province, town etc.

This would create an inspired, united and patriotic youth, to give our country a fresh start in all aspects. (Politics, economy, culture, arts, etc.) 

Choosing the Un-infectedThe gov.t should also create a substantial, quality seminars in every barangay to teach voters how to vote wisely. Wise voters would allow for wise politicians, who would serve their country well. 

Electoral campaigns should be more honest, and be limited to candidates talking with a mic to every barangay he or she wishes to visit. Pins, buttons, shirts, ballers other extra accessories should, if needed, be created by the fan club of the candidate out of their own spare money and not by the candidate. Candidates should not be allowed or encouraged to waste money on useless things such as these. We need to focus more on what the candidate will do for our country, rather than these petty advertisements or slogans.

These projects would give us a fair and more competent electing system allowing us to choose better leaders for our country. We would also have clean, cheaper, straight to the point elections, where we can see the true intentions of a candidate/future leaders. 

Treat the wounded We need laws or projects dedicated to the formation of the politician himself and his privileges. I believe that if politicians really understood and saw the hardships of our country, they would try and fix it. I recommend that all elected candidates have to visit or live in the worst parts of the Philippines, and live as one of the unfortunate filipinos in that area. (Like a company retreat, except it is for formation). They should be required to do this every time they run for a second term. This though harsh, (harshness can be turned down) allows politicians to remember why they are politicians in the first place, to help and serve the country.This would keep them alert and refresh their strength against corruption

ImmunizationThough corruption is solely based on the person, and is not a material problem, we can still lessen the chance of getting corruption through material means. To reduce chances of corruption, the power a politician has should be reduced. He should be given alternative privileges as opposed to a large salary or the PDAF. Instead they should have free food from perhaps certain canteens or gov.t controlled restaurants (with decent, or good food) or monthly loaded gov.t made (credit) cards that would allow them to buy clothes or items for free, providing the total is under a certain amount. (around 100,000 pesos)We need to constantly give politicians the mindset that, they are workers, dignified servants, not rich and powerful rulers.

ConclusionAll these projects would hopefully fix our gov.t so that it can lead us properly to advance and rebuild our nation, from what it once was in the past. (A peaceful, happy, rich in culture, trading centre in SE asia.) Because again, how can we improve our nation, if our leaders a not up to the

task? History has shown us the negative impact of incompetent, selfish leaders, such as King Charles I who abolished the parliament, to have absolute control over England. Or how easily a great nation can fall when their people are divided, such as the puritans VS. England church followers, Roundheads, VS, cavaliers/royalists. Only when a nation and its respective elements are united, can it begin to grow and advance.

We cannot fight external or internal problems if our gov.t itself is divided and corrupted, not functioning. To promote nation building our gov.t itself must fix its internal problems first, which is corruption.

Filipino people and us Xavier students can promote nation building by simply supporting gov.t projects such as, studying hard in FLP subjects, participating in patriotic rallies, remembering our beautiful history and sharing it with others. We can also volunteer to be part of voting seminars, or to listen attentively to voting seminars. We should also treat politicians with the respect level of a daily citizen who serves his country, and not fawn or idolize them. To add, we can also try to respect and befriend, understand every member of society (school, community) despite their differences (muslim, christian, foreigner, korean etc,) and instead focus on the fact that we are all filipinos and this unites us.

Simply being proud of our country, and deeply loving it is already nation building. But we need to take this to a higher level and inspire patriotism in others by uniting us students together because of our love for the Philippines, and starting projects within our school or outside of our school to promote unity in society and love for our country. By doing this our society will have more active and unified relations with the state, so long as they both work for the betterment of our nation, and our nation would be united. From this unity we can accomplish great things and improve our nation.

Miguel Ong 9-B 24

Based on my observation our country today needs to stand up and make a change. The people or the country men and women who are angry at the government for not being able to give them a good life see things the wrong way. The informal settlers, for an example, depend too much on the government and foundations for donations. They are capable of working and doing something to provide for their daily needs but despite the fact that they could do that, they choose to live life the easy way by waiting for someone to reach out to them and give them some help. They believe that it would be able to sustain them for the rest of their lives and make it all good but they are wrong to think that way because without a job there would be no income and the supplies or resources that are given to them by the government would only last a few days or less. The corruption of the government may affect our economy in a big way but us as people who have hands and feet to do work could change that. For people who are unable to

find a job with a good pay due to their lack of intelligence or education, they could find jobs such as street vendors or jobs that doesn’t require a college degree. The Filipino people could rebuild our once great nation by learning how important it is to educate themselves and take on responsibilities of one’s self. They could do more than what is asked in their jobs and not be lazy so that there would be a possibility that the business men from other countries would take interest in putting up their company or offices here in the Philippines could serve as a boost for our economy. There would be more job openings and more chances to earn a living. The Government could do their part in nation building by lessening the corruption and anomalies happening in our country. Instead of putting the money that they corrupt in their pockets they could help by using the money to improve our economy. One way that the government could improve our country is by doing something similar to what Ferdinand Marcos did during his term as the president of the Philippines. He invested a lot on the improvement of agriculture which our country is very rich in. Our production of crops and agricultural resources could be double or even triple in terms of number. We would be able to import the excess products to countries that have no way of producing any crops because of their land being infertile or the land being unable to produce or make crops grow. But then again by doing that the government would be taking a risk. As we all know we are always being hit by natural disasters such as floods and heavy rains which destroy or play a big part in a lot of agricultural businesses. It would be up to the government if they would be willing to take that risk and take a leap of faith. For all that we know by doing that we could gain back our title as "The Tiger of Asia". As a student who wants

to help rebuild the nation I could suggest that we study hard and learn how to take on the responsibilities that are given to us by our parents and schools. Either that or we could join the SK or the Sangguniang Kabataan(Youth Council) which helps the youth be more aware of the corruption or the current events going on in our country. With us being aware of the situation in our country there will be a possibility that we could make our future brighter and less complicated compared to our time now.

References:

http://www.dpwh.gov.ph/about_us/reforms/rimss/tambuli/2004/Oct_Dec_04/page2.htm

http://nusp.org/abolish-pork-barrel/

https://www.ndfp.net/joom15/index.php/media-releases-mainmenu-53/statements-mainmenu-71/1826-abolish-presidential-and-congressional-pork-barrel.html

http://cebudailynews.ph/opinion/story/18884/away-with-pork

http://www.filipiknow.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/porkbarrelinfographic.png