Attitude Makes the Philippines Poor

We all know that the Philippines is saddled by many problems. I don't need to enumerate them all because the space here could not suffice. You can name it, the country has it all. This is very alarming. With the question I posed in my entry as guest blogger to Kuya Jessie's site, Is There Hope For the Philippines? I could immediately answer a big Yes if I may speak only for myself. But this is no solo endeavor. We have to work together for us to alleviate our country's plight. The question how stares us in the face. I was still groping for the right answers until an email was sent to me today by my cousin. This email. authored by Dr. Arsenio Martin of Fort Arthur, Texas, is now circulating in the world wide web to make us all Filipinos realize the main reasons why the Philippines remain poor. It boils down to one thing:

a t t i t u d e!

Dr. Martin made a very brilliant comparison between a number of countries that indeed, made me think so hard:

I came to realize that a country being rich or poor in natural resources makes no difference. Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it tops second in the world economy. The country tops in importing raw materials from the whole world and one of the best in exporting manufactured products.

Switzerland, on the hand, does not plant cocoa, but has the best chocolate in the world! Isn't this amazing? In its little territory, they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality! It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world's strongest, safest place.

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.

Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries. Look at our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW's). Back here, they were jobless because there were no opportunities. When they were offshore, they showed how great a Filipinos worker is!

What is the difference then? The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture & flawed tradition.

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work-loving.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.
10. and of course...Discipline

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life. like in our country. we keep longing for the so called good life but not too many of us observe good ethics, may it be at work or in our day to day dealings with our fellow Filipinos. As to having admirable integrity, it's so shameful to admit that law-makers are the number one law-breakers! Onli in da Pilipins! And lastly, we are renowned for our "punctuality." Filipino time is always 1 hour late, you may disagree with me but it's been a truthful observation. Filipinos not valuing precious time, i believe, is one of the reasons why we were left behind by our neighboring countries.

The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in natural resources.We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. We lack the will to comply with and follow these functional principles of rich & developed societies. But if we care more for our country, we will do all possible things for us to develop and eventually won't be blamed for our country's poor condition.

View blog reactions