The Voice of Overseas Filipinos
OFW: The hope of our Nation
Two days after I posted my article "Wanted: A Few Good Men (and Women) on this website, I was deluged, literally, with emails in reaction to my ideas. Majority of the emails agreed with me in one way or another. However, there were a few who felt slighted that I accused all the politicians in the Philippines as corrupt and dishonest. It was a general statement and I had no intention of disparaging all the politicians. I am one of them and I can look at your eye and tell you that I am not corrupt and dishonest. Probably, I am the only Mayor in the Philippines that provides free college education to its constituents ( www.csllfi.org ). The IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) of my town being a 5th class Municipality is only seventeen (17) million pesos a year. Even if I steal the whole amount, it will not be sufficient to pay for the expenses in my school that provides free college education.
My statement was based on the last Barangay and SK (Samahan ng Kabataan) election. There was open vote buying which ranges from Five Hundred (500.00) pesos to Three Thousand Five Hundred (3,500.00) pesos. As long as you have the money, you can get elected even if a candidate is only a second grader, a gambler, and an alcoholic. The salary of a Barangay Chairman in our town is about Two Thousand (2, 000.00) pesos a month. However, the Barangay IRA is about Two Hundred Fifty Thousand (250,000.00) pesos to about Five Hundred (500,000.00) Thousand pesos depending on the size and population of the Barangay. You can do the math how the Barangay Chairman will recoup his cost of being elected.
With the SK Election, the voters who were fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) years old in the Barangay sold their votes to the highest bidder. It was easy for them to decide who to vote for. They just asked how much and what model of cell phone the candidate was willing to give.
After the election, our Parish Priest, made a comment that "we need to kill all the people from five years old above if we want to eliminate Graft and Corruption in the Philippines". He made this sweeping statement because of his disappointment and the feeling of hopelessness from what he has seen and experienced in the last election. Our national leaders have lost the moral ascendancy to govern, from the President down to the Senators and Congressmen, and now it has permeated even to the lowest level of governance - the SK (Samahan ng Kabataan) which is our youth who is supposedly the hope of our nation. They have lost their innocence and the hope to be the source of upright leaders of our nation.
The OFW/OF on the other hand is composed of highly skilled, highly trained, and highly educated segment of our society. They are born leaders who venture to the unknown. Trailblazers and pathfinders for the next generation of Filipinos who will work overseas. Risk takers and thrill seekers. These are the Doctors, Nurses, Engineers, and Teachers among others.
When the good teachers left to work as domestic helpers abroad, the quality of education suffered. Our graduates became less educated. The quality of teachers that we produced now in the Philippines is below par to the teachers that we used to have fifteen years ago. This was shown in the result of the English proficiency testing in the school year 2006-2007. There were only 60% of the Public Elementary school teachers who passed the test. What is worse is that only 20% of the Public High School Teachers passed the test.
The brain drain in the Philippines has affected not only the quality of education but also the quality of governance. A severe shortage of leadership has occurred in our country in the past few years. There has been a leadership vacuum that sucked in high school drop outs, actors, singers, and comedians to serve as Congressmen, Senators, and President of our nation. The acute shortage was felt by the religious groups when Eddie Villanueva ran for President in 2004 and Gov. Panlilio in 2007.
The political situation in our country is going from worse to dire. We need to change our leadership ASAP if we want to make a change for the better. The only hope and solution is for our OFW/OF to come home and be counted to take their role as leaders of our nation.
My statement was based on the last Barangay and SK (Samahan ng Kabataan) election. There was open vote buying which ranges from Five Hundred (500.00) pesos to Three Thousand Five Hundred (3,500.00) pesos. As long as you have the money, you can get elected even if a candidate is only a second grader, a gambler, and an alcoholic. The salary of a Barangay Chairman in our town is about Two Thousand (2, 000.00) pesos a month. However, the Barangay IRA is about Two Hundred Fifty Thousand (250,000.00) pesos to about Five Hundred (500,000.00) Thousand pesos depending on the size and population of the Barangay. You can do the math how the Barangay Chairman will recoup his cost of being elected.
With the SK Election, the voters who were fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) years old in the Barangay sold their votes to the highest bidder. It was easy for them to decide who to vote for. They just asked how much and what model of cell phone the candidate was willing to give.
After the election, our Parish Priest, made a comment that "we need to kill all the people from five years old above if we want to eliminate Graft and Corruption in the Philippines". He made this sweeping statement because of his disappointment and the feeling of hopelessness from what he has seen and experienced in the last election. Our national leaders have lost the moral ascendancy to govern, from the President down to the Senators and Congressmen, and now it has permeated even to the lowest level of governance - the SK (Samahan ng Kabataan) which is our youth who is supposedly the hope of our nation. They have lost their innocence and the hope to be the source of upright leaders of our nation.
The OFW/OF on the other hand is composed of highly skilled, highly trained, and highly educated segment of our society. They are born leaders who venture to the unknown. Trailblazers and pathfinders for the next generation of Filipinos who will work overseas. Risk takers and thrill seekers. These are the Doctors, Nurses, Engineers, and Teachers among others.
When the good teachers left to work as domestic helpers abroad, the quality of education suffered. Our graduates became less educated. The quality of teachers that we produced now in the Philippines is below par to the teachers that we used to have fifteen years ago. This was shown in the result of the English proficiency testing in the school year 2006-2007. There were only 60% of the Public Elementary school teachers who passed the test. What is worse is that only 20% of the Public High School Teachers passed the test.
The brain drain in the Philippines has affected not only the quality of education but also the quality of governance. A severe shortage of leadership has occurred in our country in the past few years. There has been a leadership vacuum that sucked in high school drop outs, actors, singers, and comedians to serve as Congressmen, Senators, and President of our nation. The acute shortage was felt by the religious groups when Eddie Villanueva ran for President in 2004 and Gov. Panlilio in 2007.
The political situation in our country is going from worse to dire. We need to change our leadership ASAP if we want to make a change for the better. The only hope and solution is for our OFW/OF to come home and be counted to take their role as leaders of our nation.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Roger R ( the serious gold prospector) on -
Hi DoC:
Quote: But the problem is, most of our OFW leaders would write, talk, and argue in cyberspace to boost their ego rather than put into action their good ideas.
Yes, since OFW are regarded as heroes in motherland but they need representation as well. They are the one that build the economy of our country with the money that they send home to their family. Are we bunched of coward and let these crooks politician used our investment in our country? Then we are all chicken with heads cut-off and we need to change that one phrase of out national anthem “ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo”. America is a great country today since great Americans such as George Washington had refused taxation without representation.
Best regards..the serious gold prospector.
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Sison on -
Dr Martin Bautista of Oklahama tried it. He ran with me for the Senate race last may 2007
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Permalink Reply by Roger R ( the serious gold prospector) on
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Hi Adrian:
This is just the beginning and don’t give up now. If you try you may lost but if you don’t try then our vision is forever lost. I wish I could join this crusade but I’m still attached with the department of defense. If I will get in it will jeopardize my security clearance.
Take care..the gold prospector
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Rusty Balderian on -
Hi Adrian,
Its a pleasure to meet you in cyberspace. Do you have any plans of running again with Dr. Bautista this coming 2010 election? Maybe we should meet so we can discuss how I maybe of help to you. I will be in Manila until Sunday, Feb.3. My cell # is 0905-224-1019
Rusty
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Permalink Reply by MANUEL AMORA on -
Hi Dr. Rusty, can i ask permission to post this entry in my blog and link this page for my visitors to know you more. Thanks. Bong.
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Rusty Balderian on
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Hi Bong,
Sorry for the late reply. I'm Manila attending a 3 days seminar on 'Community Based Monitoring System". I didn't have a chance to log-in to WFA until today.
Yes, you have my permission to post this entry in your blog.
Best regards and God Bless!
Rusty
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Permalink Reply by MANUEL AMORA on
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Hi Mayor! Thanks a lot! It is now my new entry in my blog link http://www.funchain.com/~ofwempowerment . If you open my blog and the format is messy (like viewing entries at the bottom page), please click VIEW and change your text to "medium" or "smaller". Thanks again!
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Permalink Reply by evelyn on -
I am a newly elected city mayor of Dipolog, in our own ways we are making a difference by following good governance as our motto. If you can visit our city and see for yourself what we are doing then you might find that not everything is bad in our country. There is hope if we do something about it and not wait for others to do it for us.
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Rusty Balderian on
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Hi Mayor Evelyn,
You are one of the few good apples. I salute you and welcome to the club. I just hope that there are no bad apples around you. Lets keep in touch and maybe we should learn from each other, and help each other so we can be free from the virus of graft and corruption. Thank you for the invitation. I will be going to visit your City in two weeks if you are available. I am in Manila now attending the 5th CBMS National Congress at the Manila Hotel.
Best regards and God Bless,
Rusty
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Sison on
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Mayor Rusty,
how do you subsidize the education of students in the school you set up?
charging 500 pesos forthe dorm?and various levels of scholarship. How many students and what is the tuition
fee for nursing, entrepreneurship etc?
Best Regards
Adrian
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Rusty Balderian on
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Hi Adrian,
I'm sorry I was not able to respond to your previous comment because my town was flooded last week. I had to declare a state of calamity. I'm in Manila now attending the 5th NAtional Convention for CBMS (Community Based Monitoring System) a program sponsored by UNDP, CIDA, and DILG at the Manila Hotel.
As of now, I have to subsidize my school through my business and agri income until I can find some donors. If I can't find anyone, I will just have to wait until my first batch of graduates can work in the U.S. where I will get a referal fee of at least five thousand dollars per employee. That money will be used to guarantee the continuity of the program. I have been subsidizing it for the past five years. I still have to wait for another 2 years before I can place my scholars to work. Its just like planting a coconut tree that will bear fruit in 7 years.
The full scholars are given a 100% free tuition including the dormitory. However, they have to maintain a grade point average of 2.0 with no grade lower than 2.5 on any subject. Paying students pay 500.00 pesos per month for the dormitory.
Tuition fee for Nursing is twenty thousand pesos per semester including the dormitory. The Entrepreneurship Program is Twelve thousand pesos. Please access our school website www.csllfi.org for more info.
Thank you.
Best regards and God Bless,
Rusty
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Permalink Reply by Roger R ( the serious gold prospector) on
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Hi Mayor Evelyn:
You have the initiative that others can emulate. However, we have to move on and accomplish our objective in general with your support.
Best regards..the gold prospector
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