Passing It On

A blogger friend from Sydney sent me this via email. Pass it on to every Pinoy you know, please.

"Twelve (12) Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To
Help Our Country," by Alexander Ledesma Lacson, may be a "voice inthe
wilderness"; but as Fr. Ruben Tanseco, S.J. puts it,
what Alex proposes are "very concrete, practical and doable"
actions for us ordinary Filipinos.

A simple enumeration of these "twelve little things"
will not do justice to the work of Alex. You've got to read the
whole text, but I shall try to compress a few lines for some of the
items mentioned.

1. Follow traffic rules -- Why is that the most
important? The answer is simple. Traffic rules are the simplest of our laws.
If we learn to follow them, it will be the lowest form of national
discipline that we can develop. Since it is totally
without monetary cost, it should be easy for us to comply with, and
therefore should provide a good start.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask
for an official receipt. -- If a seller does not issue an official
receipt when you buy a product, the seller may or may not remit the tax
to the government. Without an O.R., there is no record of the sale
transaction, and the tax that you paid may not be remitted to the Bureau of
Internal Revenue.

3. Do not buy smuggled goods. Buy local, buy
Filipino. -- It may not be good economics to buy 100 percent local products.
What I suggest is for us to take a "50-50" buying attitude. Thismeans
that we must develop the attitude of using 50 percent of our budget for
local products and the other 50 percent for imported choices.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners,
speak positively of our race and our country -- this is best addressed
to the rich and the middle class in our country, who have contact with
the outside world. It is they who talk to, dine or deal with foreigners
either here or abroad. It is what they say and do which creates impressions
about us among foreigners.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman, soldier
and other public servants -- There is nothing like the power of
respect. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. At the
same time, courtesy to others is good manners. It is class and elegance and
kindness. It is seeing the value and dignity in the other man. It
is, in fact, a mark of a most profound education.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly.
Segregate. Recycle. Conserve. -- As Louis Armstrong says in his
song: "I see trees of green, red roses, too, I see them bloom for me
and you and I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

7. Support your church. (or charitable/ civic
organizations -- :-)

8. During elections, do your solemn duty. --
Honesty, more than a masteral or doctorate degree, is what gives
credibility. And credibility is essential because it is a leader's link to the
people. It is what makes the people look to one direction, follow a
common vision, and perform a uniform act. In short, credibility is what
makes people follow the leader.

9. Pay your employees well. -- No exercise is better
for the human heart than to reach down and lift someone else up. This
truly defines a successful life. For success is the sum, not of our
earthly possessions, but of how many times we have shown love and
kindness to others.

10. Pay your taxes. -- In 2003, P83 billion was
collected from individual income taxes. But 91 percent of this
amount came from salaried workers from the government and private
sector, people who had no choice since their income taxes were withheld
mandatorily. Only P7 billion of the P83 billion came from businessmen and
professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects, among
others.

11. Adopt a scholar or adopt a poor child. -- You
can make a difference in the future of our country by making a difference
in the world of children.

12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the
law and to love our country. -- Today's children will someday rule and
lead this world. But whether they will be bad rulers or good leaders will
depend largely on how we raise them today. Our future is in
the hearts and minds of our children.