Welcome to Philippines

"Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labor in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common."
                                                                                                                                                       - Albert Einstein

The biggest problems facing the Philippines today

In order to find any solution, one must know the problem. So let us make a list of the biggest problems facing our country today. Here is my list:

 Corruption 

How can I miss this one? Corruption is our biggest problem yet I did not mention it in my 10 biggest problems! I am not trying to justify my forgetfulness but perhaps I forgot it because corruption is so rampant that I cannot recognize it anymore when I see it?

And where do we usually see corruption?

I know that public utility vehicle drivers regularly give traffic enforcers something (money) to get them off the hook everytime they are caught with violations. In fact many times I saw drivers apprehended yet never have I seen any driver who got a ticket. Surely, they gave the traffic officer some Pesos 20 to 50, which the drivers themselves boasted to have done, as they ride back their vehicles. There are even drivers who have some kind of a letter or a calling card to show a traffic officer, who will then not issue them tickets. I saw one calling card of a supposed high ranking officer that said "sa akin to pare" (this is mine) scribbled at the back.

It is so common when anybody need some documents from a goverment agency, to suffer long hours waiting in line. Everyone knows how long it takes to get your license renewed, or to get some police or NBI clearance, or get a passport. I always wonder why inside the offices of the many government agencies, there are people there that are obviously non employees. Many look like fixers (these are so obvious before when renewing driver's licenses, but I remember things started to change at the time of Oscar Orbos as secretary of the DOTC). Some even look like the ones that just arrived or that was in line behind me earlier! Surely there is corruption taking place here.

Still, there are a lot of places where corruption is taking place. We can name them all here, if readers of this blog would help me. We have to know how, when and where corruption happens even before we attempt to propose a solution to stop them.

But stop them soon we should.

 Poor Educational System 

Literacy rate in the Philippines has improved a lot over the last few years- from 72 percent in 1960 to 94 percent in 1990. This is attributed to the increase in both the number of schools built and the level of enrollment in these schools.

The number of schools grew rapidly in all three levels - elementary, secondary, and tertiary. From the mid-1960s up to the early 1990, there was an increase of 58 percent in the elementary schools and 362 percent in the tertiary schools. For the same period, enrollment in all three levels also rose by 120 percent. More than 90 percent of the elementary schools and 60 percent of the secondary schools are publicly owned. However, only 28 percent of the tertiary schools are publicly owned.

A big percentage of tertiary-level students enroll in and finish commerce and business management courses. Table 1 shows the distribution of courses taken, based on School Year 1990-1991. Note that the difference between the number of enrollees in the commerce and business courses and in the engineering and technology courses may be small - 29.2 percent for commerce and business and 20.3 percent for engineering and technology. However, the gap widens in terms of the number of graduates for the said courses.

 The following are some of the reforms proposed: 

1. Upgrade the teachers' salary scale. Teachers have been underpaid; thus there is very little incentive for most of them to take up advanced trainings.
2. Amend the current system of budgeting for education across regions, which is based on participation rates and units costs. This clearly favors the more developed regions. There is a need to provide more allocation to lagging regions to narrow the disparity across regions.
3. Stop the current practice of subsidizing state universities and colleges to enhance access. This may not be the best way to promote equity. An expanded scholarship program, giving more focus and priority to the poor, maybe more equitable.
4. Get all the leaders in business and industry to become actively involved in higher education; this is aimed at addressing the mismatch problem. In addition, carry out a selective admission policy, i.e., installing mechanisms to reduce enrollment in oversubscribed courses and promoting enrollment in undersubscribed ones.
5. Develop a rationalized apprenticeship program with heavy inputs from the private sector. Furthermore, transfer the control of technical training to industry groups which are more attuned to the needs of business and industry.

Drugs

Problems

• Effect on parents, distress, pain
• Effect on family (brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children)
• Effect on work, productivity, punctuality, career
• Criminal problems, theft, police resources, smuggling, mafia, underworld, gangs
• Medical problems, addiction, death, overdose, driving, irrational decisions or behavior, hospitalization, medical resources, treatment, clinics, detoxification, counselling

Solutions

• Education, schools, awareness, campaigns, choices, advertising
• Counseling, treatment, advice, confidential, helpline
• Communication between parents and children, meals, non-judgmental, firm, close, open communication
• Close family relationships: brothers, sisters, parents
• Employment, meaningful activity, activities in evenings
• Good environment, leisure, sports, friends
• Expectations