P-Noy: I'm like a psychiatrist curing Pinoys' bad attitudes

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino compared his job last Friday to that of a psychiatrist trying to cure damaged attitudes among people.

“When I was listening to the opening prayer, I was slowly getting very depressed. But I assure you, the problem that we face... I will have a lot more to face as the day progresses. So it is sometimes, in this occasion, it’s clearer where you are rather than where I am,” the President said in his speech at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Psychosocial Rehabilitation and 27th Post-Graduate Course and 22nd Midyear Conference of the Philippine Psychiatric Association in Makati City.

Aquino said he was aware that over 100 million people around the world were diagnosed with debilitating mental illnesses, such as depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or even Alzheimer’s, among other complications, and could only imagine the difficulties these people are facing.

“As much as I want to share some ideas of my own, I am not a psychiatrist. But I do see that there are some similarities between your jobs and mine, in that we are both trying to mend damaging attitudes: you on an individual level, and us, on a national level,” he said.

“This is rooted in the same idea I shared when I addressed my countrymen three days ago. For the past years, our people had been mired in a damaging pessimism – the idea that government is not there to help them; and the idea that, no matter how hard they work, things will not change. This is the attitude we seek to change,” the President added.

He stressed that “changing a mindset cannot be done overnight, nor can it be achieved through empty words and mere rhetoric.”

“As it is in your field, the government must do what it can to empower its people and to foster an environment in which each and every one of them can thrive. To do this, we have chosen to change the system into one that is more capable of empowerment – one that saves our people from the fatalism and the so-called crab mentality that has for so long stunted our progress as a nation,” Aquino said.

He said the government was investing in significant interventions and social services in order to help the most disadvantaged and to give the means to improve their situation.

“We are also continuously pursuing the corrupt, who have not only redirected public funds to their own bulging pockets, but have also given our countrymen the notion that the powerful are above the law. We want to change this notion. We want our people to change their mindset toward corruption – from one that acknowledges it as a harsh reality, to one that expects the corrupt to be tried and put behind bars,” he said.

“These are the small psychic shifts we want our people to take, because however small they may be, they teach our countrymen once again how it is to hope,” Aquino said.

The President said the government was working with different groups to improve the lives of the people and thanked the association for its contributions.

“Our administration similarly wants to reach the unreached – we want to give livelihood to all Filipinos, from those dwelling in the streets of Manila to those in ramshackle houses in far-flung provinces. We want a nation that is united by hope. We know the important role you play in the lives of millions of people around the world – and in that regard, we not only give our support, but we are working to make your jobs easier. We are indeed behind you,” he said. – With Sandy Araneta