Good vibes for the country

This is a continuation of my column on the book 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country by Alexander L. Lacson.

No. 6 is “Do not litter. Dispose of your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.” We see this, even among the so-called educated Filipinos — people throwing litter from their cars, or leaving their food wrappers on benches, or just scattering them on the streets. We seem not to have a notion of community or civic duty. What is important for us is the family and friends; what about the community beyond the front yard of the house, and the country that surrounds us?

When you shop, do not ask for plastic bags if you already have a wrapper for the goodies you bought. Or bring one of those “I Am Not a Plastic Bag” things, whether the original one or the Greenhills imitation. If you use plastic, recycle: turn them into garbage bags at home.

No. 7 is “Support your church.” I do not know about you, but I still go to church, and when I do, I give money — not coins — as an offering. My cousins were once sacristans in church and told us of the heavy work they would do counting out the coins that Filipino Catholics seem to love giving to the Church. Apart from the Church-based Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting led by the eminent Ambassador Henrietta de Villa, we also have the Pondo ng Pinoy of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales. The Church is not the enemy — the enemy is hypocrisy, whether of the churchgoer or the atheist.

No. 8 is “During elections, do your solemn duty.” I know how deep the cynicism of many Filipino voters was when I announced to all and sundry that I would be running for elections last May. They said, “You are not hungry, why do you want to join this mess?” They seem to have forgotten that I studied and worked in the UK and the US — and could have chosen to stay there the rest of my life, staying in a brownstone house and getting a cushy salary every month. But hey, this is the Philippines. It may not be perfect, but it is home.

Listen to Mr. Lacson: “If we have bad leaders today and in the past, it is not the fault of the many who know less, but the fault of the few who know more but who do nothing, or who don’t do enough.” COMELEC records show this. In electoral precincts of the rich communities, the voters’ turnout is always dismal, while in the precincts of the poor communities, the voter turnout is astronomically high. Dr. Jose Rizal said it eloquently more than 100 years ago: “It is enough for good people to do nothing, for the evil ones to succeed.”

All true. I have rich friends who went to Kho Samui in Thailand during the long weekend break during the elections, rather than staying here to vote. And then they always have the gall to say nasty things about politics when, in the first place, they were not there in the polling precincts at all.

A few years ago, I read Miriam Defensor Santiago’s book, The Cutting Edge of Philippine Politics. Funny, caustic and true, the book said that you know you are a winning candidate when messengers come to you, offering bribes — er, bearing gifts. One day, in God’s own good time, I will write a book of “fiction” about the gifts offered to me — to join a big political party, or not to run anymore for this or that political position. When they failed, of course, a group of people called me a “nuisance candidate.” The so-called gifts included cold cash enough for me to retire in the US, an SUV, a topnotch lawyer, agents, the whole shebang.

But I remembered all along two things. One is the law of karma, which said I might have 10 condo units but what if I lose my eyesight? One of the dictator Marcos’ former ministers died blind, another died painfully. The strongman himself died of lupus erythematosus, which meant he was being eaten up from the inside — desiccated — by something that billions of pesos could not cure. The other is the blurb of Quaker Oats, telling people to eat every morning: “Do it because it is right.” Karma, then; and Quaker Oats.

Rule 9 is “Pay your employees well.” When I was managing a bakeshop 10 years ago, I made sure all the workers were paid the minimum wage and had social security. I once resigned from a magazine when I learned that they were paying me top rates but were paying their workers just half the minimum wage. The rule with money is that the more you share it, the more it seems to grow.

Rule 10 is “Pay your taxes.” We who belong to the middle classes have our taxes automatically withheld every payday. I know of doctors, businessmen, and lawyers — with houses bigger than mine and vehicles newer than ours — who pay taxes of, what, P10,000 every year? I paid almost half a million last year, enough to buy a small car, and my dear, wealthy friends paid something less than the cost of a Botox injection. As Shakespeare would put it: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Rule 11 is “Adopt a scholar, or adopt a poor child.” The gay Yahoo! group PKB has an ongoing scholarship program. I saw my friend Sandra Aguinaldo’s report about the best public elementary school in the country, located in Southern Leyte. But its elementary students could not go to college. I called up some friends in public relations and in politics, and they are now pooling resources to send money to the elementary school principal, so the poor but bright students could go to high school. You know, it doesn’t take a lot to send kids to public high schools. That, for my money, gives more pleasure than buying another pair of Blahniks.

You can help the poor kids through World Vision, which allows anyone to send a poor child to school for a donation of P15 a day or P450 a month. A total of 88,000 Filipino kids are under the care of this group. Or you may want to consider Adopt-a-School-Project by the Foundation of Worldwide People Power. This project is covered by a law — Republic Act No. 8525 — which grants to every donor a gross tax deduction equivalent to 150 percent the value of the donation.

And the last, rule 12: “Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and to love our country.” I have two adopted kids, and I tell them to follow their teacher, know the rules of the school, and be kind to their classmates. But if their classmates bully them, or their teacher is unfair — then, give them hell. By this, I mean argue with them until they see the justness of your argument. I also bring them to museums for kids, after which they go home truly happy. Much better than another day at the mall, with its suffocating crowds, and consumerism writ large and clear everywhere.

I have received lots of e-mail regarding Mr. Lacson’s important book. We will discuss them next time. The book is available at National Book Store — a book that may be small in size, but is nevertheless full of heart.

* * *

Comments can be sent to danton_ph@yahoo.com.