Irony of values
The proposed national budget for 2015 has already been submitted to the House of Representatives just this week. From the whopping total budget of P2.606 trillion, the Department of Education topped the government agencies with a lion share. With the implementation of the K to 12 program, for sure, spending will be for additional classrooms, teachers, learning materials and pockets? I hope not. But surveys always point out the Department in the top ten most corrupt government agencies.
A few have benefited from this culture of corruption in the midst of glaring misfortunes of others. The Second Quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey found that 55% (estimated 12.1 million) of families consider themselves as poor.
I remember years back when others used such inconsiderate reason like "Nothing wrong of getting something from this public school anyway it's from the government." Such a poor excuse, unwittingly doing so is tantamount to robbing the good Filipino tax payers.
My husband narrated to me years back when he worked in a government agency. Everytime they had professional development trainings or other company gatherings, they had to think of places such as resorts, hotels, vacation spots, where they can hold. Places away from the workplace so it would serve dual purpose: work and leisure. Largely, I have nothing against the idea of conducting activities outside workplaces. But if it's going to be a habit amid the glaring realities that need priority, this is outright intolerable. In academic institutions, the lack of classrooms, facilities, teaching and learning aids, among many others, are just far from the arena of global competition.
I am wondering if these people do not value or even have knowledge about frugality. For this simple case of frugality, let me borrow Wikipedia's definition. "Sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the use of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance." It goes on to say "Common strategies of frugality include the reduction of waste, curbing costly habits, suppressing instant gratification by means of fiscal self-restraint, seeking efficiency, defying expensive social norms, embracing cost-free options…Frugal living is practiced by those who aim to cut expenses, have more money, and get the most they possibly can from their money."
This is the reason a manager once praised a certain department for using judiciously the training funds that in such a way that they were able to save and purchase much-needed instructional materials. Had it not been the supervisor's prudent practice and wisdom, they could not have saved.
There is a need for us to be mindful to whom we really are serving. If we cannot make sacrifices but at least we need to be sensitive to the clamor of others. We cannot afford to waste the money of the people for we do not want to compromise their ability to avail quality service.
Government agencies, every now and then, have reminded all employees to be prudent in spending so they can still use their savings for more significant causes.
Former US president Thomas Jefferson, in his first Inaugural Address on March 3, 1801 said this: "A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned..."
This is now the challenge for men and women in the government to be judicious because the budget pie has become thinner and thinner, more so because of the mounting population.
Valuing frugality is imperative—and a call of time–in a social milieu where people are in dire need of the basics, and a little more. So therefore, it is plain and simple insensitivity for others to be enjoying, fulfilling their vested interests unmindful of this glaring reality. Much more in government institutions wherein we have sworn before countrymen and to God to put the welfare of others over individual interests.
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