Philippines is not a hopeless country. It is only hopeless when we do lose our hope to hope. In this post, let me share to you the content of the book “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country”  by Alexander Lacson. I will discuss the first six and will do the rest in another post. Read it and broadcast it to more Filipinos if you find it helpful. What are the six things that we can do to help our country? Here are those:

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
This is the first thing we can do to help our country because we always encounter rules and laws to follow in our daily life. Following these rules and laws require discipline, and discipline is what we need for nation building.

In one hostel in Singapore, there was a rule that by 11pm, the lights should already be turned off. However, there was a Filipina still fixing her things beyond those hours. A British man turned off the lights without telling her. For us that was quite rude, but it was understandable since it was in the rule to turn off the lights by that time. This Filipina got really mad up to the extent of shouting and pointing her fingers to that foreigner. The foreigner stayed calm and said (with great emphasis), “Read and understand. It is already 11 o’clock”. It was just a very simple rule but she failed to follow. She was a Filipina leaving a bad impression to a foreigner that we Filipinos do not know how to read or just so obstinate to follow the rules. It is a bit depressing to bring such undesirable culture to a foreign land.

Here in the Philippines, we keep on legislating laws but we lack the proper implementation of it. For every law implemented, there must be someone who should supervise the enforcement of that law to make sure that everybody follows. Every violation of rules and laws, be it just the simple one should have a corresponding penalty. In this way, we can discipline our people.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
It is important to ask for an official receipt when we buy or pay for something  because the price we pay already includes the taxes. That tax being stated in the receipt needs to be forwarded to the government. If we do not ask for an official receipt, the tax we pay for something will just go somewhere else.

3. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.
Smuggled goods are goods that are brought illegally to the country. If these goods are secretly brought to our place, the government is not able to impose and collect appropriate taxes for these products. As a consequence, these goods are being sold at cheaper prices. Logically, the cheaper the price, the more people will patronize. Now the problem is, the local companies will have a hard time competing with these low-priced products. It will lead soon to company shutting down and company shutting down will lead to terminating workers and terminating workers will lead to taking away the hopes and dreams of those people who rely to these workers.

When we buy imported products, we support the foreign companies, their employees, their economy and their government. But when we buy Filipino-made products, we are contributing for our economy development. We are helping our local companies, their employees, and those people who rely to these workers. Support Filipino people by supporting Filipino products!

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively about us and our country.
There are many beautiful things that we can tell about our country. The Filipino people are talented, cheerful and friendly. Our place is blessed with wonderful nature. We have the Underground River, Rice Terraces, Chocolate Hills, and many other natural wonders that can truly be proud of in the whole world. We have what it takes to excel.
It is important to tell nice things about our nation because in this way, they will be curious to visit our country. If there are a flock of foreigners coming in, it can boost our economy.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.
Our security officers like the traffic officer, policeman, and soldier are in flak because of the undying bribery issues. There are security officers that can be enticed by money, but there are more officers who walk on the right path. Let us respect our security officers by not tempting them to receive any money. Let us respect our security officers by following their signals. Let us respect our security officers by smiling at them for helping you to surpass the traffic. Let us respect our security officers by saying “thank you” for the good thing they do.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
We all want to rusticate in a clean and green environment and bestow a safer and better Philippines to our children. To do this, we should start giving value to our environment and must go hand in hand to achieve the change we want.
Our government spends billions of pesos to haul the garbage every year. But if we Filipinos apply the proper disposal of garbage, this money will go into something useful. The at most 7 billion pesos spend for the garbage disposal alone can be used for other important government projects and programs.

It is important to segregate our wastes because segregation makes the recycling of materials easier. Those biodegradable materials can be modified again into something useful and some people can make money out of them. The non-biodegradable materials do not go as waste directly. They can also be utilized as fertilizers. With proper disposal of garbage, no waste become waste.

SM Cebu has a way of conserving and recycling things. Every Wednesday, they use boxes and paper bags once you buy your groceries instead of utilizing plastic bags. If you bring your own bag, you get an additional two points in your SM Advantage card. This is just a simple system to observe but it will be a big help if everybody follows. Next time that you purchase some stuff, you can bring your own bag or just simply carry it with your hands when you buy small things.