As a Citizen of Our Country, What do I hope to achieve?

NOTHING...


...is what I would have said if I was a pathetic free-loader of our country. But thank God, I am not. Knowing the state of our country, the emotion called sadness has dawned upon me. Why? Corruption is rampant, the people aren't cooperating. I always ask myself, "What future does our country have?" I mean, really. What future WILL our country have? If this keeps up, I'll end up hating our country. I don't hate our country now, I just hate our government. I mean, look. The PDAF scam? How is that going to regain the trust of the people? Where is the "government" that we pay our taxes to? We all look for change, but don't do anything at all to achieve that change. Oh wait, let me highlight that part. Change.

Politicians say, "Gusto ko ng pagbabago." But what have they done so far to achieve that "pagbabago" of which they speak of? Are we all puppets of this game that they are playing? Because if we are, I am clearly not amused. I am not even slightly amused. Personally speaking, I'm not after change. When I ran as an independent candidate in De La Salle University's batch election, I specifically said this. "Change? Change? Bakit change ang hinahanap natin? Ano ba ang sobrang mali sa university natin at naghahanap tayo ng pagbabago?" In our university, we don't need change. Our university is already good, we just need development to further enhance it.

Honestly, I haven't done anything significant yet. But I'm still young, there's still time to plan a lot of things for the future. The main reason why I wanted to take up law was because of our country. I'm not in favor of the idea of staying in an underdeveloped country; nor am I to entertain the idea of our country plummeting itself into a spiral of disdain. For our country, I want change. I want development. I know, I can't do anything about that now. But someday, when I have the power to make a difference, I will take that opportunity. I'm tired of our country remaining as a third world country. I'm tired of how other countries mock us because of our economy.

I know, someday, our country will rise up. I know, that what I hope to achieve will be achieved. Development, nationalism and a clean government. If those three are achieved, only then can I rest. Only then can I rest my heart, and proudly say: "I am a PROUD FILIPINO."

Sincerity, Survival (Media Log # 4)

Promotional Poster for 3 Idiots

The film 3 idiots is about 3 engineering students trying to survive college, and their terrible director. The film is really in-depth and shows the qualities of friendship, trust, love and fortitude. Furthermore, the film shows the importance of family. This was evident when Raju panicked and strived just to uphold his father's name, to show that his sacrifice was not in vain. Emphasizing friendship, Rancho really strived to emphasize this. Rancho did everything for his friends, he wanted them to have the future that they desired. This was touching as in our time today, not many people are like that. Even amongst friends, there would always be that one selfish person who cares only for himself. Emphasizing love, Rancho really did his best in order to make Pia happy. Nothing stopped him. He really went against all odds just to show that he liked Pia, and that not even her father would be able to stop her. It was really nice what happened in the end, when Pia felt the same for Rancho. Emphasizing trust, Rancho had one favorite line in the movie: "All is well." Whenever Rancho's friends would be down, Rancho would always say that line. It meant that he really trusted fate that whatever would happen, it would always be good. Emphasizing fortitude, Rancho never gave up in proving his point. He even went as far as defying their director just to prove his point. In the end of the movie, Chatur (Rancho's rival since college) was greatly disappointed when he found out that Wangdu (Who was really Rancho) was successful. He could not accept the fact that he lost to Rancho AGAIN. 

Now comparing education now to the education in the film, there are too many differences. First and foremost, education was actually a real priority in the film. Education wasn't just something to pass time, it meant more than a degree. In current time, most of the people just care about earning a degree in college. But Rancho? He didn't care about getting a degree or not, all he cared was getting educated. Most of us don't care about being educated, we just care about getting a degree. What for? Just so we could brag about it. Scream to the world our achievements and such. Friendship in the film was superb, I swear, it was magnificent. I once promised myself that I would be like that to some few people in my life. Although I wonder if I'm even partly successful with that endeavor. Personally, the reason I do so is because I know someday people will forget my name. But, all I hope for is that these people will never forget what I've done for them.

"Pursue excellence, and success will follow." This was the quote that really struck me. All my life, all I've ever wanted was to be successful. I never aimed to be excellent because I didn't know that these were two different things. I've always wanted to be successful because I wanted to make my parents proud. I've been thinking of it the wrong way, I should've tried aiming for excellence. I should've followed my former alma mater's motto, "Excellence through technology with a soul." This movie really opened my eyes to the greater picture of the world. It changed my views, really. 

To conclude this post, I would like to leave my viewers with one last sentiment. You may have a lot of friends in life, but not everyone will do everything they can for you. Some will attack you behind the back, but there will be this few whose lives they will risk just for you. Stay with those kinds of people. But remember to do the same for them.