by Telly G. Ocampo
Our Best Gifts for Christmas!
Let us talk about gifts we want to receive this Christmas.
In the town where I belong, our water rate has finally gone down. This is a beautiful Christmas Gift from the government for our town residents. The previous rates were very exorbitant for those were imposed on a graduated scale depending on one’s consumption of water. We are thankful that the present administration has listened to the clamor of the people. The rate is now constant at 8 pesos per cubic meter of water consumption. What a wonderful Christmas Gift!
This week, there was an announcement that there will be a distribution of benefits from TUPAD – Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers. Tabang pud ni para sa kabuhayan sa kabaranggayan. Accordingly, the beneficiaries are given pay (as an aid) for the work they do and the services they deliver. And I learned that they work only for 40 hours in 10 days. And after the 10 days what happens? They will have to wait for another distribution of aids following the same scheme.
What is my take on this? Knowing the financial state we are in, the government must have a program for sustainability. Although, i would say that my statement is based on the information I got from the grapevine, – in other words, from the group of “Marites”. Matud pa ni “Marites”, ang duol sa dughan to the powers that be, mao ang gipangtaga-an sa kahigayunan nga mudawat sa “grasya”.
I wish that for TUPAD, the following will be considered: a) Each barangay will have a kagawad-in-charge and a purok leader; b) These two (2) must be the ones to identify the need of the barangay and then work from there; c) Identification of the beneficiary for TUPAD must be based on certain criteria of the program vis a vis what is wanting/needed in a particular purok.
Let us take an example of this case. If a purok is wanting of cleanliness and waste segregation, the qualified TUPAD beneficiary will have to work along that line together with the kagawad assigned to supervise the work and to monitor the task to be done. It would also be better to encourage the community to cooperate and continue what they have started. We have to bear in mind that the objective is to help the beneficiary for the common good of the community. TUPAD is meant to help people in need and not to promote mendicancy among the residents.
The second gift that I wish to receive this Christmas is for congress to prioritize bills on Agriculture and not on the Maharlika Investment Fund. For me, everything will boil down to SIMPLE ECONOMICS. What is there to invest when the government is on a status called “DEFICIT”? We have a huge foreign debt. Mobayad unta ta pag-una sa atong mga utang sa dili pa ta mosulod aning gitawag ug investment project. This way, the Filipino people, including the generations to follow, would not be carrying the burden of paying huge debts. This way, the value of the peso will rise and will not sink to lower levels. This way, we will not become slaves to a foreign currency.
I really wish to receive a gift of agricultural productivity from government so we would not depend on imports. Dili na lang ta maghandum anang imported. Ato lang unta nga hunahunaon ang kamahal sa bugas, sibuyas, isda, kamatis carrots ug daghan pa. Sigeng saad nga mobarato ang mga presyo, pero wala may alibyo. Kitang mga lumad nga Pilipino, nagmantener na lang ta sa hasahasa, tulingan, ibis, bolinaw. Bisan ang bolinaw tag 200 pesos na ang kilo. “Juice” ko dai! Ang dollar earner lang gayud ang makakaon ug lamiang isda.
I have to admit that currently, I’m hooked to the tele-stories of GMA tv: Noli Me Tangere and The Flower Sisters. There are many lessons to learn from the two stories: “Noli” is reinvented to suit to the needs of the present, while the “Flower” is a contemporary story of the rich and famous.
Imbibing the lessons from these tv series will surely be one of the best gifts every Filipino will receive this Christmas.