12 Little Things every Filipino can do to HELP our Country"

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law -- The simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it could be the lowest form of national discipline we can develop, totally without monetary cost, easy for us to do, it should be a good start...

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt -- By simply asking for ORs for all our purchases, you and I can actually help the government in increasing our tax collections every year, in solving our nation's budget deficit, in reducing our foreign debt, in improving our international credit standing, in strengthening the value of the peso.

3. Do not buy smuggled goods. Buy local, Buy Filipino -- It may not be good economics to ask our people to buy 100% local products. Instead, what I suggest is for us to take a "50-50 buying attitude." We must develop the attitude of using at least 50% of our budget to buy locally-made products and allocating the other 50% for our favorite imported choices... it could be another big push for our economy and our people. It will retain capital in our country, build our local industries, build Filipino brands, create more employment for our people, send more Filipino children to school. it will give a brighter future to our nation.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively of our race and our country -- We should make a conscious effort to stop this self-bashing and self-flagellation. We should stop telling "horror stories' about ourselves to foreigners, including business associates, friends and relatives abroad. Instead, we should start focusing on the positive aspects of our national being. ther are so many good things we can talk about ourselves as a people and as a nation.

It only requires a change in attitude...a change in the way we look at things...

5. Respect your traffic officer, policemen, soldier & other public servants -- It is the power of respect. Respect honors. It empowers. It dignifies. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. At the same time, courtesy to others is good manners. It is etiquette. It is class and elegance. It is also kindness. It is seeng the value and dignity in the other man. It is, in fact, a mark of most profound education...

They are what they are because of what we are. They are who they are because of who we are...

6. Do not Litter. Dispose your Garbage Properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve. -- We are part of the environment. The environment is part of us. Whichever way we look at it, the environment and we, human beings, are linked to each other in a powerful sense... Throwing our garbage properly is another simple form of national discipline for us as a people. all it needs is just a conscious effort from each one of us. Segregation allows the recycling of solid waste possible and a lot easier. Recycle and reuse instead of buying new things.

The more we buy, the more garbage we make. The more we buy, the more natural resources we consume.

7. Support your Church. -- donate 1% of our monthly net earnings. doing so will empower our churches, so our churches will have more resources to help the poor and neglected members of our society. Don't you think we will be truer to our claim of being Christians or Muslims when we support our churches or mosque?

8. During elections, do your solemn duty. -- 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... If we want to see progress in our country, we must start with the way we perform our duties as citizens. '

As a people, we must BE involved. We must GET involved.

9. Pay your employees well. -- The bounty must always be shared... Paying our employees is one such way. A good salary can go along way. It will pay for your employee's children's good education... pay for vitamins and medication to make our youth healthy... pay for the reading materials to make our youth intelligent. .. Pay for the low-cost apartment and house and lot to provide our youth a good living environment. ..

A good salary to our employees will mean a good future for their children, our youth, our nation's future...

10. Pay your taxes -- Taxes are the lifeblood of our government, of our nation... We have to pay our taxes properly, because we all live in the same country. Because this Government, whether we like it or not, it is our government. Its cost is a burden we must all share. The task of building this nation is a task that we all must share.

We all must contribute to build the kind of nation we dream for ourselves. Each one of us has a role in it. Each one of us has a responsibility to it...

11. Adopt a Scholar, or Adopt a poor child -- Imagine if 2M families in our country would adopt 2M poor children, either as scholars or as members of our families? That's 2 M young filipinos who will be given access to a better future. In return that's 2M filipinos who in the future, can give us a better nation. No doubt too, this is one of the fastest ways to close the gap between the rich and poor in this country. It is one ogf the best paths to national progress.

It is very christian, an act of people power in its purest form...

12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law & to love our country. -- Given the present state of our nation, with so many to problems that we don't even know where to begin to solve them, our children are always a good starting point.

They are the future. Their minds and their hearts will shape and color the future...

I guess building a nation towards progress and greatness is like that too. we have to attend to the many little things on our national life, and start setting them right. And our family, our children, is the STARTING point for this. Each child is a potential good Filipino. Each child is a potential patriot of our country...

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