Building Our Nation's Future

By: Richard J. Gordon

1996 TOFIL Awardee for Government Service

Enabled and ennobled. These are the two things every Filipino must become in order to be a truly free people. Most people will contend that we have long gained our freedom. After all, we have been celebrating independence from our colonizers for many years. However, it is the freedom of our minds that we need to work towards in order for us to have a sincerely changed country.

When the early Spanish colonizers built the walls surrounding Intramuros in Manila, the intention was to keep foreign invaders and undesirables away. The imposing stone structure housed the seat of power of our colonial masters and confined within its premises the most influential religious, educational, and cultural institutions of the time. I believe, however, that the walls of Intramuros gave rise to a more formidable barrier whose strength in limiting us as a people has long outlived the original purpose of the city’s fortification. In the next twenty-five years, we must break the walls that were built around our minds and become horizon chasers once again.

Some time ago, we were Asia’s number one, leaders in agriculture, education, and infrastructure. Today, we are Asia’s “used to be.” We are running just to stay in place while our neighbors in the region speed past us.

How did this happen to our country? Perhaps because of a strong colonial hangover, we have not developed into a discerning society. The most important thing today is to learn to be analytical thinkers. We must not allow ourselves to be fed what we think. We cannot escape the overwhelming presence of marketing around us, attempting to influence every part of our lives from the food that we eat to the clothes that we wear to the leaders that we choose. And sure, every product has a right to present itself to its market, but we must insist that the ideas they project be accountable to public scrutiny.

The same must be true of leaders we choose. When very popular personalities are elected to positions of great responsibility and power, we quickly attribute it to the mob mentality of the masses. We cannot accept this as a given or a foregone conclusion for the rest of our history as a nation. This is not to say that they popular are not capable – many of them have proved to be good leaders. But what is most important is that we find leaders who uplift the behavior and actions of the people and who harness the citizenry to become part of the process of change instead of lulling them into accepting the mediocre.

We must bring ourselves to a position of leadership in Asia once again. To do this, we must focus on education and enable our people to think and realize that we deserve more for ourselves. It is not enough to just build classrooms. Our teachers must be well trained and properly compensated in order for them to dispense quality education. Our curricula and teaching materials must be at par with the rest of the region so that our children can be truly competitive.

As a predominantly agricultural country, we must make our lands and our farmers more productive, more efficient, and more resilient against the threats of the cycle of disaster by assisting in land preparation or providing farm tools, equipment, seeds, fertilizers, and modern agricultural technology. The goal is to become agriculturally self-sufficient so that food is affordable and readily accessible to every Filipino.

We must also focus on sectors that bring income to a wide spectrum of society, from professionals to skilled workers to farmers. Tourism, for example, has the potential to create millions of jobs and livelihood opportunities for our people. And we cannot overemphasize the importance of domestic tourism, which over the last decade or so has given rise to countless entrepreneurial activities in the industry.

Of late there has been a lot of talk about our national defense capabilities. There is, indeed, a need to revitalize our defense system and equip and arm ourselves adequately so that we can protect our sovereignty and freedom. While resources have become scarce due to other national priorities, we must not neglect our capability to defend ourselves. This is important in achieving greater credibility in the international community and in gaining the respect of our neighbors.

These advances cannot happen overnight. The next twenty-five years must be about change, commitment, and continuity. The leadership and the people must come together and be ennobled to dare – to push the limits, to defy convention, and to have the audacity not only to dream but also to courageously go after that dream. In doing so, we will build a strong and robust Philippines, where every Filipino can find his own future.

(Published in the Philippine Star, 7 May 2012)