Let me begin by saying that I, a public school teacher and a Filipino have my own specific candidate to vote this coming election. But, I am addressing my open letter to all the candidates since as a good citizen I have a constituted responsibility to respect and support whoever wins the election as my, our, new President, for the general welfare of our country. The intention of this open letter is to react, give opinion, and provide humble recommendations to address some critical issues of our country tackled during in all the presidential debates broadcasted in our local networks. Opinions and recommendations herein are from surveys I have personally conducted, choosing to post a summary of the most logical and feasible, hoping it will provide some guiding light to our next leader and administration.
1. SEA DISPUTE AGAINST CHINA. Among all the issues facing the country, this one is the most critical and fragile because it is not only about the present but whatever happens to this concern now will have a LIFETIME effect to our nation and next generations. We should see this issue as a definite POWDER KEG, for it may ignite the possibility of starting a WW3 scenario. How and why? Because as the world can clearly see, China leaders (not the local people) remain steadfast with their aggressiveness to hold the disputed nautical areas under their full control, regardless of what the world says and regardless of what the concerned international courts order. Any reckless action coming from either side will lead to a retaliation of the other, and so on. Let us take note that Russia and other communist countries already stated their support to China in case of war. Then if this happens, all other insurgents in countries with on-going internal conflict will join in the bandwagon expediting and intensifying their actions against their own enemies, that in the end, we will have a widescale global war even though each battle has nothing to do with the other.
The best way to handle this is to go both ways: diplomacy and military. For diplomacy, let us remain law abiding to international courts and law. Let us continue the good and humble fight legally. However, at the same time, since the concerned sea is still under the status DISPUTED, we should not just watch by and let the Chinese military do as they please while our own coastguards, navy, and local fishermen are being drove and forced away as if we don't have any right over the disputed sea. We need to send our naval and maritime forces to the theater, not to engage in war, but to establish a stand-off. We should initiate this not because we are eager to battle, but rather because the area is still under dispute and China as of now has no finalized legal right under international law to hold the disputed sea under hostage and in their sole control. No pulling of triggers, no pushing of buttons. Just a security stand off along and within our legal nautical boundaries, while the arbitration and international case for the disputed sea is still on going.
Question: What if the Chinese leadership and military forced a battle to insist their demand of claim disregarding the international community? Then that's the only time we have no choice but to act on the defensive, because in that case, we and the whole country knows who's the war instigator, and who's the victim making a righteous stand.
2. NOTORIOUS TRAFFIC IN MAJOR CITADELS. During the debates, all of you candidates actually focused mostly in promising additional public transports as a solution for the everlasting traffic congestion in the Greater Manila Area. BUT NONE OF YOU HONESTLY AND INTELLECTUALLY IDENTIFIED THE MAIN CAUSE OF TRAFFIC IN OUR COUNTRY (particularly in EDSA), and that is LACK OF ROAD AND DRIVING DISCIPLINE. Take a closer look, candidates (and fellow Filipinos), it is not the number of vehicles running through the streets that's causing these hideous and shameful traffic in the country. Rather, the real cause of traffic are the following: 1. Public busses, taxis, jeepneys, and tricycles picking and dropping passengers at the wrong places and wrong times causing stoppage domino effects to the other vehicles behind them. 2. Public busses, taxis, jeepneus, and tricycles racing against each other to get the most passengers waiting ahead, resulting to COUNTERING TRAFFIC FLOWS, CUTTING AGAINST TRAFFIC FLOWS, AND BLOCKING THE TRAFFIC FLOWS... THAT MOST OF TIMES, RESULTING ALSO TO GRAVE ACCIDENTS, THAT RESULTS FURTHER TO MASSIVE TRAFFIC STOPPAGE. 3. Public and private vehicles not following regular road regulations like NO U-TURNS, NO LEFT TURNS, and so on resulting to the same mentioned above. and so on. 4. Public and private vehicles using public roads and streets as personal parking areas, causing grave traffic congestion. 5. Public streets and roadways being used as personal areas for selling, auto-repair garages, and other personal use, again also causing grave traffic congestion. The list will go on and on, but the cause is the same... LACK OF ROAD RESPECT AND DISCIPLINE.
Additional railway services will help public commuters indeed, but it will not change the situation on the road below, because despite having all these additional road features, WE WILL STILL HAVE TONS OF PEOPLE ON THE STREETS AND IN THE STREETS THAT HAS NO RESPECT FOR THE LAW. SO THE PROBLEM WILL JUST CONTINUE TO EXIST.
The recommendation for best immediate solution but will have long lasting effect is to IMPLEMENT, IMPOSE, AND OBSERVE ROAD LAW REGARDLESS OF WHO WILL BE AFFECTED or WHO WILL COMPLAIN. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW SO EVERYONE IS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW THE LAW. ARREST ALL ROAD VIOLATORS, HAUL ALL VIOLATING VEHICLES.
3. ENDING CONTRACTUALIZATION. During the debates, candidates promising to end contractualization, specially 5-months contract, is so enticing. I can feel everyone's sentiment about this because I too experienced before many times having to have my contract end one after the other. However, if we will truly look at this concern, we can logically say that only a hypocrite will make this promise. Why? Because contractualization depends on what the employment situation an employee is into. We should realize that in most companies, the 5-month initial contract is called PROBATIONARY PERIOD, wherein the employee is a candidate for REGULARIZATION depending on his mastery of the job description and his over-all performance. If the employee has displayed a passing performance during his probationary period, he will be promoted to regularization. BUT if during this period the candidate failed to perform the expected qualities, then how can that person qualify for regularization? Does that sound logical enough to be understood?
The second situation is what we call JOB ORDER. Job order on the get go is not something we can expect to last forever. Because JOB ORDER are employments available only for a specific length of time when a company is need of additional man power during this period. And when an employee applied, it will be clearly explained to him the situation and what to expect. If a person does not agree to this arrangement, then at the onset he should decline the offered opportunity in the first place.
And third, many employments goes through third party man-pooling or employment agencies. So, the actual employer in this case is not the company itself to which the employee works with, but the third-party. So if that is the situation, the employee's grievance will be against the agency and not against the company.
For direct employments, the purpose of contractualization is to find and test potential asset-candidates for regularization who will become a forever part of the companies' growth and development. It is not logical to remove the probationary period for this employment because it is not logical to regularize probationary employees who did not performed well during the opportunity period given to them.
But, the best recommendation for this issue is to extend the probationary period to six-months in order that whether promoted or not to regularization, the probationary employee will be automatically qualified to receive bonuses as prescribed by law.
BUT HONESTLY, the other reason for contractualization is the mismatched of applicant's credentials to the actual qualification requirement for the job being applied for.
For this one, the best solutions is to give priority to advancing the opportunity for EDUCATION and expand the AVAILABILITY OF MATCHED EMPLOYMENTS. Help nursing and medical graduates find a job where they can work as nurses and doctors. Help IT graduates find jobs where they can actually work with information technology. Help education graduates find jobs where they can actually teach as teachers and instructors. Help business courses graduates find jobs where they can actually work in offices. And so on... BECAUSE THIS IS NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING. We have nurses working as call center agents, IT experts working as waiters, teachers working as factory workers. Many other graduates and professionals working abroad as care givers. And so on...
Question: How about the undergrads? Now, for them, to be honest finding a long-lasting job in reality will be difficult. Because, let's be honest, you need to be ACTUALLY QUALIFIED to become a regular employee in a company. We have no choice but to give them temporary jobs where they can work and earn temporarily while at the same time they should exert effort in developing, expanding, and enhancing their skills. Train more, learn more, collect all employment certifications from previous employments so that next time around you look for another employment there will be a stronger possibility that your work experiences, trainings, and capabilities collectively will impress the next employer for a more potential career.
4. BETTER LGUs IS THE ACTUL KEY FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Actually, it is not the national government that can bring the country towards development BUT the Local Government Units who have direct vantage points, management, and supervision over their respective areas of responsibility. Any president, even the best and perfect president may provide the best and excellent programs... BUT IF OUR OWN LGUs in our areas are the ones who are not doing their best for us, every and all effort of any national government will be pointless. The national government for example will promise irrigations to all farmers in the country, but if the LGUs will not start acting on their local people's needs how will the national government extend help? Who knows better about the local communities concerns and needs? Isn't it their local officials? The barangay captains, the vice mayors, the mayors, the vice governors, and governors. Who knows best that the local famers of a local community are direly in need of irrigations? It's the local officials. Who knows best that the community needs projects? It's the local officials.
Recommendation: We may have the best president who have a genuine heart to develop the country. But if we will still have local officials who are not doing their expected responsibilities and obligations to their own constituents, each and every local community will remain underdeveloped.
So, to the next President, make your LGUs perform and perform and perform so that once each unit of the country begins to develop on their own, collectively the entire country as a whole will grow at the same time.
Many issues to tackle, and many more opinions and recommendations next time. But for now... Good luck and God bless to us, the Filipinos.
