REDISCOVERING FILIPINO VALUES: I SEE, I ACT, I

ADVOCATE
From STI Oratorical Piece
Posted by: Marivic Labitad

Let me share with you a story lifted from the daily devotional: Our Daily
Bread.
Brady Davis was a high school senior and was one of the best and
brightest in his community. He was talented and intelligent. But his greatest
asset was his integrity, which he demonstrated during a regional spelling
bee. When his school was given the word auditorium, Brady glanced down
to think about the answer. As he did so, he noticed that the word was printed
on the microphone stand. Brady called this to the attention of the judges,
who then gave the team a more difficult word. Brady did what he knew was
right, whether others noticed or not. He showed exemplary behavior, which
made his community even more proud of him. He knew what he was capable
of doing and he embraced this responsibility with all the right values.

Integrity as we all know means uprightness of character. A person who

demonstrates integrity practices and values honesty, shows responsibility,
compassion, courtesy, with high self esteem and therefore a good leader
which others should emulate.

With this, we begin to question, How many of us Filipinos do you think

have the value of integrity? How many government officials have you voted
during elections because of their integrity? How many parents do you think
are rearing their children to possess such values? How many of us students
are not cheating during exams? There are no such things as definitive
answers on these issues.

The increasingly violent images portrayed in movies, on televisions and

in music portray violence as an ordinary and often appropriate way of
resolving conflict, demonstrating power and releasing emotions. Such things
as massacres like the Maguindanao massacre, snatching, war among
nations, corruptions are some of the usual things we see and hear on daily
news. It is so ironical that instead of being horrified and baffled by the rising
rates of real-life violence, so many of us Filipinos are fascinated and even
enjoy watching and hearing them on the news. Worst, the youth would
comment as, You Rock! and Its cool! or even LIKE it on Facebook. It
shows how greatly influential these are on our attitudes about the
acceptability of violence.

At any time someone intentionally hurts another, either in words or

actions. Recently, we have been wrecked with news on TV about corruption.
Leaders of our country were accused and charged of corruption, using our
money and spending too much for their travels abroad and even on their

own personal use. How could they be so cruel? Where is the value of honesty
in this case? Doing bad really is limiting our lives!

Every person - you too - has a set of inner values. Moral codes and
standards in society or groups are based on these values. As always, they
have developed in us. We just have to awaken ourselves to the realities of
life. It is time to teach the youth how much more freedom we would all have
if we have integrity, if we all are honest. So we can simply say to anybody,
dont anymore lock the door in your house, no intruders will get inside
anyway, I am never afraid to walk or jog at dawn, or that women are not
intimidated or afraid of a man because of the possibility of rape or sexual
harassment anymore.

If we agree that freedom from violence is

right, then that places a

responsibility on all of us to behave with respect toward each other. As a

youth, I feel very powerless to change the problems of corruption and
violence. I can't change the world, but I CAN change me like Brady Davis. I
can change the way I solve problems in my own life with my fellow students
and friends and family and neighbors. I can teach them by setting a good
example for other people in my life. I can turn off violent TV shows, music,
movies, and video games. I can be honest even if others are not. I can
change my corner of the world! I can be an ambassador for peace in my own

little way. We all can begin to teach the youth appropriate ways of dealing
with these challenges.

This is what others should also do to teach the youth, they must have a
vision to strive toward. They should be aware of the positive ways to handle
their own struggles in life. They must possess the value of integrity! We need
to teach them to learn all they can about the world so they can be informed
voters, but ultimately, the way to change the world is for all of us to think
first about our little corner of it. Let's inspire our young people to imagine
what it would be like to live in a world without corruption and violence.
We've got to just pick a place to begin and then get started.

So easily our fellow Filipinos can turn off violence in all its ugly forms -physical violence, sexual violence, family violence, corruption, dishonesty,
etc. We all need to be advocates of change. Lets continue to encourage our
countrymen to actively participate in changing the corners of our world, lets
all take actions, its never too late. We all can make a difference like Brady
Davis whose goal in life is to change the world around him while never
compromising himself . This pursuit of life, integrity and exemplary behavior
will create for us a country with wealth beyond earthly riches!