My Pick for Presidential Candidate - Meme of The Week topic

Meme of the Week topic: If I could vote anyone for president excluding the existing candidates who would it be?

If I were to choose a person who I will vote for president, he should be someone who will be able to shape this country's future for the better. Because of wide scale corruption and poverty, the Philippines right now is in dire need of a great leader, a someone to look up to and follow. A someone we can trust to right the wrongs of this land.

Our current presidential candidates have their own platforms to counter these problems."Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap" quips one of the top presidentialble bets from the Liberal Party, Noynoy Aquino. On the other hand, "Tapusin ang Kahirapan" through job opportunities is the campaign slogan of Nacionalista's Manny Villar. These two candidates for president both have very promising platforms. However, their battle cries for reform are far from complete. Somehow, the root of our problem is much deeper than corruption and poverty.

Problems in society can be found in its roots - the family and the youth. The way I see today's Filipino youth, I noticed that kids spend more time surfing the internet, playing video games, watching TV and indulging in leisurely play (like card games, basketball, etc.) rather than studying something worthwhile. Although those activities mentioned are not entirely bad, too much of it is. Children not being properly guided tend to learn the 'wrong things' as they grow like cheating, lying, and stealing - the basic ingredients of corruption.

kids playing video games as past time.

children playing card games and sometimes gambling...

Notice that the poorer and more underprivileged the children are, the more they do not get much attention when it comes to schooling. We hear stories of children being 'passed' by teachers to the next grade level even if they haven't learned anything for the whole school year. We hear stories of poor parents not taking their children's education seriously. Sometimes they would ask their children to work for them at an early age instead of study. I have witnessed firsthand that these horror stories do happen.


If such is the case, how can Manny Villar provide well-paying jobs to millions of Filipinos if the jobless themselves do not know how to do them? How can Noynoy rid the Philippines of corruption if parents and teachers never taught their children / students anything about ethics and morals, or that lying or stealing is wrong? Our country's youth badly needs the right education - in the academic, vocational and moral sense.

We organized a learning workshop for the children in Antipolo, Rizal.

Luckily, there are people and NGOs who have realized our shortcomings. These people have dedicated their lives to uplift the lives of the poor. Among the crop, one individual and his extraordinary story has inspired not only us Filipinos, but the whole world as well. His efforts in bringing the classroom to the streets is living proof that he is serious in eradicating the root of the problem in the Philippines - our lack of quality education and proper guidance. With his shining example, the Filipino youth is armed with good morals and proper knowledge to combat poverty and resist corruption. This person who has earned my vote for president is none other than our CNN Hero of the Year awardee, Mr. Efren Penaflorida.

There is a saying that the youth is the hope for a brighter tomorrow. Like Mr. Penaflorida, let us do our part as parents and teachers for the youth so that the flames of learning will never die.

Overly enthusiastic children enjoying free books for learning.

A lot of happy kids wanted to attend our organized event!

P.S. This is my entry to the Meme of the Week Challenge brought to us by meme.yahoo.com. Visit the site for more info about this contest.