Poverty and Corruption - The Ties That Bind

During the last election campaign we had witnessed the greatest performance of the best performers in the Philippines in a noble role of being a virtuous man living a virtuous life. If election campaign has just been a mere role playing, then it has never been a good opportunity for us Filipinos' to get the chance to know the candidate we're supposed to vote. All of a sudden, after the false officers were elected in their positions, they then changed into something monstrous – corrupt and stonehearted.

Corruption sounded at its loudest during the time of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada when he was alleged to have committed plunder. But to think of, there’s more on corruption that makes it more controversial. This form of abuse in power includes stealing not just the money of the Filipinos but also Filipinos' opportunities for better life.

Then poverty comes in the picture. How come that a country Philippines, rich in natural resources and manpower could be a victim of scarcity? Would this be, because of the incompetent way of allocating resources, or the obvious one – corruption?

Poverty is not just a state of mind, it is the crisis that many of us Filipinos if not all is experiencing. Due to the loss of money, with no exact explanation at all, there are a lot of services and projects necessary to the crowd that are thrown sorry. With that the people experiences the social cancer, then the economic instability, then what’s next – fight for survival?

Education, health, and many other else were placed into jeopardy, thus affecting other aspects of individual as a citizen of this country, Philippines. The employment rate collapsed and so the crime rate skyrocketed into something threatening. Didn’t you get the point? Corruption gave birth to poverty, and poverty breeds poverty, and if we do nothing at all to stop this, we will always be inside this deadly carousel until our death.

The proposal for the change of form of government from democratic to parliamentary form is not the answer and it will never be. The problem is rooted from the corrupt officials therefore wiping them out in the palace is the key to stop corruption. And as we preclude corruption, we are opening the possibility that poverty might be eradicated. Of course, the way to development does not end in ousting the corrupt officials and choosing the best leader that governs the people the right way. We, as a responsible citizen of this land have our own duty to preserve the beautiful things in our country, and not to act like a villain to it.

The Pain-omenon

It slowly creeps in us
Stays wherever it wants to
Exists, whether expected or not
It strengthens few, it weakens lots

Yes, it is but personal
Yet by nature contagious
By tears and screams
The virus are passed then

This can be superficial
But it can be deep too
As profound as the ocean
As unfathomable as our souls

Few tried to explain such phenomenon
That reigns in every one of us living
Only to find failure ahead
Thus exemption to this
Would only mean death

For, nobody understands pain
And sometimes even the bearer himself
Because it’s complicated and intangible;
True but beyond our reach

It's L-O-V-E!

February 2008 is already out of date, but the love it contains is still up for this month of March and even for April, or next months to come. It simply means love never dies, though it takes different forms every now and then. And for love to stay immortal it has to be born again and again without the consequence of dying, that’s one big reason why love never gets old, and that it fits every generation.

Here are the three Raffy’s who’s about to confess about "their" perception about love!

Raffy the Hatred Slayer:
There are two driving forces that control man – love and hatred. These spirits are both situated in one’s person, yet it doesn’t work hand in hand. They are each other’s antagonist. Nobody can slay hatred or love, yet one has the prerogative to choose what must dominate in his/ her being. If one chooses hatred over love, he’ll/ she’ll experience the fruit of it – instability, discord, more hatred and even death of soul. While if that one chooses love (I mean real love) then hatred would vanish, it maybe slowly but surely it will. Didn’t you get the point? The best of love exists only in the absence of hatred

Raffy Road Ice Cream:
Love is the sweetest complex emotion one can experience with pride and humility in one. My very own first taste of love, though it did not end up into a relationship, is actually a sweet one or even the sweetest experience my heart have felt. It took me into cloud nine, without experiencing delusions of grandeur. It made me humble, patient, and, understanding in short virtuous. It is only then that I’ve found out that love brings the best of me, for me to taste it and savor it.

Te-Raffy-C:
There is no such thing as general standard for love. Everyone has his very own definition of what love is and what is it all about. One can say that love is the fattest us, while the other may claim that the love is our sexiest core. Whether they define love in dissimilar way, the important is, they felt love, they love, and they live for love. It’s not our definition about it; it’s our experience about this feeling that counts.

The Torment

In the darkest of the night
When there’s no slightest of light
Existing, causing me temporary
Blindness physically and within
I saw myself in a vision
Hiding under my bed,
Covering my face with a pillow,
Attempting to protect my head

The monster is coming
Carrying a whip; he is to whip me
Thirty times, if, I sway
It goes beyond that number
And no tears should fall in my cheeks
For I as a victim so fragile,
Must be numb enough not to feel
The evidence of the red stripes

And now, at this very minute
Just after the session, the redness from a hit
Liquefied and occupied my head,
My face, my eyes, realizing I just bled
There’s so much blood I fear,
But not enough for me to be captured by death

Tomorrow evening I do know
There’ll be great flood of blood and sorrow