WHY SHOULD THE FILIPINO YOUTH VOLUNTEER?

Why? Do we really need to answer this question? Is it really a pre-requisite? It is mandated, not just by God, not just by the laws of man, but by the heart inside us. We should volunteer!

If you will still insist that I should answer the question, well, I might just have to say that Filipino youth should volunteer for it spreads the spirit of Nationalism and Hope. Hope that a person can see through aiding each other – in which they will realize that we can uplift lives just by giving a hand.

Let’s ask ourselves, what change can it create by having volunteerism? Look around us. What do we see? What do we hear? Poverty is everywhere. No matter what direction we look, there is a presence of that grotesque figure of the society. Nude malnourished kids roaming around the streets of Manila to beg as if they are playing  “patintero” with Death and living out their entire young lives in the putrid estuaries beside the bridges. Undeniably, pollution exists. It is everywhere. Consuming vast areas and spreading diseases to succumb lives.  Corruption. Oh, yes, corruption. It is the worst enemy of the nation. It is the scum of the society. It is a cancer that proliferates so fast. It rules the government making it look as if the senate and congress are the biggest criminal syndicate in the country.

I hate myself when I speak foul of my own country but it’s the truth –the ugly truth. There are many more of that for me to say but I don’t want my readers to puke because of the horrifying and gory tale I have in my mind while reading my work so I have decided not to write it anymore.

Now, having known of some of the greatest problems our country is facing, can change be possible? Of course, it is. No matter what kind of struggle there is, change is inevitable and what we only need is a force that can push us to move forward and that force is Bayanihan.

We should remember that our country is the mother of People Power and that its roots are instilled deeply in the hearts of the filipinos. Through volunteerism in 1986, during the EDSA revolution, we have defeated the dictating ruler. We have proven that we, filipinos, can be as solid as rock. Again, it happened in EDSA DOS and also, EDSA TRES and it can still happen.

Volunteer work is the physical form of Hope, Nationalism, social responsibility and awareness. By doing so, we can prove that change can happen anytime we want it. As youths, we are the catalysts that bring progress. Unity in heart creates hopes and success. We are the formidable force that the society needs in order to ignite freedom and peace in the lives of our fellow countrymen.

Poverty, Pollution, Corruption, Unemployment, Illiteracy are problems that still beset Filipinos. It is an imperative – a necessity – for us to bring down these issues. In order to achieve it, we must first look at them as challenges – obstacles which are also aimed goals – that we need to set and finish.

This is the goal. We want to bring down the worriment to start the betterment of the nation. Volunteer work encourages others to aid, not only other people, but the nation itself. It helps us take part in the nation-building. By combing talents and skills, we can create a difference. We can create a change. If we can all push one domino, others will follow. We just need to join our hands together and walk toward volunteering. We need to influence others. It’s just a matter of time before we can actually reach what we want.

We should volunteer, not only because it is a pre-requisite as a man, not because it is our duty as Filipino, not only because it creates hopes, encourages change, ignites nationalism but because it is the an act of love that everyone should show.