Settling for Band-aids

Another young life was lost due to hazing a week ago, and it has been received with anger and disbelief, not just from Filipinos, but from people around the world. We all talk about the punishments that must be meted out to those involved and the actions that need to be taken against the violent offenders. The authorities have mobilized in an attempt to make things right, but how many lives need to be lost for us to learn our lesson? How we currently react to these kinds of tragedies might not necessarily be the best course of action.

The Filipino people always react to tragic situations with an outpouring of love and we actively seek a way to make things right. After every unjust death, we never fail to rally together and stand united under a cause. After every typhoon that ravages our country, we Filipinos band together to help those who have been displaced by the natural disaster. After every unethical politician is exposed, we are relentless in our pursuit of justice, as proven by the two successful People Power rallies to oust corrupt Presidents.

We’ve proven that we can put a bandage on our wounds, but it seems like we are content with this when we should instead be in the business of finding ways to avoid getting injured altogether.

Doctors always advise patients to take vitamins to can avoid the inconvenience of getting sick. Above all, buying vitamins is much cheaper than getting hospitalized, and this scenario allows us to see the convenience of prevention over correction.

This stands true for society as well, and nipping these issues in the bud can not only prevent the loss of countless lives, but in some cases it can save a great deal of money as well. Instead of concentrating on ways to fix the existing problems that we have, it will be much more beneficial for us to actively seek ways to prevent them from even happening in the first place.

By studying the cause and effect, it becomes easier to identify the root of these problems and what actions must be taken against them. Why is it necessary for fraternities to physically or psychologically damage new members? What causes people to seek membership in these kinds of organizations? Schools ban students from joining fraternities and expel them if they are members, but why do we only punish the victims? Shouldn’t universities and other institutions be chasing after fraternities instead while also figuring out why young people are enticed to join them?

What about typhoon season? I was talking a friend a few days ago and he remarked that we suffer from the same things year in and year out. After just a few minutes of rain, Taft Avenue and even the confines of our campus are flooded with water. This leaves commuters stranded while hundreds of cars are left in an unforgiving and seemingly unending gridlock. Some try to manage the floods by installing planks of wood to serve as makeshift bridges which allow pedestrians to pass, but wouldn’t the situation be better addressed if we worked on the drainage systems instead? Decongesting or upgrading these drains is definitely an arduous task, but it is definitely worth the trouble if it means that our roads will become flood free.

When the bigger storms hit our country, they bring about so much havoc that people end up losing their homes and sources of livelihood because of the strong winds or heavy rains. People are displaced by massive typhoons on a yearly basis, with last year’s Yolanda being the most recent.

This wasn’t the first time that the province of Leyte was wiped out by a storm, as news reports have pointed out that it also happened in 1897 and 1912. When will we start learning from these disasters and start finding ways to protect ourselves when they come about? Packing relief goods for those displaced by storms is a wonderful practice, but wouldn’t it be better if we eliminated the need to do so altogether?

The same thing happens with our local government. We always complain about how our government officials are so corrupt, yet these are the men and women who are elected by the people. It is common knowledge that many of our past and present government officials have stolen billions of Pesos from the taxpayers, yet the same people still get elected year in and year out. One of the most blatant examples is former Philippine President Joseph Estrada who was ousted in 2001 due to corruption charges but still collected the second most votes in the 2010 Presidential elections. He currently serves as the mayor of the City of Manila, and it makes you wonder why these people continue to secure seats in the government.

We are constantly finding ways to boot corrupt officials out, such as the recently accused in the pork barrel scam, but we should also turn our attention to educating the masses so that we can all make an informed vote. It is the choice of the people to put these corrupt men and women in power and we can prevent them from doing so if we completely deprive them of the chance by voting wisely.

If we continue to be satisfied with using “Band-aid solutions” to fix our problems, how can we ever get anywhere as a country. By concentrating on prevention, not only can we prevent the mistakes of the past from happening again and again, but we can also progress and move forward. Sustainable solutions are the key to progress, and if we work on that instead of just settling with temporary fixes after every disaster, our country can get out of the rut that it is in and concentrate on reclaiming our place as one of the top nations in Asia. Its time for us to start finding ways to stop falling down and getting wounded because our box of Band-aid solutions is running out fast and we’ll soon be left with no way to cover our wounds.