Filipinos, The Philippine Building Block Being Filipino citizens and living in the Philippines, we try to evaluate our

standing in the world and as to how we can improve the economy and the country better. Ideally, everybody desires advancements in everything, such as the Science and Technology, the Arts and Cultures and generally, advancement in the world. "There are many things we do not want about the world. Let us not just mourn them. Let us change them." This is a saying from a very influential person of our past, by the former president, Mr. Ferdinand Marcos, though being a dictator in his reign, I think he is one of the presidents who had done a lot for this country, and he has improved a lot and contributed to it. His saying articulates that experiencing obstacles and hardships and sometimes walking on the uneven road or to some degree, just being alienated from the ground plan is something a nation can encounter in its journey nevertheless we Filipinos should not stay motionless and stagnant and just let these impediments hamper our trek to a better Philippines. Though the construction of a strategy to do a noble and impressive matter, in which most of the time, does not turn to the conclusion that we have anticipated which then turns out to be the required motivation for us to further develop and construct our country, the Philippines. Filipinos are the inhabitants of this country; they are the ones collectively responsible for the triumphs and demise of the country, the judgment and assessment of the state of nation. As another of our former president, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said, "The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working

together is better." Which will then leads us to the indicative that we, the Filipinos, in building the nation, will possess a more superior aftereffect if we collectively worked together in contrast to an independent person trying to assemble a solution in his own. Building the nation is a normative perception that means dissimilar things to different people. The modern conceptualization is fundamentally that nation-building programs are those in which dysfunctional, unstable or "failed states" are given assistance in the development of governmental infrastructure, civil society, dispute resolution mechanisms, as well as economic assistance, in order to increase the stability. It generally assumes that someone or something is doing the building intentionally, which in our case, the Filipinos themselves. In my belief, The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines, in their own little way and in collective agreement to others. The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines. Filipinos are a major contributing factor in the improvement and the development of the country, most of all since they are the primary inhabitants of the country and that they are one of the elements of the Philippines being a state. The Philippines as a democratic and republican state (Art II, Sec.1), having a president that is generally ruled by the people, wherein decisions are made and then weighed by the people. The President functions as both head of state and head of government and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote for a single six-year term, during which he or she appoints and presides over the cabinet. The Bicameral Congress is composed of the Senate, serving as the upper house, with members elected to a six-year term, and the House of Representatives, serving as

the lower house, with members elected to a three-year term. The senators are elected at large while the representatives are elected from both legislative districts and through sectoral representation. The judicial power is vested to the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council. Which leads us back to The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines statement, wherein the president, head of state and government is elected by popular vote of the people of the country, the Filipinos. It connotes that the people chose the president and that without the people, he wouldnt be president who builds the country and that all other officials appointed by the president is in another sense chosen by the people and that the people can also decide and contribute to the decision makings for the best interest of the country. The Filipino people are also generally known for their hospitality towards others, which is a very pleasant advantage for building the Philippines since it can attract tourists and it can advertise the Philippines as a superior country with superior inhabitants like others. The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines. Starting from the head of the government and the state, our current president, Benigno Noynoy Simeon Cojuangco Aquino, III. He is a democratic president that since the start of his term, is set on removing the faulty and corruptive officials seated on the governmental seats of power since being able to evaluate the current state of the nation, it is like purging the government from diseases to be able to commence a term of office without bias and prejudice from the unjust and corruptive officials. Rather than simply being the

president for the names sake, appearance and acting like a puppet of the people and wasting all opportunities to improve the economy and standing of the Philippines worldwide. An example of this was when he advanced the legal proceedings of the impeachment of Chief justice Renato Corona for his failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth which is without doubt a very scandalous sum total for a public officer like him. And that he is allegedly an ally to the superfluous and substandard works of Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines. As it was said by Dr. Jose Rizal, Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan ("The youth is the hope of our future"), then the youth being he hope of our future, they must start to thrive since they are small. The educational foundation of our youth should be the greatest focus. Their education should be their prime goal for it is the technique for an enhanced future. If the children are well educated and disciplined, the countrys future under their command should be seamless. President Aquino understanding the importance of education approves of the K-12 Curriculum, wherein the children will have more opportunities for studying and being in school and that for the economy, the highschool graduates can immediately apply for work which is an agreeable solution for the people of the country to alleviate their momentary poverty which if conducted continuously will, in the future, be a complete solution to poverty in the Philippines. Though on the other hand, the negative argument in this case is that on how they will send their children up to secondary level of school when they are in such a state of poverty, but in my opinion, being able to grasp a chance for a job when only graduating

from secondary level is already an improvement rather that needing to finish college level before being in near proximity to a possible contract employment. The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines. On the current issue that is taking place with legal proceedings, the eradication of the Pork barrel of the government officials, that is, and to make the funds into one holder or facilitator, and that if it is required for a project for a particular improvement then that they will need to pass through the requirements first. The Filipino people wanting to make this change in the government is a clever progress since if the pork barrel is handled by many other people of different departments and regions, the chance of being corrupted and shady in terms of the funds is higher. An example of this is the case of Napoles wherein at least a billion peso per year is being corrupted and awarded as kickbacks and that five senators and 23 House representatives are allegedly involved in the scam. I think that the pork barrel funds of the government should have its own department whose sole purpose is to handle the funds and to evaluate the projects needing funding if they are adequate to the necessity or if it overflowing than the supposed requisite rather than being in the hands of many other people which are easily tempted to do terrible things with the funds. The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines. The Filipinos being active participants in the decisions and judgment of the issues intimidating the Philippines is a good way of showing that the Filipinos are really building the Philippines. Making decisions that will pave the way for the improvement in the country is the first way to building a nation. Having projects like the K-12 shows that the country is improving,

being in par with the other countries and that proving that the Filipinos can. The Filipinos thrive to build the country and that even though there are unexpected setbacks, it only encourages us more to flourish and to be successful in the projects and decisions and this proves that no matter how difficult it is, we never back down in doing the wholesome things we can do and that The Filipinos themselves are building the Philippines.