Slow Learners

Yesterday, I was surprised to know that Philippines is one of the richest country in Southeast Asia. And yet, many and even more people are living in poverty everyday. The answer may not be obvious, for as learned men, we know that the cause might be math or the subject called economics. For politicians, it’s about laws; for policemen, it’s peace, and for the rest, it’s just the lack of money or the abundance of bills.

Today, I went out to get papers for my business and pay my taxes, unfortunately because of my ignorance, I need to pay for additional penalties due for the past year and also for this year. The officer I talked to last month, the one who computed my taxes, was nowhere to be found, and I thought he was a regular employee. Anyway, I lined-up to ask some assistance there. When it was my turn, this guy told me to verify my TIN number, and so I did. I lined up again and waited patiently for my turn, when he purposely finished everyone in line and took my turn last. He said to me in some fast and silent tone that he will make some ‘way’ to help me lower my taxes that I don’t have to pay my penalties for the whole year. He gave me his personal number with his name and told me to think about it and call him tomorrow morning, for he will ‘personally’ hand carry my documents for payments and approval. He seems to be doing me a great favor. “Yeah, right!”

My point is, this kind of selfishness, lawlessness, and simple disobedience what makes this country poor. God blessed this country with abundant natural resources, but we people make our own curses that lead to our own sufferings. Like what happened last year, when a strong storm hit some provinces up north, almost a thousand people died. Not because of the storm but because of the landslides that destroyed lives. The root cause? Because of lack of trees? Yes, because of illegal loggers. Some people are just slow learners.