Is it too late to be socially responsible?

University of the Philippines is known to be the best university around the country. The students are considered the cream of the crop which came from different regions in the countryside. Visiting one of the best universities in a nation, the picture of interest is always the professors, the students, and all the other constituents of the university. Barely do we observe those people selling foods for those who are hungry, giving a ride for those who need it, and recopying books and papers for the students who highly demand for it.



The students in the universities are given the privilege to achieve excellence, to improve themselves. They are studying for more than a decade in the hope that in the future, they will earn income suitable for their daily living or even more of it. Usually they dream of being wealthy in time. But how about those people who live their lives in the sari-sari store, jeepney routes, photocopy centers, and all the like. Everyday they spend their time doing the same things. Can they blame themselves for it? If asked, some would respond that there’s no other choice for it’s the only thing they know for them to earn a living. They weren’t able to get high educational attainment because they don’t have the amount needed to pursue a profession or a skill needed to have a high paying job. Even secondary education, they already find it hard to attain this.

With this dilemma experienced by most of the citizens in the country, the Filipinos cry for a change in the policies, law or institution. They keep on shouting for justice, assistance, policies that will improve their welfare. However, the problem is not the policies or the laws that govern us. If we are to read the laws governing us, it merely sounds perfect. Just like what Randy David said, a sociologist in the University of the Philippines, the main problem is not the laws that govern us or even the implementation of these but rather the absence of civility as a value in our lives. In aiming for a highly developed society or a CIVILIZED nation, we need to value CIVILITY. If we will look for the meaning of civility, we will get a definition of formal politeness that results from observing social conventions. Civility, according to Randy David, is the art of living with others, of assuming personal responsibility for the community, of taking pride in employing our individual talents in order to advance the lives of others.


When we are in despair, we go out and blame the people governing around us. For the poverty we experience, we always blame the administration. A movement that started long ago, a vicious cycle we experience in our nation. However, there are other things that should be considered in aiming for a better society. I agree that we are in the midst of cultural malaise: a culture of shabbiness (scruffiness), mediocrity (no growth), neglect and perpetual improvisation. Most of us have an absolute contempt for the public. If we are to observe our setting in the country, much of evidences can be noticed and probably the most striking example is ourselves. This cultural malaise is one of the important factors that should be addressed.

However, being poor is not an excuse for not being socially responsible. There are even wealthy people who are not socially responsible. Being socially responsible means being concerned or responsible to the welfare of the people around him/her. It takes pride in employing individual talents to advance the lives of other people. Then what should we all do? The answer is hard-work. With hard-work we can advance ourselves and eventually achieve the social goals that we aspire for. We can only do hard work if we have respect in ourselves. And in order to gain self-respect, we should have profound self-worth that will motivate us to be better than who we are. Doing this is not that easy. It will require us to change something in our behavior, attitude, and values in our life.

Everyone has their own problems that are encountered as they start to live in this world. But the issue is not who we are when we started to live in this bleak world. The issue is how we have improved and advanced ourselves as we start to live for ourselves and most of all for our country.

Posted by: DANI LYNNE P. TRIA

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