Chief Justice Reynato Puno, amid talk of a plot to unseat him, said that it was not the legal system that would solve the country’s problems but the moral system. I absolutely agree.

Even at the community level, the moral system plays a vital role. In my years of development work, I have seen many foreign grants to cooperatives and people’s organizations go to waste as their officers dipped into the groups’ finances for personal gain and without any sense of accountability. As a result, the members lost interest in their organizations and eventually the organizations died. The hope to empower people and to alleviate them from poverty eventually flickered out as well.

But I have also seen community organizations that have thrived for years and continue to grow. Behind these organizations are simple, honest and committed people who have built their organizations from scratch without any external assistance. They are driven only by their burning desire to make their organizations grow and achieve a better life for all. If ever they get any external help like a grant, they always put it to good use.

No amount of foreign aid or no development project can help a community progress if the people themselves are not worthy—if they just squander the funds for their own interest. Sometimes we tend to excuse such acts because of their poverty. But this lame excuse could be the very same reason we bungle our chances for progress. A person with moral fortitude will always work for the betterment of everyone. To work for the common good, as one also works for the betterment of oneself, is a mark of a person of character.

Let’s also teach moral values to our communities. Let’s not only equip them with the capital and skills needed for growth. We may be poor, but it’s no reason to sell our soul.

—LEA FENIX-CEA,
leifcea@yahoo.com