The pork barrel scam is an issue that is widely talked about in the news nowadays and we, as high school students, would like to share our individual and collective thoughts on the matter:
We are worried for our country. If the government officials “leading” us are the ones robbing us, what will happen to our future? With the huge sums involved and with practically no control measures being honored, the temptation to steal public money is simply too great for these “leaders.”
And these are the people voted into office supposedly to be responsible for the wellbeing of our country and to lead us to progress. It turns out that these government officials, in fact, have no heart for the Filipino public—something that is flat-out “un-Filipino.”
With greedy government officials like these, it is no wonder that countless Filipinos are suffering from poverty.
To the government officials involved in the pork barrel scam, we say: Stop thinking about yourself and look around you, see the misery and suffering and grief you have caused, and hear the outraged voices of your countrymen.
The stress you are going through right now—that is, if you even feel any—because of the scandal you’ve been linked to is nothing compared to their anger because of what you did to our country.
—NICOLE BUGAYONG, CRISTAL GOCHANGCO, RIA HERCE, FRANCES JACOB
and ERIKA MUTUC,
Paref Woodrose School, Acacia Avenue,
Ayala Alabang Village, Muntinlupa City