straight from the mouth of babes...hoping for a better Phils. for them...

Yesterday, while driving home from mass, we chanced upon a traffic accident. It was fairly recent and the police has just arrived. When my youngest daughter, Fiona, saw the policemen, she told me to hurry up because she was afraid of policemen. To say I was surprised by this is an understatement. At a young age of 6, she already has a negative impression of our supposed protectors of society. It hit me that the symbols of government in the Philippine streets have such a tainted image that kids don't want anything to do with them. In fact, upon further reflection, I also don't want anything to do with them of for any other people in uniform for that matter. And I work for a national government office!
I remember being out on the streets of Quezon City when (typhoon) Ondoy struck. And the most distinctive impression I had then was that at that time, there was no government. It was the people helping each other. No road signs, no advisories, no MMDA personnel to direct traffic. What we had was the citizens helping other citizens cross flooded streets, rescuing trapped people, offering food and shelter to less fortunate people. Where were the people in uniform?
Yet in every heinous crime or gruesome accident, the people in uniform take center attention.It does not help that it is very hard to distinguish on sight who is the criminal and who is the authority. Seeing a traffic enforcer of the Metro Manila Development Authority or any local government does not bring the comfort of a thought that the traffic will move smoother but evokes memories of predators waiting for prey. Of them waiting for someone to make the slightest infraction so as to make a buck.
These people have their work cut out for them. It would take generations to correct this image. I just hope that this thoughts reach them and start to affect them. That deep inside there is still a glimmer of idealism that the dream to put on the uniform was not motivated by the need to make a quick buck but to be a protector of society. I still believe, for the sake of my kids....