By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
Netizen 7: Pudno dayta sir franklin. Maysa ak a naitao a pangdua la a bulan a sumagid ti inapuy iti ngiwatko. Kalpasan dua bulan kamoti laengen iti pangbiagmi a pamilya ta ania ngarud ket marigrigat met iti nagtaudak. Gapu ditoy ad adu ti absences ko ngem ti panangserrekko ti eskuelaan ket nagbalinak nga scapegoat ngem anian a rikna no panpanunotek ta bakras ken kinelleng a kalkaramutan mi nga agaama. Saanak a makuna a nakaeskuela ken saanak met nga immasenso ngem at least sumagid ti inapuy iti ngiwatmi a pamilya iti inaldaw. Dayta ket gapu ta dinisiplinsaak ti bagik isu a naggatek bassit.
ECA: Netizen 7, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience on how you broke the yoke of poverty as a young man and have become an inspiration to others who desire a better life than what they were born to. It is a powerful proof that in this country, upward social movement is possible to those who dare and are willing to pay the cost.
Netizen 8: Sooooo…..sino tatta t itayag ko imana? Very nice debate as long as we stick to the issue, no patronizing words that can irritate us the readers/watchers. Nakakapika ngamin nu very arrogant yung taong kadiscuss mo so uray mayat diay kunkunana, negative latta ti panang-awat. Ket kasta ngarud, kasla nga ti panangkitak ad-adu ti umanamong idiay theory ni Bryan Tracy…..although poverty is due to many factors but the person’s attitude comes first. God helps those who help themselves nga kuna ni Mam Gertrudes Lastimoza.
Netizeen 9: Alangan met nga mababtuog ti manna from heaven nu sadut ti tao. Adu dita ti natawidan ngem saan da ammo mang iwork out ti tawid da ket kapilitan a nga pumobre da. Apu met iman ti nagannak da ket pirmi panagtrabaho da nga kasla nuang tapnu adda maurnong nga patawid da.
ECA: Netizen 9, what you pointed out is a common experience — the children dissipating the wealth their parents worked for. That was what I asked one of our opponents — if the government is still to blame for the poverty of children who failed to manage well and maintain the wealth they inherit — but he acted as though he did not read the question. Sociologists could not be trusted pala with simple truths like the wealth amassed by parents and frittered away by children. The world is still to blame for the ensuing poverty and the children who brought the condition upon themselves are innocent.
Netizen 3: Hehe mayat daytoy discuter tayo ngem kasano nga itayag jay da Tenants ken Sakada jay Negros ti imada ket awan met CP da? They are included in our discussions piman datayo laeng met nga naikkan ti opportunity to improve our lives ti agdisdiscus ditoy hehe
ECA: Relative to Netizen 3’s mention of the sacadas and tenants of sugarcane plantations of Negros, I have these comments/questions:
First, if indeed poverty in the sugarcane plantations of Negros is a permanent prison from which no sacada and tenant ever escaped no matter their best and single-minded efforts, I contend that such reality cannot outweigh the fact that in many other parts of the country including the Cordillera, poor people who set their minds to improving their lots and work on it with all their might are known to have shaken off their poverty. The statistics I earlier cited and which sources I have supplied in the thread to the effect that from 1983 to 2015, the poverty incidence in the country has been reduced by almost 50 percent strongly indicates that the Negros situation is not the norm in the country.
Second, could Netizen 3 state with certainty that the sacadas and tenants in Negros are free of the poverty-causing personal flaws and failings implied in the quotation of Brian Tracy Jim? I ask this because if they are affected with such mentality, it would not be fair nor accurate to claim that their poverty is ENTIRELY caused by realities beyond their control and has NOTHING to do with their personal attitudes whatsoever. It could be that Negros is one place where the poverty-causing factors mentioned by the opposing sides in this discussion are in play.
Netizen 3: Brian Tracy is a universal truth which applies to everybody including tenants squatters sacadas. But it cannot suffice to explain the reality of poverty in this country as there are so many factors. The situation of the tenants and sacadas is being sustained by the feudal character of landholding in this country. True there must be some who by their initiatives, efforts, discipline and others have made their way out of poverty but generally, these can only be altered by genuine land reform. I still hold the view that when the proper opportunity is offered to people then the chances of improvement becomes more likely. My example about opportunity given to.people so that they could improve their lives is our experience in Tacloban where we help 120 households to rise up from the ruins of typhoon Yolanda. When we went there, we offered to help them rebuild their lives but our financial support is not GRANT. At certain schedule they have to give back what they received to build their houses and to start their livelihood. Now they were able to give back what they received which also give to other communities in need of support. In fact these people who received support from us also have 250,000 pesos which we used to purchase relief goods for our people in Kalinga who suffered the ire of typhoon Lawin. What I am saying here is that the poor can rise up to the occasion if they are given the OPPORTUNITY.**(To be continued)
