The past two weeks were enrollment times for college students.
During such times there was the relevant story of a remote Cordilleran village. Education was so valued there it was like criminal not to send one’s kids to high school or college. Since the kids in the 1960s had to go to the city to enroll as there were no public secondary schools or colleges or universities there where kids could enroll at minimal cost, such times always meant big financial problems for mothers or parents in general.
But parents there due to their desire for their kids to later graduate and have better lives, always found the solutions by their sweat, tears and blood.
Now things are easier. There are now public secondary schools everywhere, also SUCs (State Universities and Colleges). But there are still disparities between those with money and those who have not. Money is still needed for kid to get quality education. SUCs are not charging tuition fees but there are still a lot of other expenses required. How about their board and lodging? Books and other educational necessities? Small amounts for entertainment to keep their sanity or for their world to expand beyond their smart cellphones and the TV? Sure, there are scholarships that offer generous stipends for such other expenses but these are very few.
So millions of parents, perhaps more than half of parents all over the country are still problematic during enrollment. It is not because the Philippines is poor. The problem is the inequitable distribution of the nation’s wealth.
For instance, the wealth created in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos went only to members of a few extended families. If memory serves, their number did not even reach a hundred.
Since the beginning of time this country has been showing its inability to put into effect measures to attain a more equitable distribution of its economic wealth.
The biggest cause of this is our stupidity, yours, mine, and ours. As always, last year, we again voted into elective offices people who by their backgrounds are sure to perpetuate the iniquitous distribution of our economic resources.
So do not wait for the phrase “equitable distribution of wealth” to seep into the vocabulary of our politicians. They are just busy taking care of their respective vested interests. What they would give us, if ever, will be just the crumbs.
Moral of the story? We just have to rely on ourselves, as we have been doing quite well—by survival standards. **