‘Magpakabayani’ ties up with DoT

The Magpakabayani Movement, a non-stock, non-profit organization, and the Department of Tourism (DoT) will join efforts in a campaign designed to make the Filipinos love their country. This came about following the meeting between lawyer Ma. Jasmin, director of Office of Tourism Standard, and Gerry Constantino, Magpakabayani spokesman.

The DoT is presently engaged in its G2 (Gandang Pilipinas, Galing Pinoy) campaign aimed at making Filipinos realize the wonders of the country and to recognize their natural talents, a noble idea worthy of full public support.

The DoT drive jibes with the campaign of the Magpakabayani Movement Foundation which, like that of DoT, aims to inculcate into the minds of the Filipino a sense of nationalism, a key to the development of the country.

The Magpakabayani drive is anchored on the slogan “Pilipinas, Mahalin Natin; Magpakabayani Tayo.” It comes, according to its spokesman, Gerry Constantino, at a time when the Filipinos’ confidence on the stability of the country is waning; when the passion among the people is to leave the country.

“Wala nang pag-asa ang bayang ito; mabuti pang mangibang bayan na lang” (this country is hopeless; might as well migrate), Filipinos are often heard saying. The organizers of Magpakabayani Movement disagree. The Philippines, they maintain, is a wonderful place to stay, rich in natural wealth just waiting to be tapped. What the country simply needs, they believe, is a sense of nationalism among its people.

Most people attribute the sad state of the Philippines to massive graft and corruption andtoo much (patronage) politics. This has been debunked by authoritative foreign observers. That the Philippines is behind other Asian countries , they claim, is because Filipinos do not have a sense of nationalism; thatthey have the flair for things foreign rather than their own.

A former government official once said the Philippines is a rich country pretending to be poor. This was bolstered by a noted banker/industrialist who said our seas are a vast source of wealth. The Philippines has a fish-rich shoreline longer than that of the US, he pointed out. (Gerry Constantino)