44 Madeline C.

Sibulo
2B-MT
Mrs. Llenas

A Moral Recovery Program: Building a PeopleBuilding a Nation
Patricia Licuanan

SYNOPSIS

The paper A Moral Recovery Program: Building a PeopleBuilding a Nation is about building a
people which mean eliminating our weaknesses and developing our strengths. With this the whole
paper will discuss the strengths, weaknesses, roots of the Filipino character as well as goals and
strategies for change.

In the first part of the paper, the author discussed the strengths of the Filipino character which are the
following: the regard of Filipino for others (pakikipagkapwa-tao) or the showing of concern for
others, the influence of family in the personal identity of Filipinos, the optimism of the Filipinos in
times of misfortunes, the ability of the Filipino to accept challenge, the determination of the Filipino to
raise their standard of living by working several jobs at a time, the great influence of faith that enables
them to accept reality in the theological sense, and last but not the least, the ability of Filipinos to
survive and make do with what is available in the environment.

Sometimes, the strengths of the Filipino character also become a cause of their weakness. It was
mentioned that Filipinos are committed in their family life, with this comes extreme personalism.
Connections whether by blood or by our friends easily hires, delivers service which leads to the graft
and corruption evident in the Philippine society. Another weakness is the lack of discipline. Filipinos
tend to start something with vigor but ends things unfinished. Filipinos also tend to be complacent and
rarely is a sense of urgency about any problem. The colonial mentality also is manifested today in the
society especially by the elites who prefer foreign brands over the product of the Philippines. The crab
mentality which is the bringing down of others to level ones status up and the lack of self-analysis are
evident weaknesses of Filipinos.

The roots of the Filipino character are based on many factors such as the home environment, the social
environment, culture and language, history, the educational system, religion, the economic
environment, political environment, mass media, and leadership and role models.

Among the long list of goals and strategies for change, the following are the most important things that
a Filipino should develop: first is a sense of patriotism and national pride, second is a sense of the
common good, third is a sense of integrity and accountability, lastly is the value and habits of
discipline and hard work. For these goals to be achieve, strategies like a change in media and
advertising should take effect because it has a huge impact among people, another is the
implementation of the buy Filipino to boost our economy and third and importantly, the Filipino
should encourage conversion from bad ways and promote the common good.

REACTIONS/ CRITIQUE
The paper presented by the author was persuasive since the mentioned strengths and weaknesses are
actually evident, even in our society, even in our section, and sometimes, to myself. I agree that
Filipinos are highly creative people. Even if sometimes we are not blessed financially, we still make
things possible because of our ability to improvise and make use of what is available as of the moment.
I also believe that Filipinos are highly religious. Majority of the citizens of the Philippines are
Christians that is why we comprehend our way of life in the theological context.