This came to mind after one of my "quiet moments" sitting by the pond observing ducks. Don't ask me why but I thought of Bohol and how it could be improved...nothing too scifi or impossible but something that might be a possibility in my lifetime. Mind you, I don't have any political aspirations nor does the thought of abandoning the life I've built appealing. But sometimes, I do hope that I can actually sit down with a major politician and maybe a few business owners who share my vision....or delusion, take your pick.
1.) Marine & Freshwater Sanctuaries - as we all know full well, we are blessed with lots of little islands and a network of rivers and creeks around Bohol. It won't cost too much to designate a minimum reasonable area per town to have a marine sanctuary. Panglao has one, in fact. When I was 15, I joined a symposium for Coastal Resources Management in Dumaguete City and we went to Apo Island where they have established a designated Marine Sanctuary. There were lots of birds and per our interview with the fishermen, fish became abundant. If we apply thesame principle on a larger scale in Bohol, we would give our fishes and other marine creatures a place to breed and grow undisturbed so we can replenish the population and fish will no longer demand a premium price. It will be affordable for everybody. Supply and demand. I hope that P250/kilo fish would then be P100/kl since they are plentiful.
2.) Baranggay Nurseries - Maybe I am just an avid gardener or I don't have a life. During my last trip there, my family and I went to Sagbayan a lot to see a special healer. On the way, I've observed that we do have lots of available land. We are blessed with good climate and a good amount of rainfall so here's my thoughts on this. Why don't there be a designated Community garden. We already have huge lots in our schools and kids are already taught gardening in H.E., why can't this be a year round effort and extend to other public places and parks. Again, supply and demand. Our people needn't go hungry if there's plenty. Kangkong and Malunggay grow like weeds. Bago does too. Green Onions and Peppers (sili kaguko) are very resilient in my own personal experience growing it both here in the US and in Bohol. Furthermore, Peppers apparently have more Vitamin C than oranges. Go figure. Growing up, we always had a sibuyas garden, a tomato garden, and a sili kaguko garden. This did not include the kangkong growing wild, the ginger/luy-a on the borders in between the santans, and who could forget, the little sili. Man those bear those nasty little things all year. Handy those, taste good with vinegar. heheeheh !
3.) Tree Planting - No, I don't mean those mahogany forests that is so often encouraged. Its not that I'm against it, I just don't quite see the point for right now. We can encourage fruit tree planting however. Mangoes are easy to grow from seeds and they are even easier to take care of once established. Trees are low cost, easy to grow and even make life comfortable for most of us. Can you imagine, instead of cutting down trees, we will encourage each and every household have a tree in their yard ? They do not take up a lot of space and as i said...easy. We can make it a provincial ordinance, for every XXX sqft of land that you have, you at least have XX number of FRUIT BEARING trees. Macopa, tambis/waterapple, papaya, banana, jackfruit/nangka, breadfruit/kulo, sampaloc, lomboy, santol, mango, guava, eba, guyabano...so many to chose from. In my parent's house, we have macopa, santol, guyabano, lansones,4 tambis trees,3 limonsito trees, assorted bananas. malunggay, and papayas...they have a 1,000 sqm lot but minus the 2m right of way, its probably 800 something. Growing up, we always enjoyed the harvests and even had enough to share with the neighbors.
4.) Mandatory CAT and ROTC - I am of the opinion that we should bring this back. Kids could use the discipline. Maybe I'm biased but men of my father's generation has a totally different outlook than the kids I grew up with. More family oriented and future oriented I guess. I am no saint but I think at age 27, you should at least be contributing to the general household instead of still being your parent's dependent.
5.) Mandatory Sex Education - Common Sense. If our youngsters could be taught to be more responsible and sex is not too mysterious and treated as taboo...hmm...maybe we won't have so many unwed mothers. Of course, abstinence would still be best and physical and psychological consequences should be stressed. Again, I am no saint here, but if our kids can see clearly the consequences of their choices and reiterated constantly, I think it will be a good deterrent for casual pre-marital sex.
6.) Mandatory Cultural Immersion - If we as a people are proud of where we came from, I think it would improve the morale of the populace. Its appalling to think that most people don't even know who the hell Francisco Dagohoy is or Babaylan Tamblot. Nobody seem to know that Bohol was once an independent Republic for 80 years or our other folklore. If a subject such as this is taught and the learning of ones roots is fostered, I think we can see a huge improvement in our people. Its not "bol-anon lang tawn ko", rather " proud jud kong bol-anon". See the difference ?
7.) Financial Management for High School Students - Its hard to think that youngsters might need this education when most Filipinos in general don't have that much funds to manage but I think using, condensing and revising the principles found in Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book would be very useful. I feel lucky that somebody had handed this book to me when I was 17 and luckier still that I devoured its contents and used some of it for everyday life. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel happy that my husband I have been blessed with what we have at our age. Instead of spending their time and money playing ragnarok, dota and all of those stupid games, they can spend their time and money fostering entrepreneurship and work. While minors can't work yet, there is no age limit to free enterprise. It is also healthier...think about it, getting fat and pimply staring at the computer all day and sacrificing their school work, OR , gardening, hiking, doing a side business..well, it keeps you fit, moving and puts money in your pocket instead of out of it.
8.) Mandatory Cooking Lessons in High School Home Econ. - We have a lot of edible shrubs, fruits and whatever else in the Philippines, we can all use some education in finding cheap, nutritious and healthy foods that we already have. Dinner and lunch shouldn't just be pork pork and more pork. We can have lots of other varieties too. These are things I've gleaned from watching Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and my experience at Bohol Bee Farm. Did you even know that gumamela flowers are edible ???oh year, and so are a lot of others. Salads are good for everyone, can you imagine if every family can serve a salad as an appetizer for dinner and then the main fanfare of rice and viand ? everyone would be healthier and fuller...and even make their homes beautiful too...santan was edible , so are aloe vera, cosmos and a myriad of other flowers. I'm thinking high school since its a captive audience and we can start them young.
9.) Swimming Festival - we live in an island, we have dauis-tagbilaran straight, we have lots of kids....hmmm....we can add swimming to our list of talents. It can also spark a whole new community and jobs. Organizers, boat builders, it can even draw tourism. We can have the pre-teen level ( ages 8-12), the junior teens (13-15), senior teens (16-19) and adults 20++, we can even have seniors men and women. I bet there are lots of over 65s out there that can make the swim in record time too. :-) !
10) Stricter Punishment for Pedophiles - it may not be too common in the news but there sure are some we hear about, remember that creepy Canadian guy that always hung out by BQ breadbasket ? or that other foreigner who grabbed an 8yo girl from Central Elem ? I think the latter happened just this year. If we had the death penalty, I'd say send them straight to the fryer. Jalosjos is long overdue in my opinion. Since we don't, those creeps should be black listed, made to pay a very heavy fine and a special jail time to make them regret ever coming to the Philippines and molesting our kids.
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