The disparity between the rich and the poor has always been obvious in our society. One need not go into the depressed areas which is also known as slums and the gated and guarded villages to know the difference.
The roads showcase that gap clearly - imported cars and vans against the pedicabs and overloaded tricycles; vendors tending nutritious kwek-kwek and sago against the classy take-out junk foods and artificial sodas; people wearing ukay-ukay clothes against branded apparels; the homeless and beggars against those inside their air-conditioned cars with village stickers on their windshields; out-of-school youths selling sampaguita laces against those in school buses with names of exclusive schools; and of course, the so-called slums lined up and in full view of everyone.
This scenario was already present when you were born, while you were growing up and even now while reading this. When do you think this gap would close? Yes, closing the gap and not merely bridging it.
The answer depends on our resolve to take a united stand against poverty, its causes and dire consequences. Such collective move may come in the form of lobbying for more compassionate but tougher laws that will really attack the roots of the problem, initiatives which are not pallatives but cures to social cancers, and of course, prayers for Divine Intervention particularly so when the tasks are so enormous and deemed to be humanly impossible.
Equally important is the willingness of people to modify their respective comfort levels. A lifestyle not too indulgent and ought to be tuned up to a certain degree of moderation and understanding.
We are of course hopeful that people in government and those in the judiciary as well as legislative branch will soon work in harmony once a new Chief Justice is appointed. It is certain that the new chief magistrate is faced with a formidable task of "housecleaning" and "housekeeping".
All must move fast since time is running out and the mid-term 2013 elections are just around the corner. We all know what elections mean to all of us. For most of us, it means new hopes but for others, it may mean something else other than for the common good.
In a capsule, we are not changing a society, we are not putting up an egalitarian order, we are not calling for a new revolution. What we are aiming for is to establish a compassionate society in the tradition of "bayanihan" spirit. A society where people values "kasipagan", "pakikisama", "delikadeza", "masinop", "maasahan", "matapat", etc. and above all, "Maka-Diyos". A society where men are indeed created equals.
