“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill

“Philippines: Shhhhhhhh Tumulong ka nalang!” was one of the common phrases you’ll hear in the Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) aftermath.

The ineptness of the government to respond immediately to the needs of the Haiyan typhoon victims was exposed by CNN correspondents Anderson Cooper and Andrew Stevens. Andrew Stevens’ interview with Mar Roxas, the DILG secretary of the current government in the Philippines, showed how defensive the Aquino government is, and how pathetic to ask for more donations! Mar Roxas was trying to hide the truth from the Filipino people when he tried to answer one of Andrew Stevens’ straightforward questions about the same cadaver lying in the street that stayed there for how many days and was not taken care of?

Amused would be an understatement for me in my reaction to the Filipino attitude of being critical about the private lives of individuals rather than being critical toward public officials. Public officials should be in the spotlight for critical assessment of their performance in office. In the first place, they are elected and paid for by the taxes of the people of the Philippines to do their designated jobs effectively.

I am disappointed to see the Filipinos’ lack of critical thinking in many ways. When you post your opinion and critical assessment on social media, some people would tell you to “Ssssshhhhhhh let’s be positive here, it is not time to criticize and blame. Tumulong ka nalang! Meron ka na bang naitulong sa mga biktima nang typhoon?”

This is quite outrageous! Why would they be so critical of me, a private individual, and ask me “what have I helped?” and was asked to keep quiet when I am being critical about the clumsiness and the lack of heart from the government officials of this country! This Filipino trait just showed how the majority of Filipinos do not care about how the government does its job.

The only institution which has a huge authority in giving and managing the humanitarian aid to the victims of the super typhoon is the government, and definitely it is their job to care for their own people. Criticizing them for their incompetence in managing the country and in their response to the disaster is already a big help for one’s country and more positive too for the disaster victims, so government officials would be pushed to do their jobs well and people will not suffer more from disasters.

Not caring about how the government does its job is not helping at all, and it is being negative! You are authorizing the government to be incompetent in their task and not contribute to progress.

I am still hoping for Filipinos to not be content for the Philippines to stay as a third world country and I don’t feel hopeless, too, to see progress in the Philippines. By being patriotic and to keep on pushing and criticizing public officials to their jobs competently until we get what we expect and want from them, then, we could enjoy a better Philippines!