“Lately, this friend of mine has been highlighting his boss’ success in getting several measures relevant to our election system legislated. Here is where my friend makes the big jump. Because of his association to this lawmaker, he now believes that he can rightfully say that he was a part of the “change” his boss worked so hard for. I can understand where he is coming from but is that really the case? I’m not sure. What I’m sure of is that he was rendering paid services to this lawmaker. Following his logic, would it then be safe to say that the lawmaker’s driver was also a part of change?
So, are you belittling me and the lawmaker’s driver or whatever part we played in getting the automated elections budget passed?”

If there is one thing I have learned from the lawmaker is that even a lowly street sweeper can claim to be part of change just by doing his job and he would be right.

Yeah, I got paid for writing press releases. But let me tell you a number of things I didn’t get paid for:

I didn’t get paid for leaving my family for days on end so that I could go on planning sessions in Subic so that whatever plans and actions intended to change the country could be worked out.

I didn’t get paid for getting sick after tiring myself out from writing an endless number of press releases, letters, statements, AVPs, and what have you.

I didn’t get paid for not getting paid on time, especially during times when I really needed the money to pay for stuff like electric bills, my son’s vaccinations, my father in law’s medicines, and other things that my allowance normally allows me to spend on.

I didn’t get paid for a lot of other things and you know what, it’s all right. These are sacrifices that I know I have to make in order to bring change to this country and may be that may seem funny to you, so go ahead laugh your head off.

I didn’t get paid for believing that somehow it will be possible to make real changes in this country of ours.

And you know what? Whatever I am doing beats your blogging about change because you, of all the people I know, will not put his words into action. (Unless, of course, that means asking me to engage in a fist fight — which you know I will not do.)

If you prove me wrong, it will be to your credit and your improvement.

If you prove me right, you better stop blogging all together because you lack credibility in all that you will say from this point onwards.