Seriously, I think that whether one is in the Philippines or abroad we all have opportunities to help our country in our own small ways, whether by helping our countrymen abroad, by showing foreigners that no, Filipinos don’t have tails and don’t live in trees, or by being a voice of objective and critical reason about the chaos that is our country (as you so often do in your blog).

And I dunno, but I’m beginning to think that maybe that’s exactly what we all can do right now, as the weight of despair on our shoulders grows heavier: maybe what we ought to do is to try to spread a little hope, try to show one another that there are ways that every single one of us (wherever we are) can help.

Heck, our ancestors survived 350 years of colonization, our grandparents fought in a world war, and our parents made it through a 20-year-long dictatorship. Now that we’re the caretakers of the Philippines, maybe we ought to pass around a few shovels and do our share as well. :) (Wherever we are.)