Numbers Game

I got this from my e-mail and would like to share excerpts and my thoughts on it. The Philippine Collegian had a section akin to this before. It made the fact that there is something seriously wrong in our country more glaring and concrete.

What is $130 Million?

6,500,000,000 PHP for ONE FAMILY
IS EQUAL TO:

Luxury cars they could parade in the streets with no speed limit, coding, or any respect for traffic policies
Vacation houses that would be empty for 11.75 months a year
Family vacations in Europe, the US, the Moon, etc.
Handbags that are more expensive than low cost houses
Watches that could send a dozen scholars to school from pre-school to high school

6,500,000,000 PHP
is EQUAL to:

108,000 families that would be given decent homes that they could live in for 15-20 years
77,380 employees that would be fairly supported for one year
135,416 Scholars who could go to decent colleges for four years
40,000 people who would get health insurance for a year
11,607 Scholars who could study in ATENEO or LA SALLE for 4 years with stipend and school supplies allowance
9,285 Public School libraries that would serve 18,570,000 public school students

WHAT IS 130 MILLION DOLLARS TO YOU?

It could probably feed the 50 OFWs in Kuwait who were forced to scrounge trash bins to eat expired food. It could also probably repatriate the 198 Filipinos stranded in Jeddah for running away from their employers due to various forms of abuses, maltreatment and contract violations.

It could also be used to prevent more Glenda Lorios, Jocelyn Dulnuans and Marilou Ranarios from happening again. Probably, it could have also assisted the thousands of OFWs in Hong Kong who sought the help of private NGOs instead of the government.

It could have saved thousands of women from sex trafficking. It could have also eased the minds of many OFWs who are desperate to have their sick family members hospitalized.

It could have probably done all of these but obviously, it was not used for such purposes.

The good thing that it is doing now is mobilizing tens of thousands of Filipinos against greed, corruption and disregard for the hardships of the majority. Probably, it can go to hundreds of thousands or even more, later.

Probably, US$130 million can be a small step to take us closer to this:

"We dream of a society where families were not broken up by urgent need for survival. We dream and will actively work for a homeland where there is opportunity for everyone to live a decent and humane life."

A simple dream. If only.