An Oration

ENGLISH 3

ORATION

WAKE UP AND LIVE

MARIO D. ORTIZ

The welfare of the people is the supreme law. So goes a time – honored maxim in legal jurisprudence.

This gem of thought is uppermost in my mind as I stand before you today – a typical Filipino teenager of this so –called nuclear age. Given a choice, I would rather talk of parties and movies and the girl next door. Or thrill you with an exhibition of the latest dance steps, or discuss the latest news on sports.

But there are times when an immature teenager like me, like me, should take stock of this environment and voice his own sentiments on current events for the welfare of the people. This is one of those rare times.

Ladies and gentlemen: You are all looking very elegant today, I could see that you are among the well to – do, the fortunate, even the rich. But did you ever try to visit the slum areas and their run – down conditions? Those places stink. And the persons living there, wallowing in poverty and ignorance, have only their souls to identify them as human beings. They are Filipinos too- habitués of this glorious Pearl of the Orient Seas. Yet – what are you doing for them – you who enjoy the blessings of democracy and the advantages of higher learning?

I accuse you of abandoning the poor and miserable. I accuse you of neglecting your less fortunate countrymen. I accuse you of sleeping on your obligations as a citizen. I accuse you of want of civic spirit. Without which a community will not grow and is people and a measure of happiness.

In accusing you, I am accusing myself too, because I am part of you.

We rely too much on the government. We expect too much of our public officials. But you know and I know that the government cannot possibly do everything for us. Nor can you expect our public officials to attend to every little detail that might make for better homes.

Ours is a democracy, where, happily for us, the government does not lay the blueprint for our lives. And because...