In just a couple of days, Rodrigo R. Duterte will take his oath of office as the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines. During the last presidential elections, “Change is Coming” has been his campaign tagline. It caught up easily with the Filipino people because of their hunger for change. He has become an icon whom people look up to, to bring on the change that this country badly needs and the change that the people desperately wants.
Yet long after the elections, we see motorists weave recklessly on the road and with Duterte stickers brazenly displayed on their windshields. We see people smoking in public places with Duterte ballers on their wrists.
Digong Duterte is not a wizard whom we can expect to bring the change we want with a single swing of his magic wand. He might well provide the leadership to bring about change, but for change to be genuinely realized, it must start with us.
People may tend to see change as a threat to their comfort zone. It is not a surprise if people will resist change. Indeed, change could be hard in the beginning because it takes courage to let go of the familiar and embrace the new. Rick Godwin said: “One reason people resist change is because they focus on what they have to give up, instead of what they have to gain”.
To start change, there must be an acknowledgement for a need to change. All of us are works in progress. Nobody is perfect and each one always has a room for improvement. It helps when we humbly admit that there are areas in our personality and even in our work attitude that we need to change. And with this must come the acceptance that we cannot to do it alone – we need others to help us and with God’s grace to have the humility to change. This is what Eileen O. Gamo shared to the employees of the city government during her speech at the Culminating Program of the 136th Aldaw ta Malaybalay last June 18, 2016.
We can give our own individual contributions towards the realization of this dream. Honesty and truthfulness in what we think, say and do will reinforce better relationships. When we become good stewards of our time and resources we can expect more to come our way. For “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest in very little will also be dishonest in much.” (Luke 16:10 NIV). Moreover, we can leave to our children a Godly legacy upon which they can draw strength from and grow into faithful human beings rooted on the teachings of Christ. Collectively, we can then see a more endowed country ahead of us.
We cannot expect to see big changes to happen unless we start with small but significant changes with us. Let us not think of ourselves as unimportant or too small to make an impressive change. However huge or gargantuan the change is, it starts with little and simple things.
“Don’t be afraid of change. You may lose something good but you may gain something better”.
Lorna Bethel Rae M. Lapeciros
Administrative Assistant III