Poverty and Filipino Children

One plus One is equal to Two.
Unicef reports that more than 26,000 children below five years old die in our world each day due to preventable causes, and that most of them live in developing regions comprised of 60 countries.
In our country, there are about 250,000 street children living below the poverty line who are forced to work so that they can feed their families and contribute to the income of their families. Then again, these children are not registered in the National Statistics Office and lack legal birth documents, which means that they are denied basic health, educational, and protection services. Consequently, they become victims of abuse, violence, and exploitation, especially in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. Girls below fifteen are forced to work as prostitutes in these large cities and often get gang raped in the streets. Time and again, we hear stories of G.I.'s and Solons brutally rape young Filipina prostitutes and get away with their crimes because of money and corruption. On the other hand, boys below fifteen join criminal gangs and often become runners for drug pushers. They soon get caught and get imprisoned for their crimes. The problem is that these children are not sent to juvenile detention centers. They are sent to city jails, where adults teach them how to become cold-hearted criminals through inimidation and violence.

To further worsen the problem, there are about 50,000 children-refugees affected by armed conflict in our country. The war in Mindanao and the war against Communist Insurgents have taken its toll on innocent Filipino children. After witnessing the horrors of war, these kids now prefer seeking revenge rather than reading books, and consequently, the circle of hatred and violence in Mindanao never ends. Everyone loses - especially our Muslim brothers and sisters who have all the right to live in Mindanao.
There's more: "More than half of the over 42,000 barangays in the country do not have provisions for a pre- school. Only 19% of children aged 4 to 6 years old are able to go to public and private pre-schools. More than 1/3 of the more than 42,000 barangays in the country could not offer the required six years of elementary education. -Sixty percent of the children drop out of school when they reach the second grade." - PDI, May 18, 1997 .

Don't these underpriviledged children also have the right to education, as stated in the Philippine Constitution? I'm not a lawer but shouldn't our lawmakers make laws that can be implemented?
Bla. Bla. Bla.
You know, it is easy to blame our government and our leaders for everything we see on television. We blame them for abandoning our children to poverty and war even though many government units, led by a small number enlightened government leaders, have cooperated with non-government organizations to implement concrete projects for these children. How about the DSWD's and Don Bosco's Tuloy sa Don Bosco Streetchildren Village in Alabang, Muntinlupa City? (Visit http://www.tuloy.org/ for more information regarding this project.) How about the partnership of Caritas Manila and our Government on distributing NFA rice to the urban poor of Metro Manila?(Visit www.caritasmanila.org.ph for information regarding this project.)
I can name many more noble and inspiring projects like these to prove to everyone that our government and some of our leaders are doing something about the problem.
How about us? Are we doing something about the problem?
Can't we do more proactive things than blaming others for things that we ourselves have failed to do. Whenever faced with a problem, shouldn't we find solutions to the problem rather than blaming others for the problem and doing nothing about it?

One plus one is not equal to "It's Gloria's fault!" - it is equal to two.

Before we blame our government and our leaders for the miserable plight of our children, we should do something about the miserable plight of our children.
So, let's give our government and our leaders some slack and solve the problem oursleves.
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