Civic Involvements of Fraternities in the Philippines
THE PROBLEM
Background of the Study
“A democratic government is as good as its citizens. The effectiveness of a good government depends to a large degree in the alertness of the people to their rights and willingness to bear the obligations imposed on them.” 1
The Philippines is a democratic country. Under a democratic system of government, an individual plays an important role in his community and his country as a whole. Each and every one of us is tasked with the responsibilities of participating in its administration, contributing to its development and to serve for the common good. There are times when our expectation of a good government performance may not always be satisfied for some of public officials may not respond favourably to every people’s needs. Yet, no matter what happens, for better or for worse, everyone, both the rich and the poor, the simple man and the elite, the masses and the high officials, all are married to this great duty of steering our country straight towards national prosperity and development. Now that our country is slowly leaving its crisis-torn past and gradually rising towards economic stability, it is greatly in need than ever before, the cooperation of every concerned citizen, in order to heal its persistent socio-economic and political problems. The progress of our country cannot be achieved by the sole industry and intelligent supervision of its administrator without the support and cooperation from the people.
“Citizenship is simply a legal status in a country, but democratic citizenship involves much more. It demands becoming informed about issues that affect you and participating with others in determining how society will resolve those issues.” 2 The role of citizen in our democracy does not end in our vote. [It] has never been about what can be done for us by our government. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self government3. As a democratic
Background of the Study
“A democratic government is as good as its citizens. The effectiveness of a good government depends to a large degree in the alertness of the people to their rights and willingness to bear the obligations imposed on them.” 1
The Philippines is a democratic country. Under a democratic system of government, an individual plays an important role in his community and his country as a whole. Each and every one of us is tasked with the responsibilities of participating in its administration, contributing to its development and to serve for the common good. There are times when our expectation of a good government performance may not always be satisfied for some of public officials may not respond favourably to every people’s needs. Yet, no matter what happens, for better or for worse, everyone, both the rich and the poor, the simple man and the elite, the masses and the high officials, all are married to this great duty of steering our country straight towards national prosperity and development. Now that our country is slowly leaving its crisis-torn past and gradually rising towards economic stability, it is greatly in need than ever before, the cooperation of every concerned citizen, in order to heal its persistent socio-economic and political problems. The progress of our country cannot be achieved by the sole industry and intelligent supervision of its administrator without the support and cooperation from the people.
“Citizenship is simply a legal status in a country, but democratic citizenship involves much more. It demands becoming informed about issues that affect you and participating with others in determining how society will resolve those issues.” 2 The role of citizen in our democracy does not end in our vote. [It] has never been about what can be done for us by our government. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self government3. As a democratic