Article about Ms. Kara David

Last Thursday, I was reading Philippine Star under Entertainment section when I read a column of Mr. Butch Francisco entitled “Addressing the Issue of Poverty” by which he interviewed Ms. Kara David, host of the TV program “Case Unclosed”

Mr. Francisco tell her the plight of the poor and here is her reaction which I quote her answer

“Why are the poor, poor? We should never blame the poor for the situation they are in. Nobody wants to be poor. Some people say hindi daw yun kahirapan but katamaran. I don’t believe that. I’ve seen various faces of poverty especially in the provinces. The parents are hardworking. The children are devoted to their studies, nevermind, if they have to walk five hours or climb five mountains to get to school. I’ve seen children who live in place without electricity and they study only with the aid of gas lamps. I’ve seen parents who spend the whole day at sea diving for sea urchins, braving strong currents, risking their lives so that they have money for the allowances of their kids. And what do they get at the end of the day? P50! That can’t buy you rice and viand. How can you blame them for their poverty?

Of course, may mga tao din na abusado, mga taong sanay mamalimos ng awa, mga taong on-cue kung umiyak, sinungaling at manloloko, mga magnanakaw.

And she quotes Jose Rizal as for the lack of sense of nationhood

“He said that a man in the Philippines is only an individual, He is not a member of the nation. Whether in government, at work or in our homes, ang konsepto ng bayan hanggang pamilya lang hanggang pansarili lang. Rizal’s challenge to us is to expand our notion of country. Rizal calls it sentimiento nacional. I call it malasakit”

Ms. David has set up her own Project Malasakit, it is a scholarship project for the poor but deserving children.

Then Mr. Francisco ask her a question “If she were the president of this country, how would she address the issue of poverty?” and she answered “I will never enter politics. I think I can serve my country better as a journalist. A journalist na may malasakit. You don’t have to be a president to serve this country. You only have to be a Filipino who cares for others.”

That was an article I read in the Philippine Star very inspiring.

I would like to use a word that Ms. David describe herself as a journalist “A journalist na may malasakit” bato bato sa langit ang tamaan, magbago, I know a person who is in the same field as Ms. David but he/she has a hidden agenda to become popular and later on run in the public office, so young and yet……