POVERTY WHICH CONCERNS the stomach stalks the land where food crops could grow abundantly. On the other hand, graft and corruption in which billions of pesos of pesos go into the greedy pockets, is draining the government coffers. The country is bleeding.
What exactly is ailing the country?
It was a Saturday during the reign of the convicted plunderer JE that a P.E.N (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) International Conference was held at the Oasis Country Resort in San Fernando, LU. We were one of the panelists that included Charlson Ong, Star Columnist Isagani Cruz of La Salle University, Elmer Ordonez and Juan S. P. Hidalgo, Jr.
In attendance were F. Sionil Jose, the 1980 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and the Communication; Alejandro Roces, Nieves Epistola,our English professor of the University of the Philippines in Diliman Arts, and more than 300 Ilocano writers and English and literature teachers in Region 1.
PLJ introduced Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr. who delivered the keynote address while Jose delivered the perennial Jose Rizal Lecture and during the open forum, Jose gave acidic comments on the country's political, social-economic state.
The country is not only suffering from poverty where people get hungry, Jose said. It is suffering from spiritual poverty which is more worst than poverty of the stomach.
to be completed
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