The Need to Instill Fear of the Consequences of Breaking Rules is NECESSARY For A Better Philippines!

The problem of the Philippines is that a lot of its people do not know how to follow simple guidelines. As a citizen of the Philippines it does get annoying with how I face people who refuse to follow simple guidelines and worse, they enjoy breaking the rules on purpose one way or another. While I have done some offenses myself but I got a blue slip for a wrong turn not done on purpose or two, I got charged for jaywalking because I was walking on the streets while having a sudden LBM attack. We all make mistakes but the problem is when the mistakes are done on purpose.

The problem of Failipinos breaking guidelines (hence making decent Filipinos/Pinoys have a bad day at work) may spring out from not only a lack of penalties and fines like Singapore does it but also because people lack awareness of the consequences of their actions. Now before you cry out, "Foul! Dictator! Nazi! Communist! Go back to China you Chinese dictator!" or "That's Filipino, not Failipino!" please read everything in context or you are a point misser. Again, as much as I believe China did the right thing in executing the drug mulesbut having a Communist, fear-driven government is not right either even if the Communist state to a certain extent, has become more moral than the Philippines in some ways.

What does having a knowledge of the consequences of the fear of breaking rules do? While I do believe strict implementation of fines like "PHP 1,000.00 for littering" will help, people must understand why the rules exist. When a rule is made, there has to be a good reason for why the rules are made. At the same time, the fear should not only be with the figures of authority but also with the consequences of one's actions. Just because a figure of authority is not there doesn't mean that the consequences do not always follow. Taking a wrong turn during a heavy traffic may either kill somebody or the driver. Littering may invite pests, clog sewers or be the cause of a severe misfortune like an accident or a flood. Ignoring tasks such as cleaning up the place leads to real problems in the future. Taking a wrong turn during a massive traffic or overspeeding can lead to fatal accidents that could have been avoided if you were careful.

One can take a look at why countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan are progressive democracies. While Singapore is a "fine city" due to all its fines for offenses but it is not ruled by brute force like North Korea. It's still a democracy at best where people share their ideas and people cooperate to keep the city safe, in spite of what issues it may suffer. Japan's democratic system has a cooperative culture of accountability and order. When a democracy has discipline, it really results to progress. People there are aware of the consequences of their actions that even if law enforcement may not get to them, one cannot prevent the outcome of an action because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It's all thanks to how their culture and education teach people that whoever cannot be entrusted with little cannot be entrusted with more.