I attended today a meeting of dedicated volunteers who are working towards educating people about their voting responsibilities. They began with a well-crafted presentation regarding the age-old problems besetting the Philippines and they proposed to put an end to most of these problems through the education of the electorate.

Very noble goals pursued by well-meaning and sincere people. I truly hope they will succeed. The biggest obstacle will be the generalized cynicism that envelopes this nation. The cynicism and corresponding apathy is so deep it is palpable. The tropical humidity that is close to 100% does not compare to the prevailing degree of cynicism.

I wish that all it will take to resolve these ancient problems will be careful and thoughtful analysis but I know better. Everyone knows about the corruption and the pollution and the poverty and the diseases and the unacceptable disparity in wealth. But it will take more than an all out war against the progressive elements in the countryside and it will take far more than finding new onerous tax revenues for the government and it will take more than paying the criminal interest rates on the many loans that were secured in behalf of the Filipino people that ended up being used in the innumerable election campaigns and it will certainly need more than changing the constitution once again.

A personal revolution is required from each one of us. That being too ideal and impractical, a personal revolution is required from a few of us. This is what will take to change this nation.

I have been all over the country this past week and for some reason, I could not access blogstream from the southern part of the Philippines.

I am back in Manila and I am here to report that I have not seen much progress during my 20-odd-year absence. There are way too many people and much more hopelessness.

This is a battle that cannot be prosecuted from the air alone. Ground forces are required. No longer can I feel that I am doing my part by sending money and drug samples and used equipment home or by occasionally participating in a week-long "free charity clinic" because the problems are immense and the roadblocks are daunting.

My wife and I live very simple lives and for as long as we know that we are not depriving our daughters from our basic obligations towards them (food, shelter, education, security) we realized that in order to lead meaningful lives we need to serve and to give back in the most committed way that we can.

We are no longer youthful idealists. We have been dutifully paying our dues these last 20 years, preparing for this return and making certain that the needs of our children are met. We are fully aware that the problems that appall us into action have been the same old problems that Filipinos have been writing about and sacrificing and dying for since the late 18th Century. The problems have been restated again and again and the solutions are well known. What is needed is a generation of leaders willing to endure personal sacrifice. A generation that will awaken and unite 85 million Filipinos into committing themselves towards lasting goals that will particularly raise the little children from the despair and the disease and hopelessness they find themselves in today.