One in three Filipinos want to migrate to another country if they had the chance. This was confirmed by the recently released Pulse Asia survey published in INQ7. And this, I believe, is not a case of brain drain but a sign that at least 1 in 3 Filipinos are ready for a radical social change if a true visionary leader will just assume the task of leading this so-called nation despite the legion of vipers waiting in line known euphemistically as traditional politicians.

I am part of that 1/3 who want out. The only biggest stumbling block for me is that I can't bear to leave the country without my wife and kids. So, if I'll go, my family goes with me and that leaves me with no one to send dollars to, thus no way for the vipers to profit from my misery.

Being a hopeless optimist, however, I still see at least 3 things that could make this country back on its feet, assuming it was ever able to stand on its feet in its long colonial history.

in a nutshell they are...

First is CULTURE OF LEADERSHIP
Second is TRUE FEDERALISM
Third is CULTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Frankly, I don't see any sign of either of the three becoming a reality.

People need good leaders. Filipino taxpayers deserve better than the likes of Gloria and her minions.
If there are still true leaders around as Michael Tan noted in his column, they better come out of their fiefdom and take their chances but probably not in the rotten system we are in... which brings me to Federalism.

True federalism will make it harder for a pretender in Malacanang to make our lives miserable. It will also make a lot of room for good leaders to shine and outshine and even eclipse a lesser president. It will make heroes of good Governors thereby making a bad president look really bad because the replacement is obvious. This scenario of course will hardly materialize because our politicians are only paying lip-service to the ideals of federalism and instead are really pushing for a parliamentary system where they can prevent the likes of Erap and FPJ from ever gaining a seat.

As for entrepreneurship, this is all very obvious. The globalized economy is designed for entrepreneurs to thrive and win. Right here, people would rather work in Metro Manila or go abroad as employees than start a business. . .

Ouch! I'm already talking about myself... so excuse me, I'll go and research some business possibilities I can get myself into while I'm still hoping for my other 2 ideals to happen.

This country is hopeless. Of course! But this is not excuse enough to leave the country in the hands of the professional politicians.