This email has been circulated, talked about, published, re-published like his 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do. Atty. Alex Lacson long ago contemplated migrating since most of those close to him did. After much soul-searching, he decided to stay.

Whatever position we have about migration, whatever opinion we have about the country, whoever we are - we could all heed this lawyer’s advice.

A Filipino will always be a Filipino in heart, whether you call him Fil-Am, naturalized, Ilocano, Ilonggo, OFW, Bagong Bayani, ordinaryong manggagawa…

It’s in the heart.

Pass this along to Filipinos who are away from the Pearl of the Orient Seas.

1. Spend your vacation, your dollars and other foreign currencies, in our Philippines.
   It is understandable for our OFW’s, balikbayans and Pinoy expats to vacation in other countries. The world is truly beautiful and majestic. But please spend some of your vacation time and some of your dollars in our Philippines. Every dollar that you bring into our country will help build our Philippines. It will help our tourism industry. It will mean more sales and more jobs for our local industries. It will mean an increase in our country’s international dollar reserves. It will help stabilize the peso. And ultimately, it will help stabilize our economy.
2. Encourage and teach your relatives back home to be good citizens & good Filipinos.
   Whether or not you are sending money to your relatives in the Philippines, you are one of their heroes. They look up to you as a role model. They listen to every word you say. Please teach them to become good Filipinos, to become good citizens. They can start with my book, 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country. Please ask them to help me spread the message of the book. In particular, please ask them to “Buy local. Buy Pilipino.” A recent article in TIME Magazine said that the most crucial factor for economic progress is not foreign investments, but economic nationalism – i.e., when people learn to support their own country’s products.
3. All OFW’s, Balikbayans and Pinoy Expats should do more during elections in RP.
   In the next and all future elections, OFW’s, Balikbayans and Pinoy expats should do more by helping your relatives back home in choosing the right leaders – the national ones especially – for our country. Your relatives at home will listen to you. This means that as OFWs and expats, you need to surf the Internet and read the news so you’ll know which candidates should be elected to offices. There are organizations and websites which can help you decide.

   If it is true that there are at least 8 million OFW’s all over the world now, and if it is also true that every Filipino has at least 4 relatives, then the 8 million OFW’s have at least 32 million relatives back home in the Philippines. This means that the OFW’s and their families alone can determine the political leadership in the Philippines, our government, and eventually our nation as a whole.

4. Buy Pilipino, wherever you are in the world.
   If you look at the Japanese and the (South) Koreans, wherever they are in the world, they buy and patrionize their own products. They are like that too in the Philippines. That’s why there are so many Korean stores sprouting all over the country now. The Chinese, Thais and Malaysians are almost like them too, but in a less passionate manner.

   We Filipinos have a preference for imported products – the so-called “colonial mentality” - believing that Spanish and American products, ideas and ways were better and superior and that ours were inferior. But that’s history. Our Philippines is different now. There are many good Filipino companies with equally good Filipino products or brands. Look at Bayo, Kamiseta, Bench, Penshoppe, Jollibee, among others. In fact, some of the best branded products you see in New York, London and Italy are made in our Philippines.

   Please be an ambassador of the Filipino, by wearing Pilipino. Show to your foreign spouses and officemates and to the world, the elegance of our culture and beauty of our people. All these things begin with each one of us.

5. Adopt a poor child as a scholar back home.
   According to government sources, around 40% of our people are poor. But according to our bishops from CBCP, the figure is much higher than that, possibly at 53%. Since we have a population of almost 86 million now, imagine how many of that is 53%. Most of the poor are children, a great many of whom are out there in the streets, because their parents cannot afford to send them to school.

   My proposal is this – let’s adopt scholars among our poor street children.

   World Vision is an international foundation which offers scholarship for poor children. It has been operating in the Philippines for years. It looks for 2 groups of persons – the first are those poor children who really want to study hard, and the second are those who have extra funds and are willing to sponsor 1 scholar for only P450 per month. Yes, for only P450 a month, you can sponsor 1 scholar under World Vision. World Vision can give you the name, age, address and personal profile of your scholar so you can even mentor, visit, talk, or write to your scholar.

   If there are 5 million Filipinos and OFW’s today who are all wiling to sponsor 1 child each under World Vision, that would mean 5 million poor children can be adopted as scholars. These scholars will have a better future and will someday become our partners in building our nation.

   This could be one of the fastest paths to progress and social transformation in our country. And this is a very Christian way. Even Jesus Christ, who was born very poor in a manger, had to be adopted by Joseph.

6. Support a charitable organization.
   There are many good charitable organizations that truly help build our Philippines to become a better place for all of us. Gawad Kalinga, Pondo ng Pinoy, Caritas Manila and World Vision, among others. These groups are beyond the dirt and mirth of politics.

   Like most of us, you too are busy. Often, you will have not the time to help others. Charitable organizations are there to allow us to help others while we are busy. Every little help that you send will help one poor Filipino, often one poor child, in our country.

7. Teach your children about the Philippines, and to love it and its people.
   Teach your children and your foreign spouses, wherever you are in the world, about our Philippines – the home of the Filipino people, and the birthplace of our race.

   Let your children and your foreign spouses hear it from you – that you appreciate and love our Philippines. Because if they hear and see it from you, their beloved, they too will appreciate and love our Philippines. Or they will find a way, sooner or later, to appreciate and love it, because of you. I see that all the time, everywhere, in practically all the fathers and mothers in this world. Their sons and daughters often carry and continue their parents’ loves, causes and advocacies.

   If you make your children see and hear that you love our Philippines, believe me, someday your children will grow up with love and admiration for the Philippines in their hearts and minds.

8. Speak positively about our Philippines and our people.
   Sure, there are things that will disappoint and dishearten you in the Philippines, especially if you look at our government and the politicians who run it and those businessmen whose companies earn so much but who pay very little to their employees.

   But there are also many good things in our Philippines. We are a race capable of greatness and excellence, and you see this in the likes of Lea Salonga, Dr Josette Biyo, Diosdado Banatao, Efren Reyes, Ninoy Aquino, Jose Rizal, among many others. We are essentially a breed of honest people, and you see this in the likes of Nestor Sulpico, the Filipino driver in New York who, on 17 July 2004, drove 43 miles from New York to Connecticut, USA to return the US$80,000 worth of rare black pearls to his passenger who forgot it at the rear back seat of his taxi. We are a people of truly good hospitality even to strangers. We are a very caring and forgiving people. There is so much humanity and Christianity in us as a people. I really believe that, someday, we can be one of the most beautiful peoples on earth.

   Let us focus on our beauty and strengths, and build from there. You and all the Pinoy expats and OFW’s should be, and could be, the best ambassadors for our home country and people. Rafael Salas, the founder of the United Nations’ Population Fund, said that every Filipino is an ambassador of our country.

9. If you are remitting funds to your relatives in the Philippines, teach them to save 15% or 20% of the funds.
   If you are remitting funds to your relatives in the Philippines, please teach them to save at least 15% or 20% of the funds. Please teach your relatives the importance of savings. These savings seem small at the start, but even only after 2 years of savings, they will see the growth of their savings and how fast these are growing.

   Also teach them to take their savings away from reach and put them in high-yielding investments like mutual funds or treasury bonds. There are many good financial advisers in this area. Teach your relatives to consult one on a regular basis. The book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is good start. The book Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo by Filipino author Francisco Colayco is also very good.

   These savings, if handled and invested wisely, could mean the financial independence of your relatives from you in the future, or even from themselves.

   Teach your relatives to live simply and not to spend so much on unnecessary consumer items. There is so much beauty in simplicity. There is so much elegance in modesty.

10. Invest in the Philippines.
    Finally, if you have extra funds and are looking for ways to invest them, please invest in our Philippines. There are good investment advisers who can help. The Philippines is a growing market – an emerging market, in the language of international banks and financial institutions. If you have investment ideas that can cater to the basic needs and desires of these 86 million Filipinos, you will make it big in our Philippines.

    But more than that, every cent or dime that you invest in the Philippines will help our people and our country. And when you do it, you become our partner in building our nation. You become a good Filipino. You become a hero of our country.

We can learn a thing or two from our children. The book The Power of Focus list these five ways of to ensure asking will get results. Looking at my children, I think we all know how to ask but lose it as we get older.

Ask clearly.
“Daddy, can we watch TV until Rolie Olie Polie (a cartoon program in the Disney Playhouse channel)?”
They know what they want.

Ask with confidence.
As they ask me, they are already positioning themselves cozily on the sofa, ready to watch.

Ask consistently.
I say no the first time, almost always, they will ask a second time. And a third time.

Ask creatively.
They ask with smiles on their faces, coupled with hugs. At other times, they do not ask it outright but declare in an unmistakable tone “Gusto ko Disney Channel.” Or while I change channels, they say “nope” until I come to their favorite channel, to which they enthusiastically say “Yes” accompanied by clapping.

Ask sincerely.
For children this comes out naturally. No guile. No pretenses. They mean what they say. “Daddy, I reeeeallly like Little Einstein. Can we finish it before taking a bath?”

Note: Though my example is about watching TV, I am an advocate of less TV, whether for kids or adults. As a rule, my kids can only watch TV when there is no school the following day, which means weekends, only after taking a bath or a nap. And they can only watch programs that my wife and I approve of.

Here are seven big ways to ensure that your business becomes more profitable. Do these, and your revenues will soar.

This is the introduction to the chapter “Ask For What You Want” from the book The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield. Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt.

In many ways, these steps can be applied not only in business but in many aspects of life.

1.                  Ask for information

One time, our company had a project and asked some solution providers for demos. A leading software vendor came in and started to demonstrate a system that was so far from our specifications that one manager had to cut it halfway through in order to save all of us the misery. They simply did not ask what was required.

One other vendor took time to ask. They sent some people who met with the project team and inquired about details. We were only too happy to provide it for it will save us more time in the long run. In short, they bagged the contract.

2.                  Ask for business

At a talk he gave to educators, Butch Jimenez extolled the virtues of having an internet connection for schools, teachers and students. Information at your fingertips. Instant communication. Even a business.

At the last part of his talk, he asked: “Would you like to subscribe to our internet service, with a tailor-made plan for you? There are booths outside with personnel waiting to take your subscription.

End result? Teachers scrambling to subscribe. It was pure mayhem. Business was good that day.

3.                  Ask for written endorsements

“Most people in business don’t do this,” as the book explains. Amazon and Ebay use this to the hilt. Five-star reviews of books often translate to more sales. Ebay sellers with good customer feedback are trusted than those who have little or no feedback at all.

Personally, I bought the book The Success Principles by Jack Canfield on account of testimonials on Barnes and Noble. I saw some names I trusted and bought the book. Testimonials are more powerful than paid endorsement of a celebrity. You tend to trust somebody who has nothing to gain but extols the virtue of a product or a service from personal experience rather than an actor who you think is doing it only for the money.

4.                  Ask for top-quality referrals.

You experience a rejection from a customer, Mr. Reyes after presenting your pitch. You might feel a bit hurt, thinking that your time was wasted. Take opportunities like this to ask for referrals (you should also ask if it resulted in a sale). Why? After listening to you, they are in a position to point you to qualified leads. They might say “Oh yeah, I think my friend Mr. Smith will be interested in your product.” He will go on to say why.

Another reason to ask is so you can sell again to the referrer. If you are able to sell to Mr. Smith, you now have more leverage to sell back to Mr. Reyes since you can have a testimonial from someone he knows.

5.                  Ask for more business

Commonly known as the upsell, fast food chains have mastered this with “Would you like to add fries to your burger and upgrade your drink to a bigger size?” This is one of the best income generating ideas ever to hit the franchises.

Even if you don’t have additional products or services (though you should), you can still ask when their next order would be.

6.                  Ask to renegotiate

When buying, you can ask for a discount. Especially if you have been a loyal customer buying in bulk, stores will usually give you a discount. At other times, instead of a discount, you might be given a freebie or a special offer on some other items.

At a seminar I attended, I was able to get a an early bird discount despite having paid past the deadline. It was only because we renegotiated and asked.

7.                  Ask for feedback

In order to get a real feel of how your business is doing, ask for feedback. Ask what they like most about your product and if there is some other feature that would make it better. Some of the things you might hear might be unpleasant but that’s completely acceptable. It is better for you to hear them straight from your customer rather than not hear them because they placed their business with your competitor.