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I have lived in the Philippines for almost my entire life and the culture known for Filipinos of being naturally hygienic is deeply instilled in me. It takes me to take a bath twice during summer time and have all the personal hygiene tools from powered toothbrush, facial scrubs, different types of soaps, deodorant to fragrances. Name it, I have it. I am not rich but I know how to live like one. I am not poor but I know better how life goes in a poor environment.

The problem with pollution in my country is not merely due to poverty. A lot of people who visit the Philippines are mistaken with the notion that poverty is the worst polluter because what they observe is just the situation that their naked eyes can see - poverty. True enough that poor people, especially those who live in the metro experience difficulty in the access to garbage disposal programs implemented by the government. These people therefore, being sandwiched in a situation of having a stinking garbage and the fact that they are deprived on these government programs on waste disposal, would be forced to utilize rivers, canals and vacant lots as their own trash cans.

Imagine the crowded houses and the very narrow ways into the shanties that cannot even be trespassed by small cars. Because of poor program implementation, they are being deprived of the opportunity for the so-called "waste management programs" of the government wherein garbage trucks routinely visit the barangays (could be compared to districts or towns). This sad truth ruins the image of Filipinos of being obsessively conscious with their personal hygiene because the environment they are living in contradicts their physical appearance.

Why blame the lowly Filipinos who comprise a big population in urban areas? The truth is we are blaming the problem of pollution to another problem which is poverty. Can't we see that there could be a higher culprit that leads to these two problems?

Corruption. The Philippines is known to be one of the most corrupt nations in the world. This evil deed had grown roots eversince the Spanish colonization and was inherited by politicians during the American and Japanese invasion and is taken over until today. Why not blame the government officials whose houses are enjoying the luxury of being on the top list when it comes to having access to these garbage disposal programs. Why not blame these officials who promise to empathize with the poor during elections but tend to be blinded by the

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