Achieving Happiness

The best thing about the worsening political crisis in the Philippines is that everyone is expressing their opinions loudly and without restraint. Hala, sige mag-debate tayong lahat hanggang mamaos o mapudpod ang mga daliri kaka-type sa keyboard.

Pro-Gloria, anti-Gloria, anti-Gloria pero anti-Left,  pro-Gloria at anti-Left, pro-Left, Leftists, mga nalilito, mga nagagalit, mga gusto nang sumuko, mga walang pakialam at gusto na lang mag-shopping, mga gigil na at gustong pumatay, mga taong may mga opinyon na dapat patayin, etc etc, etc.

Minsan talagang bastusan na ang tunggalian ng ideya. This is both upsetting and amusing at the same time, nevermind if you’re the one na nababastos o nambabastos. Always remember, stick and stones will break your bones, but words will only sting for like 15 minutes and at nighttimes when you’re alone in bed and pondering what the hell is wrong with other people.

I remember getting into arguments with relatives, specifically, my mom’s sisters. My aunts are a pretty opinionated bunch, and they’re not at all political. They raise orchids and cacti. They watch The Buzz and S Files. They exchange recipes for leche flan and binagoongan at dinendeng. They watch the news, sure; but mostly they just shrug over the reports and say the Philippines is  going straight to hell in a handbasket.

One day though, one of their nieces, meaning me, said that the country would not be making the trip  if only Filipinos would only care to do something about it.  I said that all the complaining and the whining will get no one anywhere.

Ayan na. Sermon kaliwa’t-kanan na. May mga opinyon pala tungkol sa lipunan ang mga tiya ko!

So there they sat, chattering like tiririt on a electricity line, saying all the things they though wrong about the Philippines. The high electricity rates, the taxes that end up in the pockets of politicians, the poor health services, the lack of credibility of local government officials,  the corruption and on and on.

I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. They didn’t seem to require answers or explanations as to why the Philippines had all these problems. They only had this to say: "Gobyerno kasi."

Gobyerno kasi.

The government has never been an inspiration to the people. It has done very little to prove that it is worthy of the people’s support and the hard currency of their respect.  This goes for the incumbent administration and its immediate predecessors.

Where has all the money gone?! Billions of taxes collected, and yet millions of Filipinos live in shanties that even rats would shun raising their babies in. Children die of tuberculosis, we have no genuine steel, rubber and chemical industries to speak of, a kilo of beef costs P150 and workers in the NCR earn P280 a day for eight days of backbreaking work. Some 2,000 Filipinos leave the country daily to become maids, caregivers, bus and truck drivers even in war-torn countries like Iraq.

And the government is the main institution to blame for all this.

Kaya nga hinirang na gobyerno dahil inatas dun ang kapangyarihan na gamitin ang mga buwis at mga batas para sa kabutihan ng mamamayan. Ang problema, kinukurakot ang pera, at ginagamit ang batas na parang batuta pamalo sa mga naglalakas loob magsalita laban sa pagnanakaw at pagpapabaya ng gobyerno.

Everyone knows the problems this country suffers. What divides us is how we view the problems, from whose vantage point and what we think the solutions are.

What to do, what to do, and how to go about doing it.

It would be so cool if we could ask everyone, and I mean EVERYONE what they really want and need.

Pag tinanong ang mga magsasaka, anong sasabihin nila?

Pag tinanong ang mga manggagawa, anong sasabihin nila?
Pag tinanong ang kabataang estudyante, ang mga maralitang lungsod, ang mga kawani ng pamahalaan, ang mga guro, ang mga indigenous people, ang mga mangingisda, ano kaya ang mga hihingin nila at sasabihing kailangan nila para mabuhay nang marangal at umulad?

Tapos, tanungin din natin ang mga negosyante. Sige, pati na rin yung mga malalaking kapitalista na may mga kasosyong dayuhan.Isama na rin ang mga landlords at real-estate developers.

Even the military would cast their opinion. All soldiers, including the CAFGU. Then, all the members of the NPA and the MILF.

Ano kaya ang mga sasabihin nila at sasabihing kailangan nila?

At dahil naniniwala naman daw ang lahat ng konsepto ng demokrasya, we will tabulate ALL the opinions, all the answers. Ang mga pinakamaraming sagot, yun ang gagawing batayan ng pagbabago ng lipunan. Yun ang gagamiting panukat sa mga plano para sa ekonomya at sa pulitika.

Wouldn’t that be waaaaay cool?

—–

My boss, David- that’s his name, David, keeps hanging around us while we’re working. He picks up the knick-knacks in our work stations, making comments here and there about a book, a newspaper, a framed photograph.

"Work, work, work!" He says, and all of us turn to him and scowl.

"We’re already working. Please go away because you’re distracting us," I say.

He just laughs, and continues his tour. He tests the different chairs, complains about the hardness of some, the lack of cushiness. He mock-punches Chi,our reporter whose station is next to  mine. Chi yowls. "You just broke my shoulder!"
The boss just shrugs. Nooneenooneeno, as the Red Typewriter in Sesame Street sez.

Someone else makes a comment that we’re not getting paid enough. This is what finally makes David go back to his office in the other building, way up on the 22nd floor.

—-

Why the sunflowers?
They’re my favorite flowers.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 13th, 2006 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.