BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT.
I have never met this Seige Malvar but I dig his blog. The observations he writes on his livejournal about the pressing problems of our country are a fantastic insight into what people are thinking nowadays. It seems that a new generation of Filipinos have a more nuanced idea of what is wrong in our society and are letting word out about what really needs to be done to fix it. And who can blame him for thinking such thoughts? The status quo ain't working and the failures of it are difficult to hide. And apparently Siege realized this all while looking at a plastic bag in the supermarket... Bravo for speaking out Siege, Bravo for pointing out that Congressman Abante is an idiot, and Bravo for making sense in your own little way:
If I were to speak in front of the United Nations right now, tonight, this very instant, I'd tell the Union, that my country's biggest, most serious, and most immediate problem is the Church.
I can change my mind next week, though. I can go back to my original stance--which seems to be everyone's favorite-- that the government and its Armed Forces is the Philippines' greatest oppressor. But for tonight, I'm very much sure of this: everything is the church's fault. Which has been for the past 500 years, if you think about it.
Read the rest HERE...
Labels: bravo bravo
posted by carlosceldran @ 4:26 PM
9 Comments:
I can change my mind next week, though. I can go back to my original stance--which seems to be everyone's favorite-- that the government and its Armed Forces is the Philippines' greatest oppressor. But for tonight, I'm very much sure of this: everything is the church's fault. Which has been for the past 500 years, if you think about it.
I realized this awhile ago, while doing a bit of grocery shopping. I only bought a couple of carrot and tomato juice in cans, and I could have had bagged them myself, but a 'bagger boy' did it for me. For those of you living in the first world, a "bagger boy" is a unique job created by the social realities of the 3rd world. A bagger boy's main job is to put your items in a bag. They get paid for this menial job. A well-trained monkey can do this job, of course. Experiments in the 80's have shown primates are pretty efficient in putting objects in containers.
But if we bag our purchases ourselves, we will be driving these bagger boys out of their jobs. And they're the ones who need jobs badly in the first place. Same thing if we start cleaning our table when were done eating in fastfood places (which I do), only, it's the cleaning crew will be pushing to unemployment.
Thus, we have to stay lazy and let someone else bag our purchases for us. Because they need the money.
So we pay a little extra when we eat out, when we do our groceries, when we shop. Because we have to pay for someone to bag our shits.
Let's do a little exercise on comparative retail purchasing using everyone's favorite item for comparison, a can of Coke.
A can of Coke in the Philippines costs around 16 pesos.
You can get the same can of Coke in the UK for L0.40. That's in the ballpark of 36-40 pesos, depending on what day. In Korea, I used to get it for half a dollar. 25php, give or take.
So, if you look at it that way, it may seem living in the islands is actually quite cheap. We get the lowest deals on everything! From Coke to a meal in McDonald's, even with oil prices!
But wait. You have to realize the difference not only in retail costs but in minimum wages too.
South Korea has a daily minimum wage of $25.84. The UK has a $68 a day per 8 hour shifts. And the Philippines?
A Filipino must make do with earning $6.68 dollars a day.
So, that means, for a job--say, of screwing a lightbulb-- in UK that needs ONE MAN, you can afford two and a half men to do it in Korea, and TEN FILIPINOS TO EAGERLY DO IT FOR YOU. You have one holding the lightbulb in place, two turning the guy holding the bulb around, three fanning those other three at work, and you have the remaining four to play with.
No wonder we create jobs like 'bagger boy' and 'clean-up crew'.
Of course, the easiest person to point fingers at (or flip the finger to) is the government. Why is the government not singing policies prioritizing its citizens? Why is the government selling us short? Why is the government engaging in foreign investors short of selling us to slavery?
But then, you have to think of how many Filipinos there are living in the country at this moment.
And why is there that much Filipinos?
Because the church is against any policy that will grant people who can't even afford three meals a day free access to contraceptives. This is the hard truth we are not addressing. It's easy for the middle class to fault the poor for being as reproductive as bunnies. Easy for them, because they can afford condoms. Easy for them, because they can afford abortions. Easy for them, because they can afford to raise their kids.
But for the poor people, whose needs--carnal and otherwise-- are as pressing as everyone else, this is the reality.
The church is telling them not to go to communion if you're going to wear rubber.
How crazy is that?
What's crazier? That in Rep. Abante's priviledged speech a few days ago, his fire-and-brimstoning of gay people was met with--you guessed it-- thunderous applause from church groups.
His argument is really stupid. The legislation on protecting people from gender harassment is unfair to heterosexuals.
Apparently, Rep. Abante doesn't think being 'straight' is a gender.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, our Savior, who takes away the sins of the World.
But please, don't tell me who deserves salvation and who doesn't. I can't take that much (papal) bull.
amen.
The bagger boy thing is funny. I once shopped at SM Supermarket and then I started bagging my groceries. The cashier stopped me and told me that coustomers are not allowed to do the bagging, otherwise they will be reprimanded. Duh? I really thought it's ridiculous. I can do it anywhere else but Philippines!
while i completely agree with this post, you do realize Carlos that this was written in 2006 right? :)
but it really is quite relevant to what is happening in our country today.
good to see blogs like hers. thanks for the find.
Wha? No. Didn't realize it was two years ago. Wild. haha. I thought it was last week.
Totally timely thoughts she has.
Carlos, you are looking mighty cute in that pic....
i wouldn't say that the church is entirely to blame but it is definitely a large part of what hinders this country from progressing. funny that i should come across your blog after just having read pullman's dark materials series.
True, the church could actually be a great source of solace and charity in the Philippines. It's the church's INVOLVEMENT in POLITICS that is F****** this country up. I just wish they would stop meddling in politics and issuing statements regarding state matters. It makes me sick everytime I see a bishop at a political event. It' so 17th century. Thank god SWS polls have proven that there is no such thing as a Catholic vote so hopefully, the politicians won't be bullied into scrapping the bill again this time.
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