My "Inventing a Hero" Day

I just read Glenn May’s “Inventing a Hero” and I enjoyed it so much, I’ve browsed over it before, I remember wanting to purchase it but not having enough money, I was still in college then, working at some food chain while studying. I passed on many books that I wanted to buy then, even now, great thing that those past titles can be found in libraries, they have been safely deposited for the future generation. Libraries are one of the greatest services that a government can offer its people, for me they’re like the modern day betamax tape renting shop.

No, I won’t attempt any critical book reviews here, I’ll leave it to those who make a living out of dispensing their criticisms, anyway the books has been around for almost a decade - the high and mighty doctors of history have already dissected the book - we already have our work cut out for us , whatever I say here would be just some personal thoughts I wanted to write down, nothing more.

Aside from the memories it brought me, I have sought to read the book in its entirety for years and since I've been a regular customer here in Singapore National Library, why not take the whole day reading it. You don’t need no special ID’s here, you’re free to browse, pick a spot and read the book of your choice. However, that’s all a foreign visitor could do. You could also borrow rare books but you would have pay for it and wait for days but you can’t take it out of course, only residents can do that.

Back to the book, it was a well researched project, no doubt about it. The author, I gather was criticized by the academes back home for his work, but you can’t put a good work down – unfortunately, the three main characters [EDSA, his son & Ago] is no longer with us, but I’m curious to find out what would have been their reaction to all of these, the brilliant Lleto has been included in the book also, with his "Pasyon and Revolution", where he linked the movement to the millinarian Filipino tradition,  what he did, according to May, added to the myth of Bonifacio. In my opinion, May did the work of a true historian, he was not out to discredit anyone, his evidence can not be denied. i can't find any fault in his argument, we should learn from his work.

The patriotism of Bonifacio is not in question, it never was but the motives behind the “reinventing” is. Behind this intentional move to present a sanitized Bonifacio is a nationalist agenda. The intention was good, after all nationalism are known for its three main objective; freedom, unity and building a nation – and during the Revolution and American years, there was  need to raise the consciousness of the Filipino, to arouse their patriotism, so that they'll have a desire to fight for their freedom, but it kept us away from the truths that we ought to know about that critical phase of our nationhood]. The nationalist had taken upon themselves to contribute in this effort, through Bonifacio [and other historical inventions], since he’s the  “masa” type, which is what many Filipinos are during those days,he was perfect for the role. It was in May’s words, “trying to move nationalism from the elites back to the common people”. This is what they did, This is where all the alterations began – the political agenda of the men behind it knows exactly what they were doing, the recreation of Bonifacio is not an isolated case, we had the “Maragtas” of Monteclaro, the Kalantiaw and The Burgos novel, to name a few – and we have not seen the end of this, as long as historians put a political dimension on historical events, well continue to uncover more, its just a matter of time.

“What sense can we make of such willful, wholesale distortions of the historical record in the service of nationalism?”, May asking his reader but conceding that even he does not know the answer, but the obvious is that by having heroes, you have inspiring models that people can emulate, it’s the perfect tool! You’ll have inspired admirers like the militant youths that we see today, believing that Bonifacio was indeed the great plebeian, the literary master and the super patriot.

New documents has resurfaced, and I was told by a friend that Bonifacio was not born in Tondo but in Binondo, near the border – I have not seen anything yet but I would be least surprise if it turns out to be true, they had filled Bonifacio’s life with myths that I could no longer trust the information we have on him, since modern day historians primary source has been the doctored documents presented as original. Agoncillo’s book, considered by many as most authoritative is even questioned by his own student, Ocampo. Even his close associate, who co authored “History of the Filipino People” had some questions about his method, one thing’s for sure, he’s part of this whole nationalist movement that created a generation of historically mis educated Filipinos in the name of whatever political and social change he had in mind.

The only men that questions our standard history lessons [the Agoncillo inspired Philippine history] are those who were outside his influential sphere, for many Agoncillo historians, however, his works presents the true story behind the major historical events of the Filipino but historians like, Joaquin, Gomez-Rivera, Schumacher and mostly foreign scholars are the voices that has been outstanding in correcting his historical inaccuracies. Decades of nationalist schooldominated the historcial establishment, however, had already damaged our historical text, the orthodoxy is widespread and accepted nationwide.

The “plebeian” moniker is undeserved, but this reputation worked for Bonifacio so I doubt it if he'll contest this name. The only reason I see why people try to keep the recreated version of Bonifacio is that it makes them feel good that someone like them made a difference, that a poor and uneducated made the revolution and that it belong to the "masa" not to the rich hero's, it could be inspiring that the person who started the revolution is a common Filipino [I like the idea myself its so dramatic], not the ilustrado and certainly not someone belonging to the propertied gentry, it’s like our peoples illusion that Erap Estrada is maka-masa because he had humble beginning when in fact this man has never tasted poverty all his life, he belongs to a rich Pagsanjan family.

Bonifacio is not the bolo guy in the red pants that monuments, paintings and books tells us, in fact he prefers the pistol - his only picture in our possesion is  taken during his first wedding - and he was wearing an americana with a matching tie. He lost both of his parents at an early age, it could have been hard for him and his siblings, but a glimpse at his activity during his adult life would show us his status in the society he's part of, and its revealing. If there is anything poor about him is that he never had a good education later in life [unlike the highly educated hero's] but what he lacked in formal training he compensated in reading books, as Valenzuela wrote in his memoir, Andres was so into reading that he sometimes skips his sleeping hours. The biographers of Bonifacio tell us that he had in his collection, titles like: The Wandering Jews, Rizals Novel's and literature about the French revolution. We could never know how they were able to tell what’s on Bonifacio’s shelves, but if it was true that he had these titles, he read them in Spanish [Rizal's novel was all in Spanish], this clearly debunks that stupid Rizal movie [with montano playing Pepe] where he was portrayed having difficulty reading, he's certainly not a stupid man, Katipunan is a testament of his genius in organization. He had a elementary education, it was in a private school, the medium of instruction is Spanish, and this should settle whether he spoke Spanish or not [add to this are his maternal relatives which are Spaniards].

How could someone be in the bottom of the society then, when he had been inducted as a Mason, he had been a member of La Liga which brought him rubbing elbows with the ilustrado society, he had been elected supremo when in that group there were professionals, rich, educated and experienced leaders than him and finally, how could he court a daughter of a government official if he was a nobody? – I could go on and on but the simple point that I’m trying to make is that, we had in our historical books – broadsheet editorial like sections, creations of the imagination,  what have we done to this man?

I end this little commentary with Glen May’s words:”Old myths die hard…if it serves vital ideological and political functions.”

Some Letter from Singapore

Most Filipinos comes to Singapore, either as a tourist or a job hunter, it could also be both, and I'm just the tourist minus the budget. When I first landed here about a month ago, I was surprised how everything is so organized. I guess it's as good as advertised.  From the airport, I saw magnificent tall trees, there were so many of them that they resembles a rain forest. This was a surprise because I was under the impression that being a small nation, meant cramped living villages and horrific traffic jams! I was wrong, they don't have it here, and a traffic jam here is when your vehicle is moving slow at 30 in the speed-o-meter.

I later found out that the space they have is due to a city planning that involves building, well, buildings. They call it HDB, these are home estates here, I don't know how many families can live in one building alone but I could imagine it could be hundreds or more. With this masterful planning they solved the housing issue, I remember we had a similar program back home, we called it the BLISS, well it looks like it was truly a bliss for it did not last long, come to think of it we should've continued doing it, it could solve our housing problems, were not really a big nation, lands would become an issue later on.

The housing here are ok, by that I mean, don't not expect a condominium or a hotel accommodation, you pay the rent and utilities and you have place you can call your own, and there, you're on your own too. The flats here are complete, I love taking hot baths and doing some work in the kitchen, you really need not to worry about anything except the rent. They have everything well taken care of, there was this morning when I just woke up and I saw a man scrubbing and washing the pathways outside. I also saw people trimming lawn grass and disinfecting the sewage [using some white mixture that smells awful]. Then you would not see these people again for some time, they'll reappear all of a sudden, they're a mystery to me, they're like Santa Clause' little workers! Most of these informal workers are Indian looking.

Transport here is easy, by train and bus [if your lazy take cab, its great way to ride but a bit pricey], all you need is a loaded card. It's the same card you use for both. Everything is strategically located, most train stations are located inside a mall, the buses on the other hand have huge interchange stations, in almost every street corner there are very clean waiting sheds, these sheds are well lit during the night time, buses are numbered and one only needs to check the list located at waiting sheds. It's simple enough that even a grade schooler can hop around town using it.

I prefer riding buses than traveling by train, the first Singapore tour I ever had was with these buses, with its wide clear windows you could do a lot of sightseeing, I particularly like the double decker [which remind me so much of those old open air double decker buses in Luneta], it has very cool air conditioning, it also have wide seats, they have small televisions that only shows a local news channel. I would usually go around riding buses until dusk; it's cheap so it's better than cabs. They're very efficient, they have schedules that you can follow, you can expect this bus to be on time every time, that's clock work, that's precision!

The food here is something else, my weight is testament to what's on a Singaporean plate. Everywhere you go there are these stalls they call "hawker", in fact there is one right below our flat, food abound and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. For 3.50 Singaporean dollar, you could buy a big [very] bowl of noodles, a soup that back home could satisfy two people, it will also provide you with all the nutrition and energy you'll need for the entire day! its that heavy.  Aside from the foods availability and cheapness, everything tastes good, the variety is quiet impressive as well -Indian, Chinese, Malay, Muslim Cuisine, Vegetarian etc. etc... They all taste extremely well, Chinese of course is a favorite but I also learned how to eat Indian food, like the "Prata' with some chilly curry, I like it a lot. Here, you'll always find a reason to be hungry.

The people here seems to live their lives in a past phase, they are all rushing to go to a bus, the mrt, around the malls, they always have reasons to move fast, they are very time conscious. As I've written before, the diversity is admirable, you have all kinds of people here, and all the major religions are here too, and they don't fight with each other, there is even a street where you could find a Hindu temple sitting side by side with a Buddhist temple. The tolerance and respect here should serve as a model to all of us, they've proven that the religions of this world can co-exist.

There are beggars here too, but they usually play instruments or they sing, they just don't beg, I find it odd that even their begging is regulated, they possess ID's and most of them are dressed well. My favorite is this blind Chinese man, who plays near where our home is, he's a maestro, he plays the electric guitar better than I did when I was in high school, he's like Satriani out there. I usually would go visit his place but lately he's no longer performing in his old spot, I wonder what happened.

If you love nature you'll definitely enjoy your stay here, they have parks that serves as nature reserves, so vast that one would find it admirable how they  maintain it. Like this one park which is just a short ride away from here, Bishan, it's a huge park, the trees are tall and old, the birds are so beautiful there, I even saw a squirrel, and they have ponds where people do fish, gardens that are teeming with greens and brightly colored flowers. I usually stroll to exercise in that park, when I'm tired I would just sit down and read books, since I brought with me only three titles, I've reread the books so many times already.

I would try to remember some more of my Singapore experience. This would be all for now.

ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950's, 60' s, 70's and early 80's !!

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us...

While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, ate isaw,and didn't worry about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker natin, matigas na kahoy din at wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, nokneepads , sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats (yung JD bus na pula),or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (ngayon lahat may aircon na).

Riding on the back of a carabaoon a breezy summer day was considered a treat.(ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata).

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from 711 ( minsan straight from the faucet or poso).

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this.Or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank sofdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren't sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on.Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan at taguan.

No one was able to reach us all day( di uso ang cellphone , walang beepers ). And yes, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys(yung bearing ang gulong) or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down the street, only to find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (seweage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no cellphones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents.The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo... ang sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate dirty ice cream & fish balls. we were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade guns  gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakitan... pero masaya pa rin ang lahat.

We made up games with sticks  (syatong), and cans (tumbang preso)and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay. Paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.

We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teamshad tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala yang mga childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO's, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who've had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.

---

I just want to clarify that I belong to the 80's batch...

Thanks to Ken of Circulo Hispano Filipino for sharing this funny but true observations.

The Trappist Monk, Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="155" caption="Trappist Monk, Rafael Arnaiz"][/caption]

I was delighted to hear that this man, Blessed Rafael, is believed to be nearing sainthood according to some sources. He was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II on 1992 where the Occupier of the Seat of Peter called him, "the model of youth".

My excitement over the news has nothing to do with his last name but because his mother is a Filipina, having been born here.

Chances are good that his Mother, Mercedes Baron, still have living relatives in the islands.

The Burgos native is known as Brother Maria Rafael inside the monastery, As a young boy he attended a school administered by the Jesuits.

For non Catholics, all of these would be strange - the process of Sainthood is often misunderstood but for Catholics, especially those who have a connection to the person, either by roots or faith, it matters a great deal.

For centuries we have been known for being Catholics. We're fortunate that some of our churches, towns and schools had been served by men of clothe that would be saints, the likes of Saint Ezekiel of the Recollects and San Juan Bautista of the Franciscan, founder of many towns and churches, martyred on his mission to Christianize Japan.

The holy man is from the Trappist monastery, known for their dutiful hardworking ways, they are strictly guided by the rule of Benedict. They are a contemplative order; the official name is Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. In our country There's only one known Trappist Monastery its located somewhere in Guimaras.

One of the rule that they live by is, "live by the work of thy hands", which means masterful crafts that they would sell to raise money to support the monastery.

If the Benedictines have their wines, the Trappist have their beers, which is considered to be the best in the world. Unlike other beers, the Trappist creations are known to age well like wines.

One other thing that I find really interesting is that they are actually not forbidden to drink; of course they do in moderation.

Blessed Rafael's family has moved several times due to his fathers different assignments as soldier. Its unclear whether his father  met his mother here or if Mercedes family moved back to Spain, like many Filipino Spanish did during those times.

In Oviedo he was honoured, a street was already named after him.

He's known to be a mystic and a healer. When he was still living his life outside the monastery, he was known for his liveliness and sense of humour.

He authored mystical and spiritual works. He is also a photographer and is a architecture graduate from Madrid.

He died of Diabetes when he was only 27.

Vatican City (CNA).- The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has approved the miracle of the inexplicable cure of Begona Leon Alonso, a 38 year-old woman from Madrid who suffered from Hellp Syndrome during her pregnancy and went into a coma when doctors performed surgery to save her child.

Miraculously, she recovered through the intercession of Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron, a Trappist monk who died at the age of 27.

According to the newspaper La Nueva España, Bergona Leon fell ill in 2000 during her pregnancy and underwent a cesarean at the Gregorio Maranon Hospital to save the life of the child. Her condition worsened and she fell into a coma, at which point doctors considered her brain dead.

A nun from the Cistercian convent of San Bernardo de Burgos heard about Leon from her family, and the nuns at the convent decided to pray a novena to Blessed Rafael for her healing. From that moment on Leon began to improve until she completely recovered. In order for Blessed Rafael to be declared a saint, the Pope needs to sign a decree prepared by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

Let's all pray for Our Blessed Rafael.

"...to live in order to love."

Pacman and his Politicos

Pacquiao comes home like one of those successful ancient general, fresh from conquering new lands for the empire.

He’s indeed a hero to the Filipino – with all the bad things that has been going on, he provides us with the much needed hope; he inspires even the poorest of our kababayan to dream. He unites Filipinos, even for just an hour, or when he goes around waving his hand on top of a truck, seeing him makes us all feel one, everyone seems to connect – who would’ve thought that a once poor Mindanao native could project the best qualities of a Filipino to the world.

As that arrogant, all knowing, spikey haired broadcaster said after the bout, “and sarap maging Filipino”. That’s how most of us felt.

Just a few months ago, there was some stupid congressmen who planned to pass a resolution or some crap to ban Pacquiao from fighting the bigger ala-adonis latino boxer turned singer turned promoter slash boxer, De La Hoya. They were contending that since Pacquiao is a national treasure, it was their job to protect him. WTF!?! I wonder where are they now, these nutless monkeys.

Politicos in our country would do anything to get some media mileage, from stirring senseless issues to having some useless TV shows that would probably get them some viewers that could recognize them sometime in the future if ever they become senatorial candidates. Nobody’s really surprise, as if politics in our country could get any lower.

Just over a month ago, the young Bautista boxer, once called the next Pacquiao, the talented boy lost to an unheralded latino foe. It must’ve been devastating for the once promising pugilist, I was quite surprised that the bout did not had the same unanimous support we generously give to our fighting warriors abroad, well, of course Pacman would draw more, after all he’s Pacquiao. So, I must be comparing a man from a boy but the kid needed some backing, no one was there for him but his clueless manager and corner who mistakenly pitted the young man to a dangerous veteran journeyman. Tough luck.

After doing some research, the poor Boom-Boom has been losing quite a few matches in his last outings. He was undefeated for so long, he once starred as the main bout, now I doubt it if he could even land a supporting bout for the big fights. No congressman, no nut hugging Atienza or Singson or kabayan here, no support even from celebrity Filipino boxing fans and media, the fallen boxer needs to start winning again or else he’s in danger of being forgotten.

Another fighter, another story.

Espinosa?

That 2 time world champ who once put us on the edge of our seats, that guy who once made us - 'proud Filipinos'?

He’s doing some security personnel work and some other part time job in the morning  somewhere in Cali I heard. He even had to beg to be given tickets to watch the past Pacquiao fight for he can't afford to buy a good seat, man, life’s tough for this old boxers.

I remember, back in the days, even Prez Ramos would go watch the ‘Lindol’. I saw him Espinosa in the mid 90’s he was mobbed for autographs, he occasionally gets dragged for a picture – I was told that the man he was with was a Governor, I’m sure some other VIP’s tagging along, he was a star. Now, he’s lucky if he gets any visits from friends during his late night shifts.

Everybody loves a winner, they say – so in our land, before you get attention, before you get funded, you have to prove yourself first. There is no such thing as sport development in our country, only celebrities that has managed to create something out of their hard work and luck. Now if your someone like Pacquiao, you get all the politicians inside you pockets, I bet good money that if Pacman want those desperate politician to play monkey they will but – if your some unknown skilled boxer, in your teens, chances are you’re not going to make it – the odds is staggering. With the level of talent we have, how many Brandon Vera or Pacman we have?

Even Pacquiao knows this sad reality, in an interview with a US sports network he said, “I know how it feels not to eat... boxing was my way out” , and here he is with the politicians responsible for making his province crawl, at least they will be making the man do the peace dealing for them, (not too sure if that a good idea – but Manny is a winner, you can’t argue with success right, so some people believe that he could win peace too?)

So, while they continue to starve and drain the resource of that island known for its promise, they get some good publicity by embracing this son of Mindanao – in fairness to Pacman, he really has a genuine heart for his beloved province - so he could be using the attention to get the government to do its job in the impoverished island. He's also doing something concrete out of his own pocket, he now runs a free boxing gym with all the facilities for young kids in his town.

Government of course does not have any interest in these things, they see an opportunity in Pacquiao – and they're grabbing it whiles it last.

Pacquiao would definitely be used for political purposes (I believe the politicos around him are doing it now), he’s influential, he’s a proven winner, a media darling – who wouldn’t want to be with him?

Of course the politicos are just proud to be with the living Filipino hero!

So while DENR bigman Atienza parades Pacquiao in his Manila, hoping that the Pacquiao magic could revive their political career in the ever loyal city, where his young boy miserably lost an election, somewhere in Zambales a mountain was lost – with the use of bulldozer and dynamites, a once flourishing mountain, a source of livelihood among the poor inhabitant (they watch their mountain pushed to the sea, they could not go close to the operation, if they do –they risk getting shot, not by security guards but Army conscripts!), was levelled for mining purposes, upon checking some DENR officials claims to have made a mistake in handing out clearance to operate.

One more fighter. The other man from Gen Santos.

Naverette was Pacquiao decades ago, he was boxing king! He would be paraded, interviewed nonstop and worshipped by provincial politicos. When he lost his boxing glitter, he lost everything- his family and his money, of course without money – some of (or most) of the once best buddies goes out with it. He now walks the streets drunk, shirtless, penniless and chances are we’ll hear his name again in national TV, dead (he was stabbed several times already). No congressman, no nuthuggin’ Atienza and Chavit here, he’s chicken shit now you see.

Of all the fighters that got big, Elorde is an exception. He was uneducated but he had the biggest heart, his very smart too like what we see now in Pacquiao - unlike Navarette and Espinosa, he was well taken care of. His handler did a pretty well job, seeing to it that he goes out to the sunset with enough money. He married his handlers daughter, he was with the right people.

I hope that the native brown bomber, Pacman, this national pride of ours would realize that he’s better off in the boxing business (or showbiz since I heard he’s fond of boobsy leading ladies) and that he could help his impoverished town by just being the great boxer that he is. He should learn from the likes of once sporting hero, Jawo, who after leaving the hoop world and getting his ass elected as Mr. Senador top notcher, was forgotten midway his term, he found out later that he was a basketball guy not a politico and that he’s better off elbowing his opponents in the face and coaching his players in his ‘wala ng isip isip’ way, politics is not for everyone. Last time I saw Jawo was when he was defending his son for carrying fire arms, his son was allegedly shooting rats.

What is it in politics that makes it hard to resist?

Sometimes power and money is nothing compared to the ability of a man to inspire his people – and Pacman doing it right now. There will be more Pacquiao, he’s just the beginning.

Lag(g)ing Behind

A blogger friend has been running a mini series on the Filipino’s chronic social woes and what seems to be his inability to improve his condition. Another frustrated individual – but who could blame people for feeling down these days?

A notable novelist made a series of essays tackling the reason behind why we are poor. For the most part the old man was right, we have these “self defeating” traits that keeps us where we are, at the very bottom – cawawa, the old Tagalog word that best describes our predicament. But when the same novelist started to invade history in his quest for answers, the book became laughable. Let’s stop blaming the past shall we?

Some social scientist say that the people themselves, the Filipinos, is the problem. They say that we keep on shooting ourselves on the foot, that we are who we are, as one writer (Emerita Quito) points out it’s the “ambivalence of Filipino Traits and Character”, these according to the writer is the reason why were lagging behind. She weighted the pros and cons, trying to best describe the Filipino’s famous “ugali” and why it continues to work against him.

I really have no qualms with the analogy, a flawed character  would always be dethrimental. What has been said about some of our traits and character is true but what I don’t subscribe to is that these traits are the one to be blame, as if all these things uniquely belongs to our race. Quito’s list includes Hiya, Ningas Cogon, Pakikisama, Utang na Loob, Bahala na, Kasi (sisihan) to name a few from her essay.

What many forget is that a “Hiya” or say, “Pakikisama” also exist on other parts of the globe. Some of the most richest men in US history for example are the shyest people around, some celebrities even have insecurity issues – with all their money and beauty I’m not sure what’s there to feel insecure about. The “Pakikisama” on the other hand is not solely Pinoy, let’s look at the Italians, they are known for this trait, some even believe that it runs so deep in their culture that these was the reason why mafia flourished in their conservative society.

Lets look at this train we call the “padrino” system, is it Pinoy? No, even the mafiaso's would be embarrassed to claim it as theirs but they have been known to carry it out just like all the grandfathered deals around the world - it’s not foreign, not Filipino either but some of us just enjoys claiming all defects as Filipino originals, clearly a not so good national mindset.

All of these so called traits and character are universal. Some points to the “ningas cogon” and “manana habit” as proof that Filipinos are often times lazy, as if we have the laziest people in the world! Just lookat some real time stats and one could see that the fattest nation (US) have the biggest economy and the second largest economy belongs to a nation so in love with making things small.

So why, some ask, are we the only ones in the world that have people peeing on the streets, violating traffic laws or throwing garbage in the estero? Why are we so undisciplined?

The simple answer is that our government tolerates such gross behaviour. I mean every nation has their share of punks, ours is increasing in number because our government is doing nothing, the difference is that some government has more political will than others.

The fact is that our government has gone soft on its overly sensitive citizens, a news crew reported that illegal vendors are being ‘violently’ removed, then came a Congressmen and traded blows with the government demolition crew, what does these shows us? – I mean, its a sad reality, never easy to watch but that’s why we have laws. Some people would be quick to say, “Mali ang gobyerno, dapat hayaan nila sila” or “dapat hanapan ng malilipatan yan, hindi basta-basta pinapaalis”, what if it’s your land being illegally squatted on? Would you still express this generous support?

The nations law protects its people, its designed to look after those who follows it, not the ones who don’t suppory it. Yes its tragic but then again it goes back to my point earlier, the leaders, what the hell are they in power for?

The most developed nation in South East Asia once had a problem, they were losing their greatest river to squatting and pollution, the leaders never waited for the people around the river to change and grow a conscience because if they did, the river would’ve be dead in a few years time. It only took them a few years to fix the problem, they have cleared the river of illegal structures, regulated boats and fined or imprison those who would be caught polluting the river. End of story, river’s alive – everybody’s happy, except of course for the violators.

The problem sometimes is that we see each other as the problem, that the Filipinos problem is because he is Filipino. We should look at what’s the “real” reason why we have this kind of country. We have great people, diverse and educated. The greatest resource of our land is our people and yet we see them go abroad in mass numbers, something that our government seems to welcome.

Some of the most successful story we hear are those coming from the OFW, some Filipinos made it big in the US, there was a governor, congressmen, mayors, entrepreneurs, artist and union leaders – endless list of accomplished Filipinos – they represent what we are capable of doing anywhere but here, even common folks that has been working as clerks and engineers, as cooks and seamen, they come home with good retirement money and with all their labour has sent apo’s, nephews, and brothers to good schools – have we ever wonder why a Filipino can do so much outside and so little inside his island?

Yes, of course the value of money makes all the difference. But isn’t this admitting that the country is not good enough for its people? that Filipino skills and talent is better utilized abroad? That other nation deserves Filipinos more than his home country where he seems to have no place?

We compliment these OFW’s by calling them bayani, because of their sacrifice, I say they are heroes indeed for some of them have already lost their heads (literally), suffered unbearable living conditions, some experienced descrimination, so that a country can grow its dollar reserves and by doing so, help the national economy, no wonder they’re the leaders heroes – more remittance the better say the government. What kind of a government would rather send professional abroad than have them serving their people? the remittance is a small picture solution weall know this but leaders would rather bet on it than having any long term project.

The people as I’ve said before on other foras is not the problem, we’re not at fault because we have “pakikisama”, “bahala na”, “ningas cogon” etc etc, believing that we have a monopoly on all these negative traits is being stupid. When we talk of Filipino’s we speak of a race that stood against the Spaniards, survived the Americans, fought the Japs, weathered dozens of coup de etat, deposed Marcos, survived countless natural calamities, dethroned Erap and now trying to live with GMA’s incompetency. Is this not an impressive fight record? Is there anything more we could ask from the Filipinos? Aside from being urged to learn skills so they can get employed elsewhere so they can send dollars?

They say people here are timid, that we’re not self starters, that we are lazy – I know for a fact these are gross generalization for the hardest working individuals I know are all Filipinos, here in abroad and back home. We never lack the genius also, we had some of the smartest inventors around, what happen to their inventions? That’s the million dollar question, one inventor said, “I wanted to sell this to an investor so it can be marketed in the US” – government help, anyone? This is the sad picture my friends, we have what it takes to make it, too bad we don’t have our leaders with us.

We fail to recognize the role of our leaders and how their inability to lead the nation has caused us a lot. We never had good governance, when we study Philippine government, the trend seems to be a familiar pattern, from bad to worst. Just look at Erap and GMA. We removed the corrupt and the one that succeded turns out to be worst.
These leaders do make good speeches but it has always been asking more sacrifice when we had already done our share, “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, but where is our government when we needed them?

News about the OFW’s just the other day, men sentenced to death without even having the benefit of an attorney courtesy of our embassy. The DFA cites the lack of fund but you have millions of tax money getting stolen by government officials. When it elections comes all the money seems so accessible but when Filipinos need them, all of a sudden its lacking.

Yes, Filipinos do possess some weak character, but its overrated – its not enough to be his downfall, its not the reason why were behind, we are at bottom because our leaders impeded our development by not having a genuine love for the Filipino.

If you’ve ever been in the US you’d understand why Filipinos are very productive there, because they can do all kinds of work normal Americans usually wouldn’t accept. So how is it that Filipinos are productive elsewhere, possessing strong work ethic and just as good as the citizens of the land they came to work for, when they too have this ‘Ugaling Filipino’?

What we need are leaders that can take us to the promise land. The kind of leader that can turn things around and make us a better people. Leaders inspires people – effective leadership that has its people in mind, like private business, an establishment needs to be efficiently run from top to bottom. We can give all the support, all the dollars to the motherland but if our leaders would not have us in mind, what’s going to happen?

So how do we break the cycle? if the leaders is the problem - how can we remedy the situation? Are these leaders a clear representation of who we  are as a people or we just haven't been lucky getting the right ones? that we are indeed a corrupted society and that we could not change? borrowing from Carlito Brigante, "right or wrong" we can't change, is this who we really are?

For now, there's no other choice but to keep our faith, in God and ourselves. Just like a people waiting to be save, were on the look out for a Moises - or men that could take us to the promise land. Even the Jews needed a leader, being the chosen people was not enough.

Filipinos need to take care of their fellow Filipinos, I’ve seen this here abroad – I hope that our leaders would have the same commitment. We have given our share, we deserve better...

Taxi cum Political Theorist

You know that a country is fairly doing well when they have mercedez benz converted into taxis roaming their busy streets. Taxi service, drivers and units here are very interesting scenes, they complete the island nations landscape, just like our Jeep do back home you see them everywhere. Drivers here are multiracial, most are very kind and knows a thing or two about tourism so you could ask them for recommendations and they would give you accurate information. They are also equipped with state of the gadgets. They take care of business here because the more tourist means more passengers. Majority speaks english and just like in any parts of the world, they tend to engage their passengers in subjects ranging from the simple stuff around like the best places to eat to national politics or if your lucky, a mystic of a cab driver that can foretell your destiny. I have been talking to them a lot that I already know the mechanics of how to own and operate these cabs, the downsides and its long term benefits. Like our drivers back home, they get a kick out of 'having no boss', here drivers lease their cabs, so technically they own it.

I got an interesting cab driver tonight, I came to shop and dine at Little India, a place similar to Chinatown, of course the difference is instead of Chinese you get Indian, the place was awesome, so many great bargains. I also feasted my eyes on those old buildings and structure of the old Brit empire. I finished touring the place at around 7 pm Realizing that MRT's would be jam pack I flagged a cab to take me back home. I got an Indian guy, I was lucky - it would be the continuation of my educational tour of Little India.

Uncle is what they call male senior people here, a term of endearment similar to our 'Manong' back home. This Uncle speaks with a heavy Indian accent but his words comes clear to me. When he found out that I'm Filipino he was quick to respond, "Filipinos are everywhere, they're in HK, Malaysia and Taiwan also, Singapore has a lot of Filipinos and in time they would have a big community here", I could feel the anxiety in his voice but he tried to hide it of course, he doesn't want to disappoint his good looking passenger. He was probably worried that Filipinos could out breed everyone here, I guess reputation precedes us sometimes. Filipinos are probably the most hardy and adaptable race on earth, I told the Uncle that if there would be a nuclear holocaust, I'll bet good money that Filipinos would continue as a race and finally rule the world! (he didn't find the joke funny, no complimentary laughter here). He was probably observing the influx of Filipinos for sometime, you know this cabdrivers are the man on streets (tambay sa canto sa atin) so they see things normal people don't. In the last decade there seems to be a change on the waves of Filipino immigrants here, today Filipinos are no longer confined to being domestic helpers but now joins Singapores work force in different sector. This condition is somehow aided by the island nations openness for foreign skilled workers.

The Taxi man continued to amaze his passenger, he spoke about the difference between Diosdado Macapagal and Marcos, how the economics of the old Macapagal is better and that the reason he lost is that Marcos was the better speaker (like Obama) , by this time he already had me glued to what he was saying, I didn't even know that our leaders ever had good economics, how can a man from here know these things. When asked how did he know all of this he replied, "I have been listening to BBC radio for a long time, I know what's going on even in the South Americas", it seems that the BBC made this guy aware of the what has been happening around the world - he could pass as a political analyst if he ever decides to go that way.

He then continues to lecture the amateur historian in me by discussing Asian economy and what could make the impoverish Asian nations better. He knew that 3rd world countries are victims of corrupt leaders and the so called 'globalization', he said, "the poor does not know what to do because they're not guided, they can farm lands, catch fishes and make crafts but instead of getting better the government and the corporations uses them and give them so little returns, they should instead make corporations out of these people and guide them, further educate them, from here everything will follow, let them succedd in what they do best - and then later on they would begin to go out and in time start new things on their own, let the tax money set up everything for them".

Yes my friends, this is a cab driver speaking. I was thinking if he had just too much free time that he figured out how the world works or he just picked up all this stuff from the BBC radio like what he said - which by the way is not a bad choice at all. I'm sure that all of this talk could be an over simplification of the complex Filipino problem but I get it when he said "help" the people, I mean these days it seems that the government is busy assisting Filipinos  get out of their home country so that they can send remittance and this of course gives them good dollar points, but isn't this an aimless policy? while other nations are trying to keep their homegrown talent home, we are losing ours and nothing really is being done to stop it, the people need the kind of help that would make them do well in their towns, positioning Filipinos to make a living and be at home with their families.

I have to admit that he made sense, as if his theory was not enough he gave me a real story. Some barrio in Malaysia raises worms to sell for medical science he say, and the people became rich because the government funded their small enterprise - the government also protected the small farmers from outside competition by prioritizing the local products over the cheap chinese produce, he again stresses what seems to be his solution to world hunger, "the government need to guide the people not give them charity". He's so certain that this "hand outs" is the surest way to spoil people. Of course, I'm telling myself, we know that already but he then gave me something to think about. "The government in most cases do things for camera not really for the people to be sufficient, the government and the rich people their the ones to blame here, you see this even in America. How come there's only a small percentage of wealthy people? they try to keep it that way because it works for them".

Its no secret that we had been victim of bad leadership. We had leaders killing each other since we claim to have won the first republic in Asia. Now, we get lectured all the time that "we" the people must change but I don't think the people are at fault here. I think the cab driver was right, we need leaders that can show the way, take inititatives, better policies, make conditions favorable so we never have to see daddy go to Saudi. We need programs that really looks after people, uplifting not only lives but morale. Right now, sadly, we are down on everything. While the world is busy making economic adjustments and combating terrorism, what we see on local news is Jocjoc Bolante and some coup de' etat in the senate, its sickening. What has become of our leaders these days?

The Filipino today no longer believes in the government but politician could care less, for them, there is an election that needs to be won. They see government as an enterprise where they can get money, enriching themselves is top priority. No Filipino today takes their government seriously, that's why I can't blame majority of our countrymen who see Filipino politics as a joke and an entertainment similar to the popular telenovelas we see on TV. The Masa is often blamed for not changing for the better, I say we now, what we need is not a change of men really but a change of leaders.