Saturday, September 13, 2008

why stomachs matter in nation building

a social scientist, who devoted majority of his life living within the slummest area in manila once said that, despite the dominant poverty in the country, no filipino will ever die because of it. he strongly believes that filipinos are innately resourceful. they will come up with the most tactical way in order to survive another day, even if it means going to the extremes like eating leftover food outside fastfood chains and restaurants and the likes.
indeed, the saying as poor as a rat is one of the most common line heard among every filipino. probably because majority of us have experienced poverty (the filipino style) once in our life. nonetheless, we have survived or better yet, we are still surviving among these challenges.
but recently, one of the most alarming and disturbing news in the country came up. it was about a mother who committed suicide after poisoning her three children. she forced her children to drink a spoonful of toilet bowl cleaner out of hopelessness with their lives.
almost a year ago, an 11 year old girl also committed suicide by hanging herself after leaving a diary telling how she have lived out of extreme poverty.
what was common between the two stories, aside from the fact that both was regarding suicide out of poverty, was that financial and material aid, majority coming from the government poured to the families after that incident.
the thing is, it is already depressing to know that such horrible event could actually happen. the thought that filipinos are already beginning to lose hope with their lives: is also a clear reflection that they (or we) are beginning (or already) lose their trust to our social institutions specifically to the government.
but what is more aggravating with this, is the fact, that the government treats these aids as more of a momentary and individual response to such case rather than a general preventive measure to avoid such things.
yes, of course, running a country is not as easy and fun as playing sims. there isn't even any option where you could start it all over once problems are already hitting your characters. because aside from the political, economic and social factors within the country, the government also consider the global contexts.
but with all the price hikes, peso devaluation, mindanao conflicts and the rest of the news bombarding us, where will a typical juan dela cruz finds hope to his life, other than religion, if he could no longer trust the very institution that promised to guide and protect him?
the administration is even pushing the current government to federalism and charter change to answer these problems. but i believe regardless of what form of government we have or any constitution changes, if we are just putting in the same sets of monkeys on those seats, it will be just a waste of effort, time and another grand expenditure of public funds.
i believe it is more of changing our political culture and consciousness that could answer the call of our current context. if every citizen will be more politically conscious and participative (do you see the difference?), it will definitely make a big difference. this answer may be idealistic for some, especially to those who already lost their trust to our politics and more to the hope for change. but if the nation's cry is leaning towards it, then i believe it is worth a try. but how can we actually attract people to nourish their political consciousness and drive their participation if their trust in politics or the government to be more specific, is already gone?
i believe that the line, the easiest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, doesn't only apply to lovers. but could also be used as an effective political strategy. a nation is as good as its citizens. we may never win the entire nation's heart. but if you'll be able to feed atleast a person's stomach by assisting him to acquire all his needs to survive. then you'll be able to win him completely. if this deed is witnessed and experienced by others: and you are able to sustain and develop it, then you'll be able regain trust, rebuild hope and recall an entire nation to whatever goal it has or if it has one.

just my opinion.

14 comments:

Chyng said...

It's really alarming that more and more Filipinos are getting hungry everyday. The government should really prioritize their welfare by giving them JOBS and not food!

Bansang madameng nagugutom = bansang madameng walang pakealam.. (--,)

Kape Kanlaon\ said...

i agree... dapat hindi temporary fix..lessen the tax...and pls no more corruptions...

kawadjan said...

"i believe it is more of changing our political culture and consciousness that could answer the call of our current context."

... exactly. nice post!

Anonymous said...

I believe that Federalism is one step to develop the nation for the better.

I also strongly believe that we should address the problem of overpopulation. Can you imagine the 11 year old if she did not have siblings, she would be taken cared for better. Or the mother who can only have one child and survive because she will earn enough for that one child.

Abou said...

let's give attention to the needs of the people in the countryside, nang sa gayon hindi na magsisiksikan ang tao sa syudad, na sa kalaunan gutom din pala ang aabutin dyan.

MakMak said...

It's not food that the Government should provide but the means to acquire it.

"Teach a man how to fish..."

. said...

Food, Shelter, Education and Health. Kahit tanggalin mo yung lahat ng material benefits sa isang society, once they have these security nets, we will end up happy with our lives.

Kaya naniniwala ako na hindi magandang batayang ang Gross National Product eh. Mas pipiliin ko ang Gross National Happiness bilang barometer how a nation's quality of life

Boying Opaw said...

1. aanhin pa ang kabayo kung wala na ang damo.

2. hope is thinning. tama ba iyong thinning na verb?

3. naku kung parang Sims ang pagpapatakbo ng mga nasa tungkulin, nakakatakot. kung out of control na, baka maisipan nilang magdelete ng mga pamilya. haha. o hindi kaya ay i-uninstall ang buong bayan tsaka i-install ulit. oh god!

4. bare necessities = almost zero. beer necessities = oh god!

ewik, di na naman kita natyempohan sa YM. haha.

Anonymous said...

Ewik ewik anu ym mo? :)

lucas said...

my HS professor told us Filipinos don't die of hunger... hindi na xa applicable ngayon... nagpapakamatay na sila dahil sa gutom. hays...

i remembered the documentary where people capture stray rats to eat...

T_T

Yffar (^^,) said...

Proposed Names:
A. Pink Bloggers Guild
B. The Pink Chronicles
C. Rainbow Blogs Philippines
D. Other suggested names that may arise

Goal:
To create a united community of Filipino LGBT Bloggers, that may act as an organization for aspiring LGBT writers and hone their skills by guiding , recognizing their works, and inspiring them to pursue an inner motivation for blogging whether it’s personal, informative or other reasons why they created their blog.

Functions:
a. Making a LGBT Bloggers Directory
b. Providing Weekly Reviews
c. Creating a weekly/ Monthly Award
d. Organizing a Monthly/Weekly chat conference
e. Gathering in an Annual/ Quarterly Eyeball
f. Participating in LGBT Advocacies

Proposed Committees:
a. Marketing and Networking. A separate committee shall search for potential blogs that can join the community and communicate with possible allies such as organizations, publications, etc. that may help in pursuing the goals of the said community.

b. Membership. A committee shall handle possible members of the community and review the contents of the blog whether it is related to the LGBT category or not. Upon approval of the committee, the blog shall now be placed in the Directory.

c. Reviews. A committee will have to conduct weekly reviews on a certain blog about the good features of the blog. Negative feedbacks to improve the blog shall not be posted on the review, it will be discussed in a private manner such as a personal mail to the author by the reviewer. The committee must ensure that all blogs shall be given a review. A member of the committee shall not create a review of his own blog.
d. Events. The committee shall create monthly events that will focus on the interactions between memb ers of the community. Such activities may be held online, via chat/conference, or in a general assembly/ eyeball gathering.

e. Awards. This committee shall conduct a surveys/poll sor other contest s that may recognize the LGBT blogger and his site, e.g. Pink Blog of the Week, or annual LGBT Blog Awards. The committee must have no bias in giving out awards.

f. Web Masters. This committee shall be composed of the committee heads of each team that may discuss on the overall design of the website, input necessary information, create posts, and act as the executive heads of the said community.

g. Other committees shall be created and some proposed above may be dissolved depending on the actual need of the community.

Provisions
a. As a part of the LGBT community, ethical principles must be upheld and violators of the community rules shall cause a member’s blog be out of the directory and he/she will be removed as a member of the said community. Possible violations: Plagiarism, Libel, etc.
b. It will be the discretion of the committee heads if they will include a blog that contains pornography or simple nudity. Proper judgment shall be applied.
c. Other provisions that might arise shall be discussed upon the completion of the said community.

Bloggers that agreed on the creation of the community:
a. Kiks of ABBA
b. Lyka Bergen of The Lyka Bergen Show
c. Mrs J of The Reigning Mizis
d. Jericho of Kape’t Yosi
e. Wilberchie of Wilberchie’s World
f. Yffar of The Rainbow Halohalo Project
g. other bloggers are all welcome to help in building this new community.

mikel said...

although is not a panacea, passing the bill on women's health and reproductive rights is a step closer to quality life. with slow population growth, taxes may be used more effeciently and effectively than spreading it too thinly for services for 80+ million--and counting--Filipinos.

tax is not necessarily bad, i have to say, especially if it is progressive in nature, and is used to effeciently in reallocating resources and providing public goods.

mikel said...

ang bobo (ko). haha

**...and is used effeciently in reallocating resources...

Anonymous said...

Dati nga, Ang klase ng Pinoy ay mula letrang A hanggang E lang.Ngayon, umabot na sa G!

Maganda yung sinabi ni Abou