So haven't blogged for awhile; blame the vacation. I have absolutely nothing to rant against...maybe except for those missionaries preaching in buses. Now, I'm well aware that they have the right to freely express themselves but it is so tempting to make their activities illegal. What about my right to freely enjoy the bus journey itself? But enough of that. It's April 2013 with the May 2013 elections looming and guess what; I'm not voting.
Let's see, between you and me; it is such a waste of time and effort. Now, now...before you dismiss this as a rant born out of laziness, lack of civil duty and disgust for my country; in fact, I love my country but I'm not blind to its defects. Kind of how I love my college alma mater. I respect how it molded me and how I currently view the world but it doesn't mean I am not blind as to how some of its graduates are flawed and that's putting it lightly.
Ever notice that most Senators, Congressmen and Presidents, with President Aquino as the very epitome, are idiots. Worse, they win solely on name-recall. In fact, if Corazon Aquino didn't die just before the May 2010 elections; her son wouldn't have won the presidency. Even if some Filipino with some brains campaign; they have little chances of winning. Our current system favors the popular so it is no wonder why Filipino politicians are a)idiots, b)celebrities and/or c)have famous last names. So potential voters like myself who are not easily bought into popularity and have a tendency to scrutinize everything are diminished against the majority of the Filipino populace who tend to view things in a more simplistic manner.
Not saying that the Filipino masses are idiots because that will tend to put the blame entirely on their shoulders. They are partly responsible yes, but the current system is the bigger culprit. Notice how the senatorial candidates campaign as individuals whereas in other countries; politicians campaign as parties with solid platforms, policies and programs. And who can help not notice that our parties are just instruments to power with candidates shifting to the favorable party. In short, when politicians are voted into power; they are voted as individuals with no regard for cooperation.
Our entire system is flawed. There is no escaping this stark reality. You will have some Filipinos proclaim loudly onto cyberspace that "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE PHILIPPINES!" but the bitter reality is there is something utterly and devastatingly wrong with the present country. And the sooner one realizes this; the sooner the Philippines can become better.
Let's take poverty: it has remained unchanged since 2006. And this despite the Aquino administration's massive spending on its CCT, conditional cash transfer, programs. Gee, when you tend to provide dole-outs (let us not kid ourselves, no matter how many word-plays the Aquino administration provides; it is in essence a DOLE-OUT), it makes people dependent on other people to succeed. In other words, you are just promoting a culture of free-loading and mendicancy.
So do we take to the countryside and wage open war on the current government? Let's see, an armed group has been doing that for so long: do you really want to give your lives for an outdated ideology that has already been proven inapplicable in reality?
I propose these solutions:
Let us start at the personal level. The sooner you realize that no one can save your self except for your self; the better. Take for instance alms-giving. I used to give money to those who were asking but thanks to encountering a very self-entitled man along the avenue of E. Rodriguez I've longed discontinued the practice.
Seriously, I mean imagine me walking alongside E. Rodriguez when I get accosted by this man, along with his family and child, asking me for money because he forgot to bring enough to commute back home. So I asked him all sorts of questions but for some reason I felt he was a scam artist; by an act of coincidence, I also encountered a scam artist along E. Rodriguez. In the end, I didn't give him money. And he had the nerve to get all high and mighty with me! Imagine, the very nerve! I was seething inside because first of all, not my fucking fault you forgot to budget enough money to commute back home and second of all, you should be ashamed that a grown man like you is begging for money from a complete stranger in front of your child. I just stared at him, not wanting to make this father seem more impotent in front of his child; I'm not that cruel.
It may seem a sadistic philosophy but what would you prefer, babying other adults? It is this sense of mendicancy that pervades the Philippines and you wonder why we don't progress. And by extension, how some politicos get into office. And how the Catholic Church got its stranglehold over the populace in the first place.
And the more far-reaching solution: support Constitutional Reform. See, those idiotic politicos are given the chance to assume political power because our 1987 Constitution is especially designed that those with popularity win. And by extension, why jobs are so scarce here. The very ultimate example: our UPCM, University of the Philippines College of Medicine, doctors are working as doctors...IN THE USA! Oh, don't get mad at them; get mad at the 1987 Constitution with all those economic restrictions.
Until that wretched 1987 Constitution is corrected don't expect our politics to progress beyond popularity and name-recall. Don't even get shocked if Nancy Binay manages to become a Senator because that's how our Constitution is designed.
Until that time, don't expect me to vote.
