THE POOR MUST FACE REALITY TOO!

Photo courtesy of AP/Bullit Marquez.

This is sort of a follow up to my previous post: "Putting Our Best Foot Forward" last May 2, 2012.

"The government should face reality. If they don't, how will they know the problem, how will they solve the problem," said Renato Reyes, secretary general of the left-wing group Bayan, regarding a recent effort by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to cover up slums on the side of a river which runs through the route of the delegates attending the 45th Asian Development Bank Summit this week.

“The government should face reality." It's funny he could say that without realizing the relativity of the concept.

Who should face reality here? Is it the government, who spends billions on a Conditional Cash Transfer program to help the poorest of the poor, arise from their destitute condition? Who works with financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (among others) to curb rampant poverty and deprivation in this country? Oh, we’ve seen reality alright. We see it every day, and I think the ADB sees it too throughout their years of being headquartered behind their walled compound in Ortigas Center. In fact, we are already saturated by images of this reality on our TV channels because they made an industry out of documenting about such reality. Hence, I think it would be unreasonable to say that the government is not facing reality. In fact, it is a belated statement, one that was made when some solutions have already been implemented and are still being implemented today. It must be outrageous to think that poverty would disappear in the days leading to the ADB summit, right Mr. Reyes?

Back to my earlier question. If it isn’t the government, who then should face the reality? Is it the upper class who has invested heavily on our country’s economy, provided jobs for the majority, and are taxed heavily? Is it the middle class, who has toiled to get and finish a degree in order to contribute brains, sweat and time to the progress of family and Motherland so that it may not live in indigence? Or is it the poor, who are very much aware of the reality they are stuck with and yet have acted little in the face of such poverty?

Take the case of that community under the bridge, whose view from the street was covered by sheets of galvanized iron by the MMDA. Have they faced the reality that by living on those banks, they are endangering themselves to floods and diseases, as well as contributing to pollution because of the lack of proper sewage system for their homes? I don’t think so. Have they faced the reality that by moving from the province to this already crowded city they would live worse than their subsistence existence in the province? I came from a tiny island in the Visayas whose people have relied on farming and fishing for years and yet were able to send their children to school and improve their lives. That is how we faced reality there. I wonder how these poor people could simply look at reality in the eye and do nothing.

The problem lies on the fact that the poor think that it’s not their choice to be poor. Such belief is not just passé, but also a huge moral flaw on their part. Exchanging a content and sufficient agricultural life in the province is their choice. Getting in to marriage without any plans early in life is their choice. Having sex without protection, having too much sex and kids in the process – it’s all a choice. The government, the upper class, and the middle class were not conspiratorial to all these choices. And even if they are at some point, the choice is still theirs. Do I want to be stuck in such reality for the rest of their lives or am I going to exhaust all possible means to get ahead and rise from the ladder? Such belief statements in life have to be let go by the poor if they are to elevate themselves from the reality of poverty.

The odds are in favor of those who dare. For decades, we, as a people have supported our brethren who  dared to rise out of poverty. Whether people in government, the upper class, the middle class -- we have made steps to assist and support those who are willing to face the reality and solve it. But this doesn’t mean the end is on sight. While ironic, Mr. Reyes’ words do serve as a wake up call. There are still a lot of things to be done aside from covering the blemishes. But the truth remains: those who saved themselves rather than waiting to be saved have been rewarded well. Those who are eager to be saved have been given a helping hand.

I wonder where Mr. Reyes was when all of that was happening.

In another reality, I suppose. After all, they are other group here who’s not facing reality (or rather, facing a different reality – a rather violent and fast-paced one). Those in the left-wing are well aware of such reality and yet what part have they done in order to solve the problem? Have they organized fundraisers or charities for the construction of homes for informal settlers? Have they worked with our system of governance in order to put to justice elements in our society that maligns the poor? Have they been kind to our benefactors in the fight against poverty and deprivation? Are they merely spotlighting the cons instead of highlight what is good in what we’ve done as a nation too?

The left movement should face reality. It’s time that they contribute to nation-building instead of nation-tearing. It’s not that that they should turn 180 degrees on their beliefs. All I’m saying is that they should try meeting the rest of the nation halfway. After all, we only have one common goal in mind, to convince the rest of the world that "It's More Fun [to live] in the Philippines!" TSS

A DAY OF HATE

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press.

Tomorrow will be another Labor Day, or as critics of the Left Movement say -- "Araw ng Pag-ngawa" (Day of Whining).

Expect the usual. Rallies in Plaza Mendiola, or Liwasang Bonifacio, leftist politicians vociferously launching tirades against the government, describing it as a puppet of the United States, as enemies of the poor, as opponents of the working class. There will be calls for the passage of the P125 across the board wage hike. They will ridicule the administration’s latest round of wage increases as “cheap” or “loose change”. We won’t hear anything we haven’t heard in the past Labor Day demonstrations.

As usual, a lot of people will be attracted to these rallies: college students wanting to become rebels without a cause, urban poor citizens from private lands they’ve squatted, rural farmers disenfranchised by decades of feudal landlordism. I wonder if after all these years of attending rallies, they will finally get what they really seek from it. They way I see it, they are being exploited by leftist politicians in their “12 hours of Hate”, their own version of Two Minutes Hate from Orwell’s “1984”. These politicians will convincingly try to develop to the mindset of these people that they are oppressed by a certain “ruling class” that the system of things in this country has to be overthrown and overturned in order to shift the balance of power in favor of the oppressed. This illusion has been set in the minds of the attendees for past Labor Days, an illusion they still dream of becoming a reality in this democratic country.

What these people don’t realize is that by attending these demonstration, they are oppressing themselves even further, as they are missing out their chance of uplifting themselves out of poverty and misery. If the unemployed, who will come to bash the government’s labor policy, will instead flock to the DOLE’s Job Fairs tomorrow, then they will have a greater chance at finding employment, whether temporary or permanent. After all, better to have a temporary job than no job at all. If these misguided youths would instead apply for a summer job in order to save up money for their tuition fees come June, then it wouldn’t be harder for them despite the increase in matriculation this year. Indeed, there are better things people could do instead of being part of this conspiracy of hate against our democratic way of life.

If only the Left Movement could do something different this year. Something more positive and pro-active, perhaps public opinion won’t be against their favor (at least for this year). In the past Labor Days, we haven’t seen leaders of the Left organize a job fair in cooperation with the DOLE, or launch a campaign that would help government agencies crackdown on employers violating wage laws. We don’t see the Left Movement organizing fundraisers for the purchase of lands people have squatted, or for the construction of housing complexes meant for the relocation of informal settlers. “Any action committed in anger, is bound to be doomed”, as Paolo Coelho once said. Definitely, any action committed by the Left tomorrow out of anger for our way of life, will just plant seeds of oppression, depression and desperation on the part of the poor. They will simply supplant an already deep-seated seed of illusion which they call in their language, “revolution”.

Enough with hate, Reds! It’s time that mass actions on future Labor Days be geared towards the achievement of positive and proactive solutions to the long-standing problems plaguing the plight of the ordinary working class, poor Filipino. TSS