The cab driver had a lot to complain about. It's not just about the continuous rise in the prices of oil, he tells me. It's also about how the Pinoys in government deceive you into thinking they're doing something to address it and make life easier for the simple folk, then end up formulating laws which take more money away from you in the end.
Take this simple example, the cab driver says to me. First the government assures the cab drivers that a new law has been passed ordering a rise in taxi fares. It actually sounds pretty okay at first glance. However, the government also requires that individual taxi cabs pay a certain additional tax ( read: fee ) so that the cabdrivers would have the legal right to be able to charge these higher fares. It didn't matter that cabdrivers would have to pay this tax only once--just count the millions of cabdrivers who have to do so in order to start charging higher fares, and you can sum up the government's take in the hundreds of millions. In other words, before the cab drivers start earning more, they would have to pay a bit more, too.
The moment I hear this, I am reminded of common street thugs who approach you and say they won't harm you unless you hand over some, just this once. Talk about bullying and extortion.
Except this time, it's those big shots in high places who are talking. Pinoy politicians always have solutions to hunger and desperation in our country, but you have to fork over more money before you can avail of them. Yep, every piece of effective legislation always requires an additional burden on the pocket. The already stiff taxes you pay aren't really enough.
Now take a look at this, the cabdriver tells me. He points to a sort of rectangular plastic ornament hanging down his windshield. It's a card that says "On-Duty" on one side and "Off-Duty" on the other. Those government officials came up with a new law instituting the obligatory placement of these cards on all taxi cabs, he tells me. It is meant to show whether a cab driver is willing to take passengers ( On-Duty ) or is on break ( Off-Duty ). It is by all intents and purposes supposed to be against the law for cabdrivers to take this ornament off its place on their windshields, or to be without it in the first place, for that matter.
Of course it goes without saying that cabdrivers have to buy these godforsaken cards first. Which means that the government earns a bit more yet again. If cabdrivers make do without buying the cards in order to be able to save at least a bit of precious money for their own, then the government is only to eager to arrest them--and fine them. Again, more money for the government.
It kind of reminds you of the way with which the Italian mafia used to extort money from storeowners--pay up or we'll take you down.
It just goes to show that the present government is all to willing to dangle all sorts of promises...for a price. Will the time come when, God forbid, we'll be turning into another Myanmar, where people were struck down with calamity and food aid would be made available to the desperate victims only after some bribes were exchanged? Truth to tell, we Pinoys may well be on the same situation even now.
Oh the horror of it all.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Should Pinoys Be More Like Pakistanis?
It was a news item on BBC Asia Today. Pakistani students who graduated from university in countries outside Pakistan are coming back to their home country to contribute to its development. Pakistani businessmen whose enterprises have flourished in other countries aside from their own are also coming back to Pakistan to establish new money-making ventures with the hope of chipping in their own share.
Why the hell are they doing this? Are they stupid? I mean, Pakistan is poor and wretched just like any Third World country. Just like the Philippines. Millions of people there live in shantytown ghettoes, just like many people in the Philippines. The majority of people there are inadequately educated, are hungry, desperate for money, and for the most part also either underemployed or simply unemployed. Just like many Pinoys in the Philippines. This is the reason why so many Pakistanis have also left their country to look for better lives and opportunities abroad. Just like millions and millions of Pinoys!
And yet, Pakistanis who have found greener pastures in other countries are going back to Pakistan. So noticeable was this mass action that it was worthy of being noticed by an international news agency. Why? It is a question that would probably make any Pinoy overseas scratch his or her head. Oh yes. Why indeed. Pinoys who make it good in other countries would never ever consider going back to the Philippines. What for?
But these Pakistanis offer a simply-stated reason. "We owe it to our country to make it better," I remember one of them saying in an interview. Those other Pakistanis interviewed in the same segment used other words and phrases, but this goal of making their otherwise poor country better was the general sentiment amongst them. Well, wouldn't you know, these people still see hope for their nation!
Then again, perhaps Pakistan does have a chance of overcoming whatever problems might be dragging it down. Who can tell? Perhaps one day in the future, we Pinoys might see "Made in Pakistan" on cellular phones, shoes, toys, clothes, television sets, or whatever, as ubiquitously as those "Made in China". Perhaps there might come a time when we Pinoys would see our grandchildren working in Pakistani-owned offices, following orders from Pakistani bosses. It might even come to the point when unfortunate Pinays forced to sell their bodies for money might even see Pakistan as a viable destination, just like how many of these same unfortunate women perceive Japan today.
If ever that time does come, there'd be no doubt that these Pakistanis who went back home for their country would have played a large part in engendering it.
We Pinoys aren't the first nation of people who have gone to other countries by the millionfold because of our unenviable station in life. Way back, long long ago, the Chinese were already settling in other territories even before Magellan had landed in the Philippines. Much later, when Columbus landed on North America, it was the turn of those from Ireland, from Poland, from Italy, and from dozens of other countries, to go to America to establish their own stake at better lives.
We Pinoys are not the first race of people who have ever tried to find jobs and successful futures in other places. We are definitely not the first race of people to be labelled as "domestic helpers". It just so happens that right now, in our present milieu, we seem to be the only race of people who do anything and everything to deny our own Pinoy-ness. We hate being simply Pinoy. A Pinoy in America has to be Fil-Am. A Pinoy in Germany has to be Fil-German. Jose Rizal, who lived in and travelled to many places, in this frame of thinking, ought to have been called Fil-Am, Fil-German, Fil-French, Fil-Swiss, or Fil-wherever else he might have gone. Strangely enough, he preferred to be simply called Pinoy. Maybe because he felt proud of it.
Is there anything wrong with Pakistanis feeling so much obligated to make their own country better after having gone abroad? Would there be anything wrong for us Pinoys to feel the same way? Those Pakistanis are motivated with an overwhelming need to bring their country back up from the morass of political corruption and widespread poverty it is mired in today. When will Pinoys who have made it big in other countries feel the same way?
Why the hell are they doing this? Are they stupid? I mean, Pakistan is poor and wretched just like any Third World country. Just like the Philippines. Millions of people there live in shantytown ghettoes, just like many people in the Philippines. The majority of people there are inadequately educated, are hungry, desperate for money, and for the most part also either underemployed or simply unemployed. Just like many Pinoys in the Philippines. This is the reason why so many Pakistanis have also left their country to look for better lives and opportunities abroad. Just like millions and millions of Pinoys!
And yet, Pakistanis who have found greener pastures in other countries are going back to Pakistan. So noticeable was this mass action that it was worthy of being noticed by an international news agency. Why? It is a question that would probably make any Pinoy overseas scratch his or her head. Oh yes. Why indeed. Pinoys who make it good in other countries would never ever consider going back to the Philippines. What for?
But these Pakistanis offer a simply-stated reason. "We owe it to our country to make it better," I remember one of them saying in an interview. Those other Pakistanis interviewed in the same segment used other words and phrases, but this goal of making their otherwise poor country better was the general sentiment amongst them. Well, wouldn't you know, these people still see hope for their nation!
Then again, perhaps Pakistan does have a chance of overcoming whatever problems might be dragging it down. Who can tell? Perhaps one day in the future, we Pinoys might see "Made in Pakistan" on cellular phones, shoes, toys, clothes, television sets, or whatever, as ubiquitously as those "Made in China". Perhaps there might come a time when we Pinoys would see our grandchildren working in Pakistani-owned offices, following orders from Pakistani bosses. It might even come to the point when unfortunate Pinays forced to sell their bodies for money might even see Pakistan as a viable destination, just like how many of these same unfortunate women perceive Japan today.
If ever that time does come, there'd be no doubt that these Pakistanis who went back home for their country would have played a large part in engendering it.
We Pinoys aren't the first nation of people who have gone to other countries by the millionfold because of our unenviable station in life. Way back, long long ago, the Chinese were already settling in other territories even before Magellan had landed in the Philippines. Much later, when Columbus landed on North America, it was the turn of those from Ireland, from Poland, from Italy, and from dozens of other countries, to go to America to establish their own stake at better lives.
We Pinoys are not the first race of people who have ever tried to find jobs and successful futures in other places. We are definitely not the first race of people to be labelled as "domestic helpers". It just so happens that right now, in our present milieu, we seem to be the only race of people who do anything and everything to deny our own Pinoy-ness. We hate being simply Pinoy. A Pinoy in America has to be Fil-Am. A Pinoy in Germany has to be Fil-German. Jose Rizal, who lived in and travelled to many places, in this frame of thinking, ought to have been called Fil-Am, Fil-German, Fil-French, Fil-Swiss, or Fil-wherever else he might have gone. Strangely enough, he preferred to be simply called Pinoy. Maybe because he felt proud of it.
Is there anything wrong with Pakistanis feeling so much obligated to make their own country better after having gone abroad? Would there be anything wrong for us Pinoys to feel the same way? Those Pakistanis are motivated with an overwhelming need to bring their country back up from the morass of political corruption and widespread poverty it is mired in today. When will Pinoys who have made it big in other countries feel the same way?
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
What A Police Officer Taught Me
Not three nights ago I had to pay a visit to some far off police station. No, don't get any ideas. I wasn't under arrest. One of my dearest friends had fallen victim to a 25,000-peso worth theft and had requested me to drop by the police station with him. The cops had already nabbed the suspect, and the complaint had been lodged.
It was around 11 o'clock in the evening, and we strode into the dingy looking police station not having the least idea of what to do. My friend was holding two sheets of paper with print on it--his copy of the complaint. He was intending to communicate with one particular cop, the officer who had helped him file this same complaint, simply to ask whether the suspect had already posted bail or was still being held at the police station's detention cell. It was a sweltering night, and the foyer was populated with visitors like us and a sprinkling of officers in blue uniforms. My friend and I being the most recent newcomers, one of the officers approached us and asked us what we needed.
I have an uncle who used to be a cop, and I tend to think of him as my second father. Back when he was still in the force, he would sometimes take me along with him to headquarters, just for fun. I was a kid back then, and I never really took deep notice of how my uncle's fellow cops talked to visitors walking in. For the most part, however, I kind of enjoyed how police officers would often engage in rowdy behavior at headquarters--this would include feeling their egos just palpably bulge out at you with their strong, booming voices and the particular machismo in their stare, as if they were measuring you up as an opponent.
But I'm not a curious kid anymore, and my friend and I were now in unfamiliar territory, and we needed help from these cops. This particular officer who approached us asked the right questions, and yet displayed an attitude of dismissiveness, and outright roughness, as if we weren't civilians seeking help from the law but were rather unwanted reprobates. You notice the difference between asking a flight stewardess to guide you towards your seat and asking a surly security guard to allow you into a restricted area. Man, oh man, this cop wanted us off his back, as if we were bothering him in the middle of hectic work. You could tell it in his voice and his repellant stare.
Of course we generally think low of Pinoy cops. At certain times I tend to disagree with this opinion, since I've known many officers and I am very much aware of the real reasons behind their apparent--let's just say--unsaintliness. And yet, in this instance, this display of attitude was uncalled for. After all, a bit of courtesy would have certainly made a big difference.
Okay, let's just assume that the cop we were talking to was in fact simply the typical gruff fellow with the inflated ego. There are many people like this at the office, too. However, reflecting back on it later, I envisioned a scenario if foreigners came into the station, and this same officer encountered them instead of us.
Go ahead, try to imagine the situation for yourself. In all probability this otherwise crude guy would perhaps be meek, deferent, more courteous, and accommodating towards them. I've been witness to similar circumstances before, and don't tell me it doesn't happen.
It's an attitude which I myself have been guilty of in many other instances before. Quite simply, it is this--we Pinoys, proud of ourselves as being one of the most hospitable of races in the world, well...we treat foreigners differently. We treat them better than we would treat a fellow Filipino.
Okay, I admit, this is not the kind of insight one would normally derive from an experience like the one my friend and I had with that erring cop. Quite usually you, as a Pinoy having dealt with cops, too, would pronounce this one officer a bad egg, and would say "off to the frying pan with him!". And that would be the end of that.
Then again, maybe such a swishing dismissal of the matter would not cover all significant angles. True, it could be said that the situation might merely reflect a failure of that cop to follow very basic rules of politeness and courtesy. And yet, how glaringly apparent it is that most of us Pinoys somehow share the same fault too, and commit it the most often, when interacting with fellow countrymen. I mean, of course, this was a Pinoy cop with crude manners. But, I repeat, would he have been as asinine if it were a foreigner he was addressing?
Admit it. We Pinoys are aware of and a witness to this dichotomy in our attitude towards other people all the time. We treat foreigners kinder than we do fellow Pinoys. We give them more slack, so to speak. Say you put an American maid in front of you and a Filipina maid side by side. We would refer to the American as a "maid" and the Filipina as "longkatut". We would probably never see them on the same plane, with the same essential humanity. Would you refer to an American maid as an American "longkatut"? Many Korean factory workers tour around our country. They work the same hours and punishing tasks as Filipino factory workers. And yet, we have this perception that Filipino factory workers are...well, factory workers. Korean factory workers are "tourists". But look beyond the flashy cameras and baggage all those Korean tourists bring with them, and what is left is quite simply...a group of factory workers.
Now, imagine yourself a Pinoy in Saudi Arabia, or in New York, going to a police station over there to report yourself as a victim of a crime. Do you think that cops over there will treat their fellow countrymen with disdain, and then leave them behind to attend to you? Will the cops over there prioritize you? I would think not. I think it would be more apparent that they would treat everybody with the same deference and cordiality, if the situation were ideal. If the situation were less than ideal, then most probably it would be the Pinoy who would suffer the indignity of being rudely addressed to. I hope it doesn't happen often.
I am not saying that Pinoys should be rude to foreigners. I am simply of the mind that, if we treat foreign visitors delicately and with care, what is it that keeps us from treating each other in the same way? Hasn't it been said that the Japanese are one of the most polite people in the world? Would they reserve that politeness only to foreigners? Don't they treat fellow Japanese the same way? Even better, at some instances?
Maybe it's harder for us Pinoys to elevate our fellow countrymen to the same status we give foreigners because it is so imbedded in our own culture the attitude of self-deprecation. It is as if we have this instinctive trait of always perceiving fellow Pinoys as persons less deserving of our best efforts at social graces. This only brings to light an even deeper, and more frightening, implication--that we in fact think that the Pinoy is a lesser form of human.
My oh my. The things that a police officer taught me. I hope it's something all of us should think about.
It was around 11 o'clock in the evening, and we strode into the dingy looking police station not having the least idea of what to do. My friend was holding two sheets of paper with print on it--his copy of the complaint. He was intending to communicate with one particular cop, the officer who had helped him file this same complaint, simply to ask whether the suspect had already posted bail or was still being held at the police station's detention cell. It was a sweltering night, and the foyer was populated with visitors like us and a sprinkling of officers in blue uniforms. My friend and I being the most recent newcomers, one of the officers approached us and asked us what we needed.
I have an uncle who used to be a cop, and I tend to think of him as my second father. Back when he was still in the force, he would sometimes take me along with him to headquarters, just for fun. I was a kid back then, and I never really took deep notice of how my uncle's fellow cops talked to visitors walking in. For the most part, however, I kind of enjoyed how police officers would often engage in rowdy behavior at headquarters--this would include feeling their egos just palpably bulge out at you with their strong, booming voices and the particular machismo in their stare, as if they were measuring you up as an opponent.
But I'm not a curious kid anymore, and my friend and I were now in unfamiliar territory, and we needed help from these cops. This particular officer who approached us asked the right questions, and yet displayed an attitude of dismissiveness, and outright roughness, as if we weren't civilians seeking help from the law but were rather unwanted reprobates. You notice the difference between asking a flight stewardess to guide you towards your seat and asking a surly security guard to allow you into a restricted area. Man, oh man, this cop wanted us off his back, as if we were bothering him in the middle of hectic work. You could tell it in his voice and his repellant stare.
Of course we generally think low of Pinoy cops. At certain times I tend to disagree with this opinion, since I've known many officers and I am very much aware of the real reasons behind their apparent--let's just say--unsaintliness. And yet, in this instance, this display of attitude was uncalled for. After all, a bit of courtesy would have certainly made a big difference.
Okay, let's just assume that the cop we were talking to was in fact simply the typical gruff fellow with the inflated ego. There are many people like this at the office, too. However, reflecting back on it later, I envisioned a scenario if foreigners came into the station, and this same officer encountered them instead of us.
Go ahead, try to imagine the situation for yourself. In all probability this otherwise crude guy would perhaps be meek, deferent, more courteous, and accommodating towards them. I've been witness to similar circumstances before, and don't tell me it doesn't happen.
It's an attitude which I myself have been guilty of in many other instances before. Quite simply, it is this--we Pinoys, proud of ourselves as being one of the most hospitable of races in the world, well...we treat foreigners differently. We treat them better than we would treat a fellow Filipino.
Okay, I admit, this is not the kind of insight one would normally derive from an experience like the one my friend and I had with that erring cop. Quite usually you, as a Pinoy having dealt with cops, too, would pronounce this one officer a bad egg, and would say "off to the frying pan with him!". And that would be the end of that.
Then again, maybe such a swishing dismissal of the matter would not cover all significant angles. True, it could be said that the situation might merely reflect a failure of that cop to follow very basic rules of politeness and courtesy. And yet, how glaringly apparent it is that most of us Pinoys somehow share the same fault too, and commit it the most often, when interacting with fellow countrymen. I mean, of course, this was a Pinoy cop with crude manners. But, I repeat, would he have been as asinine if it were a foreigner he was addressing?
Admit it. We Pinoys are aware of and a witness to this dichotomy in our attitude towards other people all the time. We treat foreigners kinder than we do fellow Pinoys. We give them more slack, so to speak. Say you put an American maid in front of you and a Filipina maid side by side. We would refer to the American as a "maid" and the Filipina as "longkatut". We would probably never see them on the same plane, with the same essential humanity. Would you refer to an American maid as an American "longkatut"? Many Korean factory workers tour around our country. They work the same hours and punishing tasks as Filipino factory workers. And yet, we have this perception that Filipino factory workers are...well, factory workers. Korean factory workers are "tourists". But look beyond the flashy cameras and baggage all those Korean tourists bring with them, and what is left is quite simply...a group of factory workers.
Now, imagine yourself a Pinoy in Saudi Arabia, or in New York, going to a police station over there to report yourself as a victim of a crime. Do you think that cops over there will treat their fellow countrymen with disdain, and then leave them behind to attend to you? Will the cops over there prioritize you? I would think not. I think it would be more apparent that they would treat everybody with the same deference and cordiality, if the situation were ideal. If the situation were less than ideal, then most probably it would be the Pinoy who would suffer the indignity of being rudely addressed to. I hope it doesn't happen often.
I am not saying that Pinoys should be rude to foreigners. I am simply of the mind that, if we treat foreign visitors delicately and with care, what is it that keeps us from treating each other in the same way? Hasn't it been said that the Japanese are one of the most polite people in the world? Would they reserve that politeness only to foreigners? Don't they treat fellow Japanese the same way? Even better, at some instances?
Maybe it's harder for us Pinoys to elevate our fellow countrymen to the same status we give foreigners because it is so imbedded in our own culture the attitude of self-deprecation. It is as if we have this instinctive trait of always perceiving fellow Pinoys as persons less deserving of our best efforts at social graces. This only brings to light an even deeper, and more frightening, implication--that we in fact think that the Pinoy is a lesser form of human.
My oh my. The things that a police officer taught me. I hope it's something all of us should think about.
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