I am working class, I pay my taxes, I am an "ordinary office worker,"
I know how it feels..... but this person, whoever he or she is, does
not speak for me. While the writer did not claim that he was speaking
for anyone but himself, the same passion that compelled him to compose
his message is the same passion which compels me now to say my piece.
I write this for several reasons. First, the email (or more
accurately, the blog entry) now circulating, as strongly-worded as it
is, is bound to reach more and more people and lest more are led to
believe that most of us think in the same vein, I have to say that we
do not, or at least I don't. Second, many of his statements do a great
many Filipino grave disservice. Third, it is time to speak.
I am just as sick of the corruption and the scandals and the
politicking. Pagod, sawa, at sukang-suka sa walang katapusang
pagbabangayan, tama siya doon! Ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas ay saksakan
ng dumi at baho... tama ulit!
We are all sick of watching these politicians fight over positions in
goverment like rabied dogs, all in the name of public service kuno
when in fact the only interest they ever serve is their own. But this
issue goes so far beyond politics! Sino nga bang kawawa sa mga
nangyayari ngayon? Kahit naman anong mangyari doon sa itaas, wala
naman sa kanila ang maghihirap. Even if Gloria resigns or is removed
from office, she's not going to end up anywhere near the poor house
scrounging for a daily living. Lahat sila, administrasyon, oposisyon,
militar, the big business players... all those powers that be who seem
to be driving the country further and further into the depths of
oblivion... they have nothing to lose except the opportunity to
accumulate more wealth at our expense. If this country does
self-destruct, all they have to do is hop on an airplane and fly,
business class at that, to some other country.
At sino ang maiiwan dito? Tayo. The so-called "middle-class"... and
the so-called "masa". Sama-sama tayong maiiwan dito to drown in the
muck. And because of this, I see no distinction between the purported
middle-class and the masa anymore, definitely not one that will help
us in these trying times. To hang on to the notion that our interests
are different is myopic.
To believe that the middle-class have more at stake is arrogant. To
continue to keep a line between "them" and "us" is elitist and wrong.
It also borders on prejudice, which is unacceptable. This kind of
hatred is just as bad as greed.
Look around you. Unless you are surnamed Ayala (exception na lang
siguro si Joey Ayala) or Cojuancgo or Gokongwei or what have you....
working or not, MASA ka rin! So what if you dress better, or went to a
private school, can speak decent English, or listen to Coldplay
instead of April Boy? Does it make you more of a person? Does it make
you more deserving of a better life? Does it make you more entitled to decent service from
an honest government? All it makes you is, well, better-dressed and
eligible for a higher tax bracket.
You know what the real differences are? The real difference between
"us" and "them" is that while "we" complain about not being able to
afford a fancy dinner at some expensive restaurant or buy a new pair
of sneakers or get the latest cellphone, "they" worry about where to
get money for their next meal. "They" worry about diseases like
pneumonia and TB and not having even a hundred bucks to even go to a
doctor to ask for prescription that they won't be able to afford to
buy anyway. Our children give up going to the movies; their children
give up fare money and walk to school, if they are able to still go to
school in the first place. The taxes that you pay may mean an
out-of-town family vacation. The taxes that according to you they
don't pay could spell the difference between life or death. THAT is
the difference.
Paying your taxes does not make you better than anyone else. Haven't
you thought about the fact that so many Filipinos are exempt from
paying taxes precisely because they are too poor to pay any tax?
Totoo, nakakainis ang mga tamad. At totoo naman na maraming tamad sa
Pilipinas. But the poor do not have a monopoly on the indolence in
this country. I find it tyrannical, and such a terrifying recall to
the Spanish colonial era, that some people still seem to think so. As
much as there are lazy people in the squatters of Tondo, there are
just as many lazy people in Forbes Park. The only difference is that
they have Daddy's money to disguise their lack of productivity. At
kahit tamad sila, hindi sila nagugutom.
Totoo, may mahihirap na hindi umaangat kasi tamad. Pero karamihan sa
mahihirap humihirap dahil kahit anong gawin nila, hindi sila
nabibigyan ng pagkakataong umayos ang buhay. Do we really believe the
poor are content with their poverty and do not try to do all in their
power to change their fate? Tell that to the driver of the next
pedicab you ride.
The bare naked truth is, in most cases, they are simply not given the
opportunity to prosper. For one, Government does not give them the
education they need and deserve to equip and empower them to do
better. And there's the capitalist economy of consumption and excess,
where profit is the end that justifies any means, which simply will
not let anyone other than the key players and investors and top-level
executives have any share of the wealth. I find it strange that you
shouldn't see this. You are the best example of what I mean. You
complain of having to content yourself with a 10 peso waffledog at
mini-stop instead of your favorite value meal at Jollibee? Yet you
work your butt off, don't you? Hindi ka tamad, pero yumaman ka na ba?
Like I said, masa ka rin. The simple fact is, for poor people like us,
there is a much bigger hurdle than the fight against one's own
"tamaditis."
You also attack those activitists who take to the streets. Unang-una,
sana ihiwalay mo yung mga tunay na aktibista dun sa mga binayaran lang
ng kung sinong pulitiko para manggulo. Hindi lahat ng nakikipaglaban
sa kalsada walang trabaho at tamad at hindi nagbabayad ng buwis at
nagbibilad sa araw para lang manggulo. There are those of them, and
believe me there are many, who are decent hard-working people. They
sacrifice time that would otherwise have been spent with their
families to fight for what they believe in. They sacrifice the daily
wages they might otherwise earn precisely because they feel that it is
the future of their children that is at stake. And it is precisely
because they are the disadvantaged lot that their sacrifices are even
more proportionately significant. More than income, they have
sacrificed life and limb for this country, and will do so again if the
need arises. For anyone to scoff at this, no matter how much we
disagree with the form that ideology takes, is disrespectful and
cruel. It is an insult to those who have made such sacrifices, to
their families who have made the sacrifices with them, and to those of
us who still believe that this country, damned as it seems to be, is
still worth fighting for.
Besides, ano nga bang masama sa ideolohiya? You use it like it was a
bad word. What is ideology, really, but a principle by which we aspire
to achieve our ideals? And what are our ideals? Better lives for
ourselves and our families? A better future for our children? To live
in a peaceful and just society, where there is enough for all and no
one is hungry or poor or uneducated? To be called a great nation and
take pride in our citizenship? Isn't that the ideal we all strive for?
The ideologies may vary, but still, the ideals are the same.
Bottomline: we all want the same thing. Masa man o middle class,
(kahit nga yung mga mayayaman at corrupt
na pulitiko, nasobrahan lang sila), we all want the same thing. Kelan
ba kasi naging synonymous ang ideology sa idealismo at ang idealismo
sa imposible? It is precisely because we have abandoned our ideals and
idealism that we are in the muck. It is precisely because we have so
been frustrated by our experiences that just the mere mention of any
ideology
makes us cringe and turn away. But if all these ideologies die, then
how will we ever strive for our ideals? Siguro nga tama ka, mamatay na
nga silang kumakapit pa sa prinsipyo at ideolohiya. Mamatay na tayong
lahat.
We have different ways of fighting for what we believe in, different
ways of contributing. Some of us take to the streets, some of us stand
quietly by but in our hearts we protest the injustices that surround
us and in our own ways, we do what we can. But I say, better do
something than nothing at all. To give up now will do nothing but
assure our doom.
The present political crisis is more than just political. True, this
needs to be resolved and at the soonest possible time. But however
which way this plays out? what we need to assure is that we do not let
this happen again.
Like I said, tayo ang kawawa. Buti sana if the effects of these
political upheavals are contained only amongst those people who keep
on palying musical chairs with the seats of power. Pero hindi eh.
Lahat tayo, apektado. From ordinary office workers to the jobless man
with five mouths to feed waiting at home, tamad man o hindi, we are
the ones who suffer. These political maneuverings have translated into
decades of poverty for so many and that makes me sick and livid with
anger. It makes my heart break. And we are all accountable for that.
Yes, all of us. And merely paying our taxes do not make us blameless.
We are accountable in so many ways that may seem little but are real
nonetheless. We are accountable when we vote for a person only because
kababayan natin siya, or tatay siya ng kaklase natin sa elementary, o
nakikita natin siya sa pelikula. We are accountable when we go to the
LTO and bribe the employees there so we don't have to spend two hours
in line. We are accountable when we solicit favors from politicians
and public servants and contribute to the prevalence of patronage
politics. We are accountable when we allow our friends or relatives to
solicit (or grant!) those favors. We are accountable when we engage in
business practices that deprive laborers of their fair and just wages
just so we could keep our profit levels as high as we possibly can
with nary a thought of how we owe to our employees not just to give
them wages but to raise their quality of life. We are accountable
when, in the name of job and investment generation, we develop
industries and technologies that wreak havoc on the environment and
the health of local communities thereby effectively pushing them once
and for all into a place of irrevocable poverty and true
disenfranchisement.
More so we are accountable when we sit by and say nothing or do
nothing to register our dissent and make things change. We are our
worst enemies. But, we are also our own best friends.
I say this to you in fellowship and with respect for the great love
you have for our country, which is obvious in spite of your
disillusion and decision to give up. Go. Be the proverbial rat who
abandons the sinking ship. Save yourself and pursue the life you want.
You have a right to it. Iwan mo kaming bayan ng mga jologs.
Like I said, I respect your opinion. Hindi kita inaaway, and if I
sound like it, I apologize. Actually, this is my real point. Hindi
tayo ang magkaaway dito, just as much as I believe na hindi yung mga
aktibista sa kalye o mahihirap na hindi makapagbayad ng buwis and
kaaway mo. I cannot accept that they should deserve this kind of ire.
And I find it counterproductive, to say the least, to put the
impoverished majority of this country on the other side of the fence.
You are angry, which is how most of us feel, but your anger is
somewhat misdirected. Para sa akin, nakakatakot kung ganyan ngang
mag-isip talaga ang lahat ng "middle-class." Kung magkataon, wala na
talagang mangyayari sa atin. Rage against the corrupt and greedy
people in power and I will rage with you. Rage against those who
resort to murder and terrorism to get what they want. But please,
spare the rest of us who just like you, flawed as we are, are just
victims here.
And herein lies the crux: we may be victims here, but we are not
helpless. We have to fight together. We must exercise discernment and
distinguish propaganda from truth. Now is not the time to point
fingers at each other and call each other names and wish each other
one-way trips to hell. We must identify who and what the real enemies
are; and in my heart of hearts, I know that I will not find them in
the shantytowns of Manila.
There is so much that ails our country. There is something so terribly
wrong when you live in a society where some people can afford 700,000
peso TV sets while just a few feet away there are children dying of
malnutrition. The fact that even people with the greatest love for
this
country give up and leave, is the saddest commentary of all. As urgent
as the need to change the people who govern us, is the need to change
so many of the intrinsic things that make our systems and institutions
so vulnerable to manipulation by the few. Not the least of these
things is our own individual tolerance. There is much work to be done.
And it must start, now.
You're right. What we need is radical change. A revolution is in
order. A real one. One that will go beyond changing the names of the
people we empower to abuse us. Take that statement however which way
you want. Take it to the streets, if you will. But my real prayer is
that you take it to your heart. Evaluate. Discern. Participate.
Change. Sacrifice. Hope. Act.
And yes, leave if you must. I wish you the best of luck, too. And one
day, I hope that you will come back to a Philippines that we, the
jologs, will have rebuilt to make you proud.
