Save Mary Jane Veloso! Save Baguio City! Save the Pasig River! Save Boracay!
It’s pathetic.
Filipinos are always looking for a higher or wealthier power to “save” their wretched lot. The pattern has been set and the consistency now world-renowned. After abject neglect, wanton partying or sitting on their asses for years, or all of the above, the eleventh-hour cry is always the same and inevitable.
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SAVE ME!!
The call is usually directed to God. His son Jesus, after all, is the Saviour. More recently it is directed to the Philippine Government. Like leader like constituents. Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III refers to his subjects as his ironic “Boss”. His constituents, on the other hand, refer to their president as their saviour. It is a relationship of circular accountability where the buck stops with no one.
The more prayerful the more potent a saviour is — or so Pinoy-style thinking goes. That, in essence, is the source of the power of the Pope in the eyes of his Catholic flock in the Philippines. He is the pre-eminent earthly channel to God. That does not stop other more ordinary folk to make similar claims. They also have their own quite impressive followings (and lucrative TV franchises).
Today’s Inquirer editorial on the plight of Boracay (the Philippines’ erstwhile tourism crown jewel) can serve as a parable of this national dysfunction.
First the shortsighted partying…
There [on Boracay’s sands], revelers typically engage in a nonstop whirl of beach parties, water activities, sports events, music concerts and the like. In 2014, Boracay received a staggering 1,472,352 tourists, both local and foreign, a figure higher by 100,000 compared to 2013. But that number even fell short of the official government target, which was 1.5 million tourist arrivals.
…then the killjoy eleventh-hour realisation — that the problem of algae which, studies have found, thrives on effluent leaking from the island’s pwede-na-yan (“that’ll do”) sewage “system” is getting worse. And so comes the predictable lament following the standard Pinoy template of regret:
The Department of Tourism estimates that a tourist is bound to produce at least one kilo of trash; multiply that by the 80,000 “Laboracay” revelers alone that had most recently flooded the island, and you get a waste management problem of nightmare proportions.
You gotta have real patience saving a people who are routinely “surprised” by mounds of human waste in their own backyard — or compatriots “suddenly” on death row in a foreign country. You ask, What were you doing the whole time your own shit was piling up? And all you will get is a shrug and that characteristically sheepish canine smile Pinoys are world-renowned for.
Fortunately, God’s patience and understanding is, we are told, infinite. And so… Let us pray. Pray for the salvation of Boracay. And Mary Jane Veloso. And the Philippines. More importantly, pray that Filipinos will elect a good president for a change.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
And the smart Filipinos will look down and say: “No.”
Rorschach? 🙂
…. you actually beat me to it. Its funny though, because Rorshach’s quote;
All the whores and the politicians will look up and shout, save us!
I’ll look down and whisper, no.
Really applies to the Philippines. Because the way its running now is unsustainable.
The real problem with Filipinos looking up and waiting for mana from heaven is that it never crosses in their minds to become that miracle. Be the hero where everyone refuses to make a stand.
The place to start when trying to “save” Boracay, Pasig River, Baguio and other pretty places is to reduce the population by about 50%. Throw the Catholic Church out of the country so people don’t have to bow down before the most corrupt organization in the country and things will start to improve once there is negative population growth. NO family should be allowed to produce another child until at least 2 older family members have died. Random murder of pregnant women should be rewarded, not punished. That would reduce the future population by 2, not just 1. This is a tiny country with a population breeding like rabbits and drastic measures need to be taken sooner rather than later.
Did you just say “Random murder of pregnant women should be rewarded…”,? Lynch you are a bigger douchbag than I ever thought possible.U kno, I’ve considered saying ‘Hello’ to you a few times in Malabalay.Now I would spit at you, and believe I could back up my actions if necessary too !!!! Whatta douchbag you have proven yourself to be, with that one ! !
Prayer without work, is no prayer at all. God help those who help, themselves.
This is the tragedy of Filipino mindset. It is the will of God. So, they just sit and wait. Hoping that “mannas” from Heaven will fall on them.
So, we elect the most corrupt and the most stupid political leader. Hoping he/she will turn out right.
Inspite of the dismal records of a political candidate. We elect him/her. Hoping that he/she has changed for the better. We are disappointed, because:”Leopards do not change their spots”.
It’s my opinion, with most Failipinos, just knowing they are alone, living inside of their own miserable, self hating, dysfunctional mind, with their own immature, insecure, self pitying self is its own revenge. Their existence is their karma.