The Philippines is not exactly in the best of situations at the moment. In fact, it’s safe to say that the country is now in its most precarious state since the Second World War. Worse yet, it seems that everything that’s happened so far is all the result of the Pinoy’s own doing and mindset.
Now, I’m sure there are people out there who will take offense to this and say that there’s always hope. That hope does indeed “spring eternal” as they would have you believe. Unfortunately, I also need to point out that all the hope in the universe will amount to nothing if we refuse to act on it. Hope, unfulfilled is nothing more than false hope, if you ask me.
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Anyway, here are three big reasons why I think we’re in trouble as a people and why I don’t think we’ll be able to get out of this situation as easily as some may think:
The Same People Are Always In Power
It doesn’t matter whether the said people are proven criminals, have evidence of being utterly incompetent or are just plain scumbags, it seems that the common Pinoy will vote for them anyway. They say that forgiveness is a good thing but forgiving people doesn’t mean giving them the chance to screw everyone over again. This kind of thing isn’t forgiveness but naivete.
Take for instance Alan Purisima being once again placed in the same position as he did before the Mamasapano Incident. I thought the guy was supposed to be under suspension but here he is again, smiling even in his latest photos. Then there’s the case with former President Estrada. I thought ex-presidents weren’t supposed to be allowed to run again for the same position as is written by the Philippine constitution. However, if memory serves correctly, he almost won the last presidential election just being a little behind President Aquino himself.
No One Trusts Authority Figures Anymore
For peace and order to reign, one must have a good system of laws and people who will enforce said system of laws. Unfortunately, if said people upholding the laws can’t even be trusted with their duties, how can the common people be expected to comply with them.
Tying in with the above statement regarding Alan Purisima, it is common knowledge that most Filipinos simply see common police officers as another form of criminal. Also, it’s not just cops but also politicians and other authority figures that the common people have come to mistrust and despise. When so-called authority figures are looked upon with suspicion and fear instead of trust and courage by the common people, who can we hope to turn to when things finally take a turn for the worst.
Nobody Even Cares
While the two points mentioned above are quite dire in their own right, the fact that nobody even seems to care about all of it effectively dooms any effort at improvement. Now, I can assume that GRP, its allies and those who follow them still care but we at best number among the hundreds of thousands and are still vastly outnumbered by Pinoys who are still in the grip of ignorance and delusion. If majority of us don’t even care about the above statements, how can we even hope to do anything about them?
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Yeap, doomed, utterly doomed, forever a slave ecomony. Perhaps point 4 should be no education. I have seen my step son go thru school and him and his friends cant even do simple math. I cant wait to get my family out.
It never gets better. Check out a Filipino’s university certificates to see the courses and modules they take – rather than allowing them to focus on their actual field and produce expert specialists, they still continue general studies like math, art, sport etc into their 20s even when these are completely irrelevant for their degree, not to mention the mandatory national pride courses like Rizal and Filipino.
It’s like a direct continuation of high school. Some of them even have to wear uniforms, and based on another article I read here at GRP, many parents choose their kids’ universities for them, like they aren’t adults now. It’s about as far removed from my own university experience as you can get.
These conditions still persists or even worse with the Duterte regime. All the trolls are actually convinced he’s one of the best and incorruptible. But he put to jail those who went against and those who violated the laws he only fired then pretending to cuss them in a room. But they only get sent to their favorite provinces instead of jail. This apocalypse you predicted is happening now. Duterte is putting China in charge in case a revolution takes effect he’ll have Beijing send in their support.
Yea, getting out is priority. That’s what the smart people do anyway, leave and just come back to visit family, once in awhile.
I think it’s far worse than you think. All the same old faces are pulling the strings not because nobody cares, but because everybody wants them there.
Having rotten bastards at the top means that the guys just below them – say, running the BOC or the BIR – can justify their own villainy, all the way down to the average man in the street who, as he cheats, steal from and spits on his fellow man, can say: oh, it’s not my fault, it’s government corruption! What choice do I have? Or alternatively: hey, don’t look at me; what about HIM? He’s the real criminal here.
Having a scapegoat or someone to blame is a classic Pinoy distraction tactic. Have you noticed how many of the responses to you articles include one or more of:
1) Just look a country X, they’re even worse.
2) It’s the same everywhere.
3) It’s all the government’s fault.
Incompetent officials make very convenient scapegoats. Think of it this way: if a bunch of genuinely honest, intelligent, hard-working Pinoy politicians formed a political party, made a list of all the things that are wrong with the country, and explained how they would go about fixing them, do you think anyone would support them? No, they’d be insulted, accused of being anti-Pinoy or being “too clever”, and eventually assassinated by petty thugs.
To paraphrase that greatest of dystopian books, “1984”:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a Filipino face … forever.”
Plus the islands are all at sea level and with the oceans warming up, the Fail-ippines might be ‘ATLANTIS’ sooner than anyone would have thought a mere twenty-five years ago.
There’s actually nothing wrong with caring too much. But I guess you want to do that for the right people, right?
I hope not!!! Duerte for President!!
Our political leaders are AMORAL. Evil ia their good. And, good is their Evil.
Filipinos are : naive, ignorant, or simply do not care.
So, they vote the same Scumbug political leaders, over and over again. Hoping , to get different results, everytime. If this is not insanity…I don’t know, how to call it.
If we allow ourselves to be Doomed; then, we are all doomed.
I got it and everybody gets it. What are we going to do about it, is the question? Whine and cry? any suggestion/s to get things done correctly?
Don’t know about all the other writers but…
I think the only thing that will save the country now is an organized revolution…
Revolution against whom, against what? We had so many revolution already yet our country is still in a shit hole. Can you please enumerate the things we need to change before calling another revolution.
If I told you, you probably wouldn’t like me anymore… :'(
There will need to be some headcount cuts though. Whenever a company takes over another, that’s usually the first order of business. 😉
This sounds the most radical of all ideas, but I think the Philippines is better off just giving itself up to be governed and ruled by another country.
Yep. That’s the only best case scenario I can think of. 🙁
Or, alternatively, we can do this:
http://getrealphilippines.com/2015/06/please-support-kardong-kalabaw-2016-presidential-election/
Is there any Country that is interested to take-over Philippine government? Nope, we only have ourselves to rely on.
Why not? The Philippines has so much potential to further build its tourist sector, is ranked 5th most mineral rich nation in the world, and is one of the 17 biologically megadiverse countries on Earth. What country wouldn’t want to take advantage of that?
Ourselves to rely on? If that’s the case then the Philippines will continue to be screwed. End of story.
Here is my two cents worth.
Those who know better must act and make decisions for those who don’t know better. Those who don’t know better cannot make good decisions. Give them power and they’ll only use it for selfish reasons. Those who don’t know better should be educated first before you trust them with making decisions. Then those who know better should educate first those who don’t know better.
Probable Solution #1. Since Election Day seems inevitable, I read somewhere that election could be an opportunity for collective achievement. Via voting, not only is a person given the power to choose leaders who can make a big difference in the government and each person’s lives, it also gives that person the power to guide the leaders in making the right decisions. But those who don’t know better could ruin this opportunity. Those who don’t know better could still contribute to the collective achievement by stepping aside and allowing those who know better to make the critical decisions.
If for this short span of time until election, those who know better wasn’t given the power to act or make decisions for those who don’t know better, a) those who know better should device a way to make the most qualified leader win, b) the wide-range of Philippine media (through radio, newspaper, handouts, internet, movie, TV and public talk), private and public sectors should come together for voter education of the whole voting population or c) those who know better should outnumber those who don’t know better in voter participation.
If all of the above failed then we go to Probable Solution #2. For the meantime since I run out of idea, I’ll go for Grimwald’s revolution. 😀
Who is going to the judge who knows better and who don’t?
Never thought of the judge because I thought if one really knows better, he or she can’t be outdone by those who don’t know better. What do you think?
Grimwald, spit it out, I never liked you anyway 🙂 Look, I don’t mind critics as long as they have better ideas.
Kindly read up on the French Revolution and you have an idea of what I think might be beneficial to the Philippines… Including the “Reign of Terror” before or during Napoleon’s time
That’s another option Staser. Now, tell us how are we going to do that?
I know, Philippines has no quick fix and we need extreme measures to get there but pleading to foreigners to save us is not one of them.
Make moves to reestablish the country as an unincorporated territory of the United States again. Put it to a national vote before delegating the proposal to the Americans. Of course, if the Filipinos vote it down or enact voter fraud then it’s their foolish loss.
A less ideal alternative is to get rid of the OFW program. It is really just a scam that keeps the country stagnant. Instead, create joint exchanges with nations high on the development index to train Filipino students abroad and have them return home to rebuild everything from the ground up. Of course, this one seems highly unlikely.
Regardless, the country cannot progress at all without external forces. The only times in history Filipinos made any significant progress as a society was under Spanish colonialism and American occupation. And the last time Filipinos were ever disciplined by their own hand was martial law under the Marcos regime, but repeating this scenario is even more improbable.
It’s simple: give up your political sovereignty or continue independent mediocrity.
Even if and when the Philippines will have the government and politicians they want (no more corruption, no more bribery) the population will NOT excel and will not prosper.
To have such a perfect government together with a dysfunctional society is a big contradiction which you will find nowhere in the world.
So, change has to come from the people. If they dont change their mindset, they will never get the “perfect” government.
If a person is this narrow of what he thinks of the Philippines, he really better commit suicide, ‘coz he himself is hopeless.
Philippines is not hopeless, only the people who think it is.