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When I was small - By Alex Bello
An interesting article written by a Filipino, Alex Bello. Says Art Borjal of this article,"The article is a challenge to all of us, including Filipinos now residing in the land of milk and honey".Later, a letter, purported to be an email to the Filipino people from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo started circulating.
When I was small, the Philippine Peso was P7 to the $dollar. The president was Diosdado Macapagal. Life was simple. Life was easy. My father was a farmer. My mother kept a small sari-sari store where our neighbors bought sang-perang asin, sang-perang bagoong, sang-perang suka, sang-perang toyo at pahinging isang butil nabawang. Our backyard had kamatis, kalabasa, talong, ampalaya, upo, batao, and okra. Our silong had chicken and we had a pig, a dog and a cat, of course, we lived on the farm.
During rainy season, my father caught frogs at night, which my mother made into batute (stuffed frog), or just plain fried. During the day, he caught hito and dalag from his rice paddies, which he usually inihaw. /
During dry season, we relied on the chickens, vegetables, bangus, tuyo, and tinapa. Every now and then, there was pork and beef from the town market. Life was so peaceful, so quiet, no electricity, no TV, just the radio for Tia Dely, Roman Rapido, Tawag ng Tanghalan and Tang-tarang-tang. And who can forget Leila Benitez on Darigold Jamboree?
Most of the day on weekends, I played with my neighbors (who were all my cousins).Tumbang-preso, taguan-pung, piko, luksong-lubid, patintero, at iba pa. I don't know about you, but I miss those days.
These days, we face the TV, the Internet, Email, newspaper, magazine, grocery catalog, or drive around. The peso is staggering and incredible P52 to the $dollar. Most people can't have fun anymore. Life has become a battle. We live to work. We work to live. Life is not easy.
I was in Saudi Arabia in 1983. It was lonely, difficult, and scary. It didn't matter if you were a man or a woman, you were target for rape. The salary was cheap and the vacation far between. If the boss didn't want you to go on holiday, you didn't. They had your passport. Oh, and the agency charged you almost four months of your salary, which if you had to borrow on a 20% per month meant your first-year pay was all gone before you earned it.
The Philippines used to be one of the most important countries in Asia. Before and during my college days, many students from neighboring Asian countries, e. g. Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and China went to the Philippines to get their diplomas. Until 1972, like President Macapagal, President Marcos was one of the most admired presidents of the world, and the Peso had kept its value, P7 to the $dollar until I finished college. Today, the Philippines is famous as the "Housemaid" capital of the world. It ranks very high as the "Cheapest Labor" capital of the world, too. We have maids in Hong Kong, laborers in Saudi Arabia, dancers in Japan, migrants and TNTs in Australia and USA, and all sorts of other tricky jobs in other parts of the globe. Quo Vadis, Pinoy? Is that a wonder or a worry? Are you proud to be a Filipino, or does it matter anymore? When you see the Filipino Flag and hear the Pambansang Awit, do you still feel a sense of pride, or a sense of defeat and uncertainty. If only things could change for the better. . .
Hang on, this is a job for Superman. Or who do you call, Ghostbusters. Joke. Right? This is one of our problems. We say, I love the Philippines. I am proud to be a Filipino. I send you a joke, you send it to the whole of your Address Book if it kills the Internet. But I send you a note how to save our country and ask you to forward it, what do you do? Chuckit in the bin.I want to help the housemaids in Hong Kong. I want to help the laborers in Saudi Arabia. I want to help the dancers in Japan. I want to help theTNTs in America and Australia. I want to save the people of the Philippines.
But I cannot do it alone. I need your help and everyone else's. So please, forward this email to your friends. If you say you love the Philippines, don't just say it, do it.
And if you don't agree with me,say something anyway. Indifference is a crime all on its own.
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:: Bing Monday, October 28, 2002
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