It's More Fun In The Philippines When You Have Complete Set Of Limbs

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

In elementary, we were taught that Bayanihan only existed in the Philippines. The iconic scene that is of a nipa hut with both ends perched on the shoulders of men in the village and carried off to a nearby place, comes to mind.  Volunteers sometimes run a risk of getting stuck in the mud and losing the balance, if unfortunate the hut follows somersaulting into the dirt mud. Then cheering women let out a scream in unison that turns into laughter. Men stuttered by the sheer weight can't help but join wriggling in laughter as women start to pick on them for having lost their stamina in a previous night's grind. My  childhood memories store of similar scenes from where I grew up and indeed our Bayanihan is a virtue that is one of a kind, if not unparalleled, even so intellectuals grapple to find its foreign equivalent, the jargon of sort, at least.

Okay, we own the patent for that world-renowned virtue embedded in our culture. So what's next? Of course we are darn proud of our customs and tradition. We are proud to be Filipinos. We are  proud of our race. We are the best and we are willing to don belt bomb to annihilate skeptics. It is but natural, no argument here. (In fact, this one here has a familiar banner gleaming over the sidebar of his blog). But ask one sincere fellow whose candor to say he is not proud to be one could spontaneously provoke a race to set up a Facebook page condemning him and putting him in the same breath as the anti-christ. Add up some smart mind literally swimming in wealth due to the success of a venture on polo shirt with the ubiquitous Philippine map emblazoned on it, for a proof.

Of course, this degree of patriotism does not only thrive within  domestic confines, more so a bold statement a Filipino carries with him beyond his shores. In the streets of Jeddah, one does not need to make a wild guess whether the driver is an Indonesian or a Filipino. Tendency is, the gleaming tri-colors and I love Philippines stickers spread across the windshield or trunk of the car serve for easy identification, well, in this case it makes  a patriotic compatriot easy target for a cruising hormonally charged local.

Now here goes the question: What is the relevance of us being proud to the gruesome photo above? Okay, we are proud to be Filipinos, right? And we are super proud of our tradition too. So it's about time that we own up too to the colossal embarrassment that we rightfully deserve from a taunting world because of our world-renowned  New Year's tradition.

Random Thoughts on the 3 Fs of New Year's Tradition in the Philippines:

Food: For the well-to-dos, ushering the new year should be a picture of opulence that dining tables overflow with sumptuous food. Mountains of carb-rich and cholesterol-laden menus adorn tasseled tables of the well-to-dos that leftovers could still feed an entire village - not the typical scene you find in poor households. The month-long holiday mode in December sets the norm for food bingeing that  the omni-present Christmas parties get a malevolent middle finger for a palm-sized increase in waistlines as the year culminates. High-end hospitals similarly enjoy the perks of draining cash from rich patients, whose talents at stuffing their bellies to the brim trigger the hypertension and cardiovascular issues in them. And some who survived the death threat still get the chance to flock online, filtering on the very best advice on how to get rid of the curse slash proof of gastronomic indulgences. So they say, at least they're active in promoting what our culture teaches us: to welcome and feel the Christmas spirit in the form of food, exchange gifts, getting drunk, debauchery, excessive revelry and some endless and senseless partying.

The stark contrast of Christmas 'spirit' seen in poor families is hardly surprising, given the glaring gap between two social levels. The poor do not see Christmas and New Year much of happy holidays when nothing has changed much in their dining table. Not many similar left-and-right invitations for some Christmas gathering; a stray one could prove a nuisance to their daily quest for a living, yes even for a day. Christmas parties at school of their kids can sometimes pose a problem for parents who find mandatory exchange gifts a real burden. But in the race for a flatter belly after the holidays, the poor win hands down. They don't have much to burn; good for them, their daily grind for a living does them a favor. Observe a decrepit cart-pushing man in his topless along the streets of Manila and you will envy at his six-pack you would want to trade your skin-encased blubber with his, except for his trade.

Firecrackers: It is without a doubt that no other country on the planet comes close to the fame the Philippines enjoy for being outrageously crazy over New Year celebrations. What new year revelry in the Philippines without fire crackers? And what new year celebration without flying limbs and blown-up fingers strewn across empty spaces, where adults and kids alike compete setting light to bombs like Goodbye Philippines and Bin Laden?

The Philippines has laws in placed banning powerful firecrackers that perennially gift significant members of population on new year's eve the following:  bombed-out limbs, mangled fingers, blown-up faces, and take this - mangled bodies reminiscent of Baghdad bombings where relatives struggle to piece together their dead's limbs and entrails. Forget about those laws. They were made to make it appear that the government is doing something else besides plundering and milking the cows.

And what government can constrain a determined people bound by tradition and belief that loud  and scary explosions  actually scare evil spirits off? (By the way, if nations of evil spirits were successfully driven out year after another, we would have succeeded in jailing the politicians and illegal loggers who conspired to wipe off a substantial populace in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. We would have sent the Marcoses in jail in the company of a pardoned convicted plunderer, and the Arroyo clan that occupy rightful places alongside greatest corrupt leaders in history. And the list goes on and on.)

To make a really credible point here, the data below and actual situation in the wake of New Year's celebration especially in Manila have given weight to the shift of world's attention on us, not with awe but  this time a well-deserved contempt:

• 916 firecrackers-related injuries - combine the power of Goodbye Philippines, Goodbye Universe and Bin Laden and you will get a real war zone reminiscent of World War 2 that rendered Manila the most devastated capital next to Warsaw. The world has been educated that the Philippines is a third-world country famous for its manpower export, but New Year tradition in the country is tantamount to  hundreds of millions of pesos spent on  firecrackers, in addition to millions worth of destroyed properties and lost lives brought about by careless handling of these explosives - all for the sake of tradition. So, despite their award-winning campaign to keep limbs still attached to their owners come 2012, people at the Department of Health were reduced to tears, not for overflowing compassion for the victims but of feeling slighted when all they had to deal with were a bunch of boneheads.

• 28 injuries caused by stray bullets (a handful of them died) - who else feel entitled to spray the air with bullets with complete disregard for innocent recipients of their bullets of arrogance, but the men in uniform and educated individuals? This is the worst part of the New Year tradition when monsters are itching to pull the trigger of their guns, knowing fully well that at some point the bullets will be buried in the bodies of the unlucky ones in a mega city of over 20 million. When does killing another person become acceptable for the sake of tradition? When does revelry become a license to cause others to mourn? Okay, it's a given, where else but the Philippines where revelry is equivalent to savagery. 

• 5 kids injured for ingesting firecrackers - perhaps parents underestimate the dire consequences, thus the complacency and carelessness to keep firecrackers close to their kids' mouths, or as one CNN comment puts it - these being "easily edible when nothing is on the table save for four corners". When have we become a country of responsible parents, when 85%  of the population squirm in poverty and disease due to overpopulation propagated by the Catholic church and sanctioned by the government? 

• An international airport unable to handle air traffic due to thick smog hovering over Metro Manila - and now that's very self-explanatory. People cannot just curse the smog and pray it away when its sheer thickness can shield the whole city from hailstones as big as Pacquiao's fist. Include the upsurge in respiratory illnesses that cause a stampede to get to emergency rooms first, then we have a bunch of people to blame for preferring fried chicken over vegetables that weaken their immune system. Please forget the amount of toxins they inhale - they are there to stay for weeks, or months - so count them as part of their existence - remember there are still remnants of Bin Ladens that didn't get to explode.

Feng Shui: Of course this is big fat business. Remember how so-called Feng Shui experts find their lives changed? Most of them live glamorous and opulent lives. They are being given substantial media exposure because people rich and poor alike, come to them for advice on what to do and what to avoid for the coming year so that nice fortunes don't frantically running from them but beggingly coming to them. And what happened to Gloria? I just doubt if she ever got the best advice and offered the most potent charm with all her money to buy much, if not all of Binondo's and Quiapo's  amulets and lucky charms on offer. I once heard one famous Feng Shui store razed by fire and another ransacked by ciminals and never to recover. If only those spirits invoked by Feng Shui were offered the best perks or perhaps a little entertainment, they would have not staged a protest and firmly guarded those stores and not let misfortune ate them up. But don't count  the poor just yet out of the equation, because some of them try, really try, to acquire some prized lucky charms in lieu of canned sardines for a meal. Did they not argue that a meal can be ignored but not the nice fortune that awaits them the entire new year? Ah, only in the Philippines!

I don't mean to advocate sarcasm but here is to tradition that symbolizes our national identity: Those who survived the war zone with limbs still attached and both eyes able to see, happy and prosperous New Year!

Philippine Sea Tragedies: Who's The Real Culprit?

"It's a shame, when a government that can shamelessly afford a million-peso dinner cannot afford to pay minimum wage for personnel supposedly tasked to secure the safety of its people."

They say Christmas is for children. If so, this is a cruel Christmas for some children who perished in the recent tragedies at sea. Back to back sea tragedies in Philippine waters this Christmas is no Christmas at all for the victims and those who lost their loved ones. When passengers were gearing up for their memorable Christmas vacation, disasters struck.

As of posting time, many bodies are still unaccounted for. Search and retrieval operation is still ongoing. Relatives of the missing still await news from the authorities. Those who survived are considered fortunate, and those who perished their destiny already sealed.

The Philippines is known to be one of the world's largest archipelagos. It is comprised of 7,107 islands, mostly inhabited. Its maritime history is as old as human civilization. And it is no surprise that it also boasts of maritime disasters, its record no other country would dare challenge.

This year alone, an incredibly-dizzying record of 11 disasters had already occurred in Philippine seas. Hundreds of lives were already lost and survivors have yet to move on with their lives. To a country that boasts of world-class seafarers, the rationale that these disasters are attributed to incompetence is just absurd. But what makes this phenomenon seemingly unavoidable?

From the words itself of the Marina Administrator, she unhesitatingly admitted that the government lacks iron will to implement laws on maritime safety. She further stressed that they lack personnel to conduct ocular check on sea-worthiness of all passenger vessels. This is the painful truth, all patrons of this so called roros (roll-on roll-off) have to live with.

In provinces outside of mainland Luzon, the traveling public have no other choice, but to patronize this kind of transportation. Apart from its being affordable, it also allows passengers to carry loads of cargoes necessary for their day to day subsistence. So in essence, it is their only mode of transportation.

The usual causes of these disasters arise from over-loading, over-crowding (actual passengers are higher than what is being declared in the manifesto), and dilapidated vessels that are actually third or fourth hand bought at a cheap price - which make them unfit for sailing, but are hugely tolerated to operate.

As expected, authorities are quick to blame the owners of these ill-fated vessels citing irresponsibility and greed. Fingerpointing becomes the norm in these cases and the usual culprit would be the ruthless yet defenseless Mother Nature. What a good riddance of culpability from our government officials!

If our government within its power cannot ensure the safety of our sea travellers, what the hell on earth these Marina and Coast Guard people are doing? What makes these agencies beneficial to our people? That would also be preposterous to abolish their existence! But why is it everytime disasters happen, they just sheepishly admit they lack manpower to execute their duties? How many more vessels are considered to be sea-unworthy, yet continuously proliferate our ports?

This is my take on this. If you happen to be a citizen of a third world archipelagic countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, and you don't have any other choice of transportation, but to avail of the services of these doomed floating cemeteries; start to think that this is your government's inexplicit way of curtailing population growth. Why not? Despite the Philippines being the country with the worst record in maritime disasters, it is yet to learn from its blunders!

When we talk about safety and hundreds of lives are at stake, whatever it takes to ensure lives are preserved, we ought to do everything within our power and capacity. But who cares? "These are only poor people with less impact to our existence! Why bother to increase the budget of Marina or Coast Guard when there is not much left from government coffers?" Sad to say, these are the obvious monologues from our corrupt officials, who until now refuse to realize they are being derelict and grossly irresponsible.

The Marina administrator herself, in her capacity admits that, their lack of personnel is the reason why not all vessels are being thoroughly inspected for sea-worthiness. It was reported that a crew who did not survive the incident, even managed to text her family saying there was a big hole in the ship and that she was scared it might capsize. Unfortunately for her, she lost her life in the first week of her first job.

How many more lives await their end in the cruel seas of our archipelago? While the poor and helpless citizens drown in the seas, so are our unscrupulous and corrupt government officials who drown in the bounty of their plunders. It's a shame, when a government that can shamelessly afford a million-peso dinner, cannot afford to pay minimum wage for personnel supposedly tasked to secure the safety of its people.

No matter who is willing to take the blame, be it the greedy shipowners or the derelict Marina officials, or the ever-furious Mother Nature, or the lazy and sleep-deprived legislators, who would just attend the sessions and yawn, it all comes down to one - a corrupt government that is unable to protect its citizens by virtue of greed and slothfulness - is the one culpable and should be put to shame.

A school of thought readily supports and concludes that - in a third world country like ours, a citizen's longevity does depend on leaders who have powers to prolong or curtail his or her existence. This theory is very self-explanatory. Then our dilemma starts from the question of how and when to get rid of them and who to replace them. As election nears, everyone sounds and looks like angels, that you would get confused whom to believe. The problems in our country today are the very same problems already written in history. Leaders have come and gone. But the change that everyone invokes remains a dream.

Lessons From Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy)

"I don't demand that they be sages to foretell the scale of Ondoy's fury..."

The past two weeks have been very disturbing as the world witnessed a series of grim scenarios across the Pacific territories. Notably, the recent calamities that had struck the Philippines courtesy of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. It's hard to comprehend how a poor country like the Philippines would be able to cope from the aftermath of these disasters. Notwithstanding the collective efforts by various sectors from all corners, the prospect of getting aids delivered to the victims remains a hard task. How many weeks or months will it necessitate until our unfortunate compatriots would be able to rise up from the rubbles of despair and desperation?

One positive thing that Filipinos can be credited though is their unwavering resilience and optimism that should be indispensable in these trying times. My heart and mind go out to the victims especially the old, the sick and the children. On a personal note, I may be lucky or shall I say blest because I have no immediate relatives experiencing this awful predicament lest I would have been a very restless soul. Watching their situations on television has become a painful and unbearable experience.

These natural phenomena cannot be questioned as the Philippines is naturally prone to such. But could the damage have been lessened if we only had enough preparations? I think it could have been so. But why our government officials did not anticipate this worst scenario to occur? And that they have become oblivious to the fact that these events are forthcoming? Is it because the culture of corruption has first inundated our social fabrics that the sitting government officials themselves have become the perpetrators of a disaster this magnitude?

In relation to this, I strongly agree with Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago's call for these concerned officials to be prosecuted by law for dereliction of duty and so forth. The repercussion from this terrible tragedy could have somewhat been alleviated had government funds been properly disposed of and not gone to the already swollen pockets and bank accounts of our unscrupulous government officials. We always claim that Filipinos are never short of talent and brilliant minds. And why no one, no one had forewarned the public or the government officials that an unthinkable disaster is imminent because of the continued conversion of supposed floodways into residential settlements? It could be because the bribe of the rich real estate developers are too powerful to resist? Maybe! Maybe not. But who's to blame?

I don't demand that they be sages to foretell the scale of Ondoy's fury, but my point is the damages and the loss of lives could have been minimized had we done the right preparations and had we taken heed from the urban planners that a disaster is impending because of a flawed dynamics in urban settlement. Thousands of families are still grappling to survive in the evacuation centers. I just cannot imagine how to exist in such awful conditions with the stench, the noise and diseases all over hanging around your head. The children for the most part are also the most vulnerable from hunger and diseases let alone the trauma that could be haunting them for the rest of their lives.

I wish we are strong enough, for us to be able to rise up from this abysmal conditions that our country is suffering from right now. I wish our human frailty and vulnerability do not get the better of us. I wish we have leaders who are genuinely passionate enough to care for their people. Leaders who will not only think of enriching themselves upon assuming office but have the right attitude of a public servant.

If we could only hear the sighs and moans of the destitute in our country, they might sound telling us that enough is enough. Yes we have had enough but lessons learned and not exercised are deemed useless. Sad to say, the poor have always been cunningly used in some distinct political slogans that have been proven effective in elections but behind that heavenly sounding pro-poor promises lie a sinister genuine motive that would deprive the poor themselves and rob them of a better future. It is for us Filipinos to decide about our future. We have always the choice. Let's use democracy to our advantage. We have been blest to live in a society where freedom is not a commodity but an inherent right of every citizen. Why can't we be capable of effecting change in our country? Of course we can, and it starts within us individually.