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 Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 6:19 am Post subject: The Truth Hurts...ever so much. |
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James Fallows, associate editor of Atlantic Monthly, who wrote an analysis some 16 years ago about the Philippines. The title of his article was, “The Philippines – a damaged culture.”
Fallows observed that the Philippines is a “society that had degenerated into a war of every man against every man.”
Teodoro C. Benigno wrote: Naturally, our Filipino pride was piqued – and rightly so since we get “observers” from time to time who visit Manila for three days and leave being an “authority” of sorts of the country’s ills.
Ferdinand Marcos had a sense of smell better than most when he said the Philippines was “sitting on top of a social volcano” and that was more than 30 years ago.
The Philippines is the only country in the region where life seems to be moving backward. In the early 1990s Malaysia per capita income was nearly $2,500; Singapore’s more than $10,000; Thailand’s more than $1,500 and all, of course, were going up. The per capita income in the Philippines has been stagnant at about $700 for several years. By government estimates, roughly two-thirds of the people in the country live below the poverty line, as opposed to about half in the pre-Marcos era.”
the great nationalist Claro Recto intimated that Philippine democracy was a bad case "of the blind leading the blind."
Because of this fragmentation, this lack of useful nationalism, people treat each other worse in the Philippines than in any other Asian country. The tradition of political corruption and cronyism, the extremes of wealth and poverty. Practically everything that is public in the Philippines seems neglected or abused.”
We see the worst possible example of tribal fragmentation among the local elite. Administration and opposition senators regard each other with undisguised distrust and disgust, and treat their witnesses-invited guests, if you will--even worse. When the senators cannot get them to dance to their partisan tunes, they call them liars and obstructionists, put words in their mouths and threaten them with contempt and detention.
A politician always thinks about the next election, while a statesman always thinks about the next generation. If you think about the next generation, then you can do a lot of change.
And now what do we see? It's every man for himself. A war of one against all.
The Philippines' ethic of delicadeza, the local equivalent to 'saving face,' encourages people to raise unpleasant topics indirectly, or better still, not raise them at all.
Craven, brazen and corrupt beyond redemption.
How much Filipinos hate being criticized and (especially) how much they hate foreigners (or other Pinoys for that matter) being critical of the Philippines. |
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:48 am Post subject: agreed |
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Sometimes it really makes one vomit.
A public school in a neighborhood close to my residence in Pampanga just recently had been ransacked, with the mere office equipment and furniture stolen.
After a few months of the items being slowly rebought, they were robbed AGAIN! this time of all their electrical wiring! Imagine robbong a school of almost 400 hundred little children of it's WIRING!
Stuff like this goes on daily all over this Godforsaken country. Their lack of honor and self respect....as well as their outright gluttony...is appalling.
No wonder its the only country in Asia that is going backwards...to becoming a "fourth-world" country.  |
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