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Saving the Last Dance

Shall we dance?

With the pandemic leaving our economy ailing, talks about the Charter Change (“Cha-Cha”) is being revived again as a remedy to the present dilemma. The constitutional restriction on foreign ownership is being seen as an obstacle to jumpstart our economy. For instance, since our organic law does not allow foreign ownership over real properties, this tend to frustrate foreign investments in our country. The reason is that they cannot fully exercise management and business prerogative with all these restrictions in placed.

While I agree that it is about high-time to revisit this provision, it must however be done with extreme caution. True, the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership is inconsistent with the Philippines policy on globalization and trade liberalization thus leaving us behind our Asian neighbors. Be that as it may, the present political atmosphere should not be altogether disregarded where human rights abuse and unequal treatment in opportunity is prevalent.

We cannot afford to open our market where it will only serve the interest of the few, especially, the Chinese. Unfortunately, the present administration remained tolerant of their increasing violation and circumvention of our laws ranging from non-payment of taxes to commission of crimes. Filipino workers, especially those in the lease agreement, cannot catch up with the ever skyrocketing value of real estate following the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines. The preference of real estate owners to the Chinese lessee displaces Filipinos as the former can offer a higher rent than the latter. In a country where housing is still a problem, allowing foreign ownership may further aggravate this situation.

On the other hand, Chinese workers are engaged not only in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO), but also to the professions which should be exclusive to the Filipinos. The Labor Code provides that employment permit may be issued to a non-resident alien or to the applicant employer after a determination of the non-availability of a person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing at the time of application to perform the services for which the alien is desired. However, we have seen Chinese workers engaged in construction where Filipinos are undoubtedly capable of.

In sum, we can see that they are not only capable of invading our homes but depriving us of work opportunities as well. In principle, giving the foreigners full ownership will certainly revive our economy ravaged by pandemic. Practically speaking however, the present reality of things will stifle this realization. Also, we cannot afford to offer as collateral our real properties as payment to our debts to China. This will certainly result to what we fear as “debt-trap”. It will be as if the Philippines, as a prey, will open its doors to China, as the predator. There can be no balance in the food chain where there is only one predator. The indifference of the present administration to the plight of the Filipinos, while handling with care the Chinese in its cradle is certainly a bad tune.

If Cha-Cha is not remove in our pandemic playlist, this might be our last dance.

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Mouthwatery! If the image alone makes you drool, wait until it melts in your mouth. 😋

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An Open Letter to the Revolutionist-Would Be Youngster

“Kapitalismo, inaabuso ang mga Pilipino.” “Ibagsak ang imperyalismo at ang rehimeng [insert any administration here]” “[Insert proposed bill here] IBASURA!”

Protest are often packed with these messages however irrelevant. Effigies are lit into fire. People standing on the picket line despite the blistering heat of the sun while screaming their lungs out for the government to hear their clamors.

The road is a battlefield, a struggle they should pursue for the realization of their idealogy. They dream of a nation where oppression will become a foreign word. Where equality is the rule of the men.

I am a wee lad then who is ahead of my time. Seeing them, i am often in awe for their aspirations. Cool isnt it!? Fighting for what you think could serve best your countrymen. Offering yourself selflessly as if you were the instrument for their salvation.

I remember everything. I remember how curious I was back then. Curious but idealist just the same.

I thought I’m destined to fulfill that mission. A mission where the heart is vital. A mission where objectivity dies—killed, even.

I hated that mission from the very beginning. I hated the way it was presented to me. I hated, and still hate, the blood, the deaths, the tears. I hated the injustice.

Am I just melodramatic back then? Am I just overreacting? Have I not the right to cry at the sight of a man lying down on the hot pavement to drink from the gutter? Have I not the right to weep for the family of that loving, ignorant father who fought for his rights and was killed, thrown, forgotten? Is it a sin to feel the things I’ve never experienced and the pain I’ve never felt? Maybe. It’s defying the system. It’s breaking the rules. But isn’t it heartless and immoral to hide in the security of our home while thousands, even millions, of my fellowmen suffer and die—and not just physically, mind you, but emotionally and spiritually, as well? I find it profane.

I am a victim of the system. I think we all are. We are victims of a system that alienates us from ourselves and widens the gap between people. Funny. Painfully funny.

I have too much heart to stay objective when love and hate is all around me. The battle is out there. The battle needs me. Service to my fellowmen—the kind of service that reaches out and cries the tears they cannot cry—is pure and unrequited love.

I carried on with those ideals believing I am moving towards something more important. It’s one way of escaping the system. In a time and place where achieving your goal the fastest way is a must, in a society where an individual is assessed according to his grades and salary and title, one less bourgeois would hardly be noticed. But in this battle, it could spell all the difference. Or so I think it is.

I had my belief challenged during the seminar spearheaded by a former revolutionalist. She shared her experience in an actual combat with the government troops, various missions to stir destablization. How the mountains became their haven to nurture, and promote their idealogy.

She narrated how she was swayed to join the revolutionalist. A child prodigy then in Ateneo de Manila University. It was her intellectual prowess that accelerated her to college. This achievement however soon became a drawback. Incapable of interaction with people more than her age, she seeks to join groups, and participate in activities that would prevent her from isolation.

She ended up attending a certain seminar (I wont name the organization for security’s sake). There, they were deceived, and agitated. The group apparently twisted their mind to promote their propaganda to cause distrust on the government. Feeding on their anger, they were persuaded to join the organization, and eventually, to take arms.

They were indoctrinated with Communist ideals. Though no longer in the classroom, she told us how they we’re compelled to recite the communist’ creed every morning. They were obliged to read, memorize the books propagating the said subject. They also have this anthem which is an abomination against God. (Yes, believe it or not, she even presented a video of Jose Maria Sison singing that blasphemy).

They employed extortion and threats to finance its revolution to turn this country into a freedom-less, property rights-less socialist slave pen. Other guerillas on the other hand massacred civilians attending a church (Photos were presented). A fellow woman revolutionalist who fell prey, raped, and killed on the hand of their colleague was also showed. (Documentation presented)

Soon, she began to doubt their cause. Their actions are no longer befitting for the very definition of “PEOPLE’s ARMY.” It was then that she decided to surrender, and abandon what she thought once was a seemingly noble purpose.

To redeem herself, she dedicated the remaining of her life to lead the misled, to guide the misguided. To bring clarity to the deceived. To become a beacon of light for those who are lost.

It was in that day that I saw the bigger picture of things, of the society. I became conceited and overwhelmed by my wishful thinking.

No, im not asking you to follow the government with blind approval. Instead, Stop. Look. And Listen.

Patriotism is not always manifested by your blatant refusal and disregard to the policies which you deem ripping off the poor. Patriotism could translate by voting for an additional tax to make education, healthcare and other welfare programs accessible for our less fortunate citizen.

See how the global community slowly abandon their Marxism-Leninism, Maoist, ideals as the core of their structure? Jean Jacques Rousseau once said that whatever is against the nature are doomed to fail. Communism is against the nature. It suppresses the inherent right of men to hope, to grow, and to yearn for more.

Laws passed by the Congress always has its boon and bane. Weigh its pros and cons before you march your way to Mendiola. See the other side of the coin.

“Kumpara sa ibang bansa, na ilang siglo na ang kasaysayan at karanasan sa pamamahala, bata pa ang Pilipinas, magkakamali at magkakamali yan. Parang teenager na immature pa. Di kasi tayo nabigyan ng pagkakataon na matuto ng maaga dahil sa mga Español”, said my former professor.

There is no perfect form of government. Its structure must be flexible enough to adopt with the ever-changing need of the State.

Violence breeds hate. Hate breeds war. Dont get caught on its constant waltz. Dont get caught in its cycle. Change should start from the inside. It is not something you should assert or impose to anyone when you cannot even manage your own blemishes.

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There is a potion in your lips; There is an ocean in your hips

Jon Bellion, “Overwhelming” (via wnq-music)