Pinoy Perspective

[roy2cebu]

We Pinoys when we are in country are fond of excuses, we don't follow our Laws even the very basic laws on Traffic, we like to make shortcuts, vehicles would go left when there is a clear sign of "No Left Turn", we bribe our way in transactions with government, we sell our votes during election, we throw our garbage everywhere, Men urinate in street corners when they feel like it, there is no order in our society, this is the Philippine Society in a perspective. But if we go visit other countries, we are in our best behavior, It is so mind boggling that in other countries we follow their Laws/Rules, why can't we do it in our own country! I'm really at a loss of words.When in Rome do as the Romans!(author: anonymous) YOU say that our government is inefficient.YOU say that our laws are too old.YOU say that the our local government does not pick up the garbage and does not manage well the cleanliness of the land.YOU say that the phones don't work, the traffic is a joke, mails never reach their destination.YOU say that the country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.YOU say, say, and say.What do YOU do about it?Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS.YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your international best. In Singapore YOU don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. YOU pay S$5 (approx. PhP 140) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent to EDSA) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have overstayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status/identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (PhP 740) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kph) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Alam mo kung sino ako ? (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your fifty bucks and get lost."Why don't YOU spit and throw your cigarette butts on the streets of Tokyo?Why don't YOU use, buy fake certificates in Boston like you do in Recto?We are still talking of the same YOU.YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own.YOU who will throw papers and cigarettes (and empty peanut shells and candy wrappers and fruit peelings?) on the road the moment you touch Philippine ground.If YOU can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same in the Philippines?Once in an interview, the famous Subic administrator Gordon had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do!? Go down with a broom everytime the dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America, every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Filipino citizen do that here?"He's right.We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative.We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stoop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin.When it comes to burning social issues like those related to extramarital relationship, unwed mothers, pre-marital sex and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. The moment we feel lonely outside the Philippines we seek pleasure from others, commonly to fellow Filipinos, WITHOUT minding the commitment we made back home to our true family. Then we blame the government for juvenile VIOLENCE, drug addiction, etc. but we started it ourselves by neglecting the need of our sons and daugthers of real paternal guidance and responsibility.Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system?What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government.But definitely not me and YOU.When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along and work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to Japan or HONG KONG. When Hong Kong experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Middle East. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Philippine government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

[Mr Lee]

I am not sure where that came from, could you please post the link.

[softail]

Take a deep breath in threw the nose, close your eyes, exhale threw your mouth using the "key" word …..relaaaaaaaaax……. Repeat 5 times and you should feel better. :th_thholysheep: Doug

[gapotwo]

After all we say and do about the philippines, after all the corruption and decieving. the backsliding and the greed. the best part of being a filippino is that you can always come home when you are good and ready to enjoy the ways of our land. for the rest of you...welcome to the wild wild east. tanks ej.:th_thholysheep:

[Art2ro]

Sounds like a well traveled single disgruntled Pinoy OFW who haven't yet found his way in life and needs to mellow out or end up with a heart attack and or needs to take a stress management class!Even though if it is just a Pinoy's perspective or not, his comments isn't really new that anyone doesn't know already or haven't seen or read in the news media! It's just one's POV or experiences being expressed! Foreigners and or tourists have already seen or experienced what goes on while visiting or residing here in the Philippines, the U.S. or any other overseas country! We all could probably expressed the same things from all our travels and experiences too, which I feel I've read plenty here on this forum in the past and on other forums too!

Edited July 12, 2011 by Art2ro

[RetiredNavyGuy]

This is an interesting thread so far. A Pinoy expresses frustration with what is going on in his country and, I think, pretty accurately describes symptoms and probable causes. I don't know why he finally got frustrated enough to put it out there, but I thought the OP was thought provoking. How many of us, at one time or another, haven't made similar observations, both about the Philippines, and often about our own country. (Whether in the Philippines, the US, or elsewhere...the people have to change themselves before they can even hope for the government to change.) Yet, the reactions have been mostly gently negative. Post a link (maybe its really his own opinion), take a deep breath and relax, that's our Pinoy way and so welcome to the wild wild east, sounds like a frustrated OFW who needs to mellow out....its as if all the responses are trying to discount what the OP had to say, as if it was wrong and trying to rock the boat. I don't understand that.Personally, my thanks to the OP. If more people began to understand and practice what he is suggesting, the Philippines would certainly change. I won't say get better, or improve, or anything like that because I don't mean to judge the country.

Edited July 12, 2011 by RetiredNavyGuy

[Mr Lee]

The OP is not Filipino, (I know him in person) so I believe :th_thholysheep: those words were copied from somewhere and thus why I asked for the link.

[MikeB]

Lee is correct, the source needs to be cited - please. The viewpoint expressed by the unknown author is analogous to the broken windows theory ie., if a broken window is left unfixed it will encourage more vandalism because it sends a message of apathy. I lived in NYC from the late 80s to the mid 90s or so, during the administrations of David Dinkins (90-93) and Rudolph Guiliani (94-2001). The public perception during the Dinkins administration was that the situation was out of control because this was NYC and things were always bad and getting worse. Crime soared and many working people left the city, so called "white flight". Guiliani did not accept the status quo, he held police commanders directly accountable and enforced a zero tolerance with street crime. Crimes that had been considered too petty to deal with were no longer ignored. Small things were not allowed to get worse and police and public officials who failed were replaced. The difference was amazing, crime plummeted and the tax base gradually increased as more people moved back to the city. One man, with a lot of help, accomplished this in a relatively short period of time. The situation here (and other places) is, of course, much worse; not really comparable because it has gone on for so long. The system of corruption is endemic, the situation out of control, but it all starts with the broken window that wasn't fixed.

[roy2cebu]

No specific link ...I got it from another forum...copied and pasted here.

[ekimswish]

Two points I'd like to make that are softly related to this topic are:1) People love working with Filipinos all around the world; they just don't like working IN the Philippines. Seems it's the government that's the problem, and not the people. If the government were better, foreign companies could invest directly in the Philippines, rather than enticing the workers abroad to safer ground. 2.) I showed a picture of my poor Filipino friend climbing a coconut tree to my Taiwanese-Canadian friend this afternoon. I told hiim most Filipinos doing this work would be lucky to make $100 a month. He said no wonder they come to Taiwan. I said no, the ones in Taiwan are the educated Filipinos who might be considered rich in their hometown. This guy climbing the tree has no chance of going abroad. What I'm getting at is a theme I've repeated a lot: educated Filipinos have tended to leave the country en masse for better opportunities, leaving the less educated and privilidged behind to represent "the nation," while the government could fix the problem by just being 40% less greedy and corrupt than they are. Most of Asia is corrupt, and it's not a problem. The problem is when there's no honor among theives, and that's the problem here: you could pay off the Philippine government, but you still couldn't trust them. Better to pay off a government that will honor your bribe.