Maisog, Rizza E.

March 6, 2011

Quagmire of a Broken Faade Dr. AP Krowds diagnoses of the Philippines: Dr. AP Krowd: You have cancer But the survival rate is high. You have to undergo treatment immediately. The treatment would be painstaking and rather long but it would mean zero chance of remission. Philippines: "So...I can't just choose assisted suicide and donate my talent elsewhere?" Dr. AP Krowd: "Sir, that's what you've been doing for years. It won't kill you any faster if that's what you want." www.antipinoy.com Last February 25, 2011, the Philippines has once again commemorated the EDSA Revolution. The EDSA Revolution is one of the symbols of how Filipinos fought for democracy. It also showed that for the love of freedom, the Filipinos are united to stand against all odds that might come in our country. Moreover, what happened 25 years ago has fostered in us Filipinos that there is always hope. The EDSA revolution then served as a commencement of a fresh start for our country. However, after those 25 years and after four administrations have passed, the Philippines is still struggling. In 2006, during Gloria Macapagal Arroyos second term as president of the Philippines, she announced that the Philippines has become a Second World or Middle Class Country. She said that the economy is going stronger with a stronger peso and stock market and most importantly that the Filipinos will have a per capita income of $1400 starting at said year. This means that the Filipinos are earning more and have more disposable income to spend which in turns drives the economy and manufacturing/services sector. Furthermore, PGMA was optimistic then that the country can reach the First World Country status by 2020 if there is a continuous decline in the poverty level by one percent per year. However, after two years an immense scandal has erupted which revealed another case of corruption in the Philippine government and once again involved the president of the Philippines. With this, it is somewhat perplexing that most of our leaders are really aiming in improving our country yet putting also their own personal interests to gain something for their own pleasure. It can be probed that the agendas or platforms that our leaders were expressing during their campaigns and during their administration are like facades or illusions they put on peoples mind to give Filipinos false hope. The government has tried hard to paint its walls with thick and colorful coat. Yet no matter how thick and colorful the paint is, it will always fade just like what is happening today. The Philippines is ought to be one of the richest in Asia with an abundance of natural resources and talented people. However, with the evolution of time the Philippines was left behind as one of the economic tigers in Asia. The Philippine Government finds itself in a quagmire these days. That is, it faces difficult, precarious or entrapping situations.

As we can see, the Filipinos struggle to survive under the corruption and incompetence of the current and previous administrations to the extent of fleeing to other countries as their economic refuges. By doing so, they could send back remittances to support their families living in poverty back home. While never minding the broken homes and personal sacrifices the OFWs made to enable their families in the Philippines to survive, the government has taken economic advantage of this human trafficking, relying on the overseas remittances to provide the revenue to prop up a disintegrated society. Just recently, the escalating violence in Libya, for example, has led hundreds of Filipinos working there to forcefully vacate the area for their safety and protection. Returning to our country empty handed and facing great uncertainty of having jobs here, enough to support their families while others chose to remain in Libya than to come back to our country having nothing. They chose to sacrifice their lives there with little foods, suffering fatigue and illnesses and full of fears as the violence continued with little action and support from the Philippine government. On the other hand, though the former President Arroyo made frequent and expensive trips abroad in an attempt to encourage overseas investment into the Philippines, it has achieved little tangible results, other than deals done for her personal benefits. The Philippines with its dysfunctional and corrupt government, poor infrastructure, high crime rate and uncompetitive labor compliance costs lead many overseas companies to be reluctant to pour out their investments in the Philippines. Moreover, low returns, high risk and restrictive foreign ownership rules turned down the interest of most international businesses in investing in the Philippines. Government bureaucracy has stifled initiative and failed to provide worthwhile incentives to establish new business ventures in the country. The Philippines has become a lawless land, where the economy and society is breaking down at all levels. Crime has become out of control such as the bombing incidents, the terrorists attacks and hostages crisis become the new face of the Philippines in the international world. The Mendoza hostage crisis happened last year which resulted in the death and injury of Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines is one of the portraits of the incompetence of our policemen and leaders in handling such situations. The lack of training and funds to provide competent men to handle such crisis were among the reasons pointed out for such failure but just recently it was publicly known that millions and even billions of AFP/PNP funds have been use as pabaon for retiring AFP/PNP chiefs and other officials living in comfort while impoverished whose in the lower ranks and whose in the battles fields. Indeed, the police and military organizations have become infected with corruption, more interested in protecting their commercial and political interests than serving under a leadership of experienced competent leaders and officials. According to former Philippine's Solicitor-General Frank Chavez in his book titled "Blighted", he described the Philippines as a nation in the depths of moral decay, corruption, lack of leadership and greed that exists today. According to him, many Filipinos in the nation has sunk to a condition of hopelessness and despair for the

majority struggling to survive in a failed dysfunctional society where the ruling elite argue amongst themselves on who can gain control of the country in the upcoming election to further enrich themselves. The book highlights some of the corruption scandals that have been exposed in recent years in the Philippines without prosecutions ever being made and if prosecuted, penalties were lowered down. The Philippines is now facing another revolution. A revolution that is silent yet affects deeper not only into the political and economic aspect of the country, but also into the emotional and spiritual aspects of every Filipinos. This revolution is like cancer. A patient diagnosed with cancer does not die because of cancer per se but because of the other complications that are the results of having such disease. Then again, cancer is now curable with the advent of technology and intensive researches. Although we are currently in an adverse situation, Filipinos are known to be happy people. It can be observed in certain television footages that even though some are already up in the roof because their place was flooded, yet when they see video cameras broadcasting their situations, they would still wave and show their smiles to the camera as if nothing has happened. That is the real spirit of every Filipino that is very distinct as compared to other countries. Thus we can always the cancer that is spreading in our society. Unless the Philippines makes changes soon, the country will self-destruct, sliding into anarchy, erupting into civil war, suffering famine, starvation, disease epidemics, encounter widespread unemployment, economic and social collapse. Moreover, unless the leaders will change their hearts that is they will look and care for the people they rule rather than interested in enriching themselves, the country Philippines will not rise from its quagmire but come into its downfall. We Filipinos have surpassed the 333 years of merciless control by the Spaniards and even the dictatorship of Marcos. Hence, there are always still great possibilities of surpassing all adversities we have right now. The Bible has revealed to us in the Book of Revelations that judgment day would come and the world would end. Some would be so alarmed with just the thought of dying. However we should be thankful that God has given us His words through the Bible for as to be prepared. Thus it is not always too late to change our ways. This also holds true in our government and in our society. As the faade of the government is slowly crumbling down, it is a sign that the new administration should build a new government that is embarked on the true meaning of democracy. Not only is the government responsible in making a change but also us Filipinos who are the true leaders of our country. Illusions exist because we tend to be fooled with our own eyes and do not see beyond what is real. The younger generations should be more aware nowadays of what is happening in our country and not just rely on heresy. Our history shows our potential of soaring higher to be a successful country. Thus we should always look back in our past but not to dwell on it but to learn from it.