Ka Bel

• Congressman Crispin Beltran of AnakPawis Party-List died yesterday. With his death, I wonder, "how will his proposed legislations, most of them pro-poor, get passed? The lowly representative lives in a very humble home. Perhaps, in layman's standard, just below the middle-class level, or even poor...Being in the position, for nearly 6 years (if I am not mistaken), he never acquired money or so much power to have his lifestyle changed.

• Ka Bel is truly a loss to the maralitang Pilipino, whom he served dearly. His demise, his life, his way-of-living must be challenge to all our power and money-hungry congressmen to re-think their politics and their lifestyles. Look at Ka Bel's home, it was just so simple, very much ordinary like all of us. No wonder he can relate to our needs better even wiser. While on the other hand, many of his colleagues own sprawling mansions in the suburbs of Metro Manila.
  

• I think Ka Bel must be proud with the way he died. He died as an ordinary man, worried about his home during the rainy season, typified a grandfather perhaps who worries his home during times that he has no work to do, he epitomizes the working class, the lowly-paid government servant, the humble labor leader and capsuled every single fiber of a Filipino in his daily struggle to survive, to seek for government reforms, demand for better quality of life, quest for political stability and yearns for a clean and honest government.
  

• For me, the death of Ka Bel, is no simple accident. It is poetic, it is symbolic. No rich Filipino would die falling from his roof because obviously his house is a mansion and he has servants to do it for him, but Ka Bel died fixing his humble abode. No rich congressman would live in a small house with the masses because they reside in high-walled Ayala Alabang or Forbes, San Lorenzo, or Corinthians.
  

• The death of typical man, with his great ideals. I salute Ka Bel for his life and for his service to the Filipino people.
  

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The Benefits of Being a Filipino Citizen

I don't know if my probability is correct, but I suppose 75% of Filipinos (or even larger margin) want to live and work in another country, preferably in a first-world country. Later perhaps (if the laws of their countries' of destination permit), our compatriots desire to acquire their citizenship.

But I just want to ask, are there still benefits to be a Filipino Citizen? Here are some of the benefits, I can think of and probably, their little downside:

1. The right to vote and be voted. Only Filipino citizens can exercise the right to vote and run in any public office (of course! ). Imagine, FPJ fought for his citizenship and a host of other local and national politicians just to get that "treasured" elective post!

2. The right to own property here in the Philippines. In our laws, foreigners cannot own real properties or even engage in "nationalized" industries, for instance, mass media. But if you are a Filipino, you can win the lotto and buy a radio or TV station without a hassle.

3. The right to practice one's profession. Yes, only here, where else??

4. The right to possess a Philippine Passport. Well, our passport is actually not so much to boast of, but at least, we are visa-exempt from all ASEAN countries, selected countries in Asia, Latin America, Israel and some handful more ( i have a separate blog entry for this), but I think, 95% of the time, Philippine passport holders are required to have visas in many countries.

5. The rights and privileges of appurtenant to a Filipino Citizen. I don't know what are these, so far we do not have a good system of subsidized housing, we currently have a lousy social security system and presently, we do have so many loopholes in our security and finally, our country is crowded, not to mention, litters.

But before I get cursed, let me say that having at least, a nationality, a citizenship is something to be proud of. It is hundredfold better to be a Filipino citizen, than to be a stateless person. Our economy, education and training are most of the time, recognized worldwide, than our African, Asian and even European counterparts.

While many still think and contemplate to change their citizenship, remember this: never forget that this country, we probably loathe, is the same mother who nursed us, defended us, protected us and gave us and identity peculiar to any other known people on earth.

We should be proud that we are Filipinos.
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Condoms in lieu of Food (Is the Church too hypocrite?)

Filipinos are now more or less 90 million, trying to fit in these small islands with barely 300,000 square kilometers. Further, these 90 million Pinoys are struggling for food which in actuality can only feed around 50 million or less.

The reason why we have food shortage, other than there is a little supply of rice, is that we are overly-populated. The food we produce is too little for our consumers. Just imagine if a tree can produce 5 fruits a day, the would-be eaters is 50, how on earth do you think that will suffice? The jobs we produce cannot even sustain our ballooning population, what more food?

Condoms in lieu of Rice?

Recently, the government announced that it will allocate funds for contraceptives, viz: the use of condoms. But the church vehemently disagreed with this proposition. For the Church, the money to be used for condoms must be used for food instead. The opposition is holy on its face but as sinful as rubber sheaths. For me, it is even hypocritical than sacrificial.

Suppose the government agrees. The condoms are discarded, instead food are bought. My next question is, "How does that help the future of the country", "Does it stop the overcrowding numbers we have---now almost NINETY MILLION? The Catholic Church spokesperson said, that the government should focus on housing and food security. I agree. But while it may be true that social services must always be part of the government's program, I believe it is also part that the government should control the uncontrollable growth of population. The government cannot just produce food and allow the population to rise like rushing tides by the shores.

I firmly believe, it is not just food or housing that the government should provide. They should also provide measures to see that basic commodities are equally distributed and fairly abundant. In this thought: proportionality, equality and abundance can only be achieved if there are fewer people to struggle for jobs, food, housing and use of commodities.

The Church wanted the government to buy food instead of condoms. Why don't they start with their own backyard:

1.) Why not distribute their large tracts of land as housing for the poor?

2.) Why not sell their vast expensive collections for the charity they boast they serve?

3.) Why not put all the money offerings and offerings of goods be donated to the poor 100% instead of giving to the priests?

4.) Instead of beautifying churches, why not establish more orphanages, home-for-the-aged, livelihood centers?

5.) Why not allow Catholic schools like Ateneo, La Salle, UST admit more poor scholars from poorer communities, better open more free Catholic schools in BASECO, Tondo, Payatas and other slum areas?

6.) Why not open their private hospitals for the poor, they own Cardinal Santos, La Salle Hospital and St. Luke's right? Or yet, provide for better schemes to admit more charity-sponsored patients in Catholic hospitals...

7.) Why not use their shares in many corporations and donate the earned dividends for food security?

8.) Why not use their monasteries as farmlands and food be donated to charity?

The Lord said, "by the measure you use, there you shall be measured". Why pinpoint the sins of others, when you cannot practice what you preach? Is the Church too good to see other's mistakes but cannot see its own flaws? Are they becoming too much of a Pharisee and Sadducee?

Just thinking aloud. click to continue...

rant, rant, rant no. 1

The politicians and the ordinary Filipino workers

• Ordinary Filipino workers work for 8 hours a day (and even more) some were even overworked and underpaid. They try to earn as little as 365 pesos, while our politicians do not even come to sessions in Congress to work yet they are being paid, with no deductions and would even receive more than that---about millions of pesos.

• Ordinary workers work under inhumane conditions, crowding their offices, or factories but the stupid congressmen sit doing nothing in the halls of Congress, either listening to nonsense debates or grandstanding speeches of their more stupid colleagues

Taxes of Politicians and Taxes of Workers

• The lowly politicians never mind paying taxes BUT the ordinary workers are automatically taxed, witheld from their salaries. At the end of the month, they are being deducted of an amount while the politicians would even evade paying their own taxes, worst, stealing millions of pesos from our own coffers and kick-backing on government projects at the expense of the poor Filipino.
  

• Businessmen and Politicians evade millions of pesos in taxes, even billions. But the poor ordinary workers can't even get their thousand-peso tax rebate.

Politicians and Visas

• The government officials and congresmen (and all politicians at that), can enter other countries visa-exempt using diplomatic passports or can easily apply for visas while the well-deserving Filipino worker who deserves to have a vacation abroad for years of work, cannot even obtain a tourist/ single-entry visa elsewhere. The politicians would hide their ill-gotten wealth and laundered money from the country to their choice destinations, normally in states where bank secrecy laws are stricter, to deposit their amassed treasures.

Politicians Privilege, Misfortune of Ordinary Workers

• The politicians would not experience the grand and majestic Metro Manila traffic because their cars would have tens of convoys (or hagads) while the poor worker who needs to go to the office early suffer (otherwise, his salary will be deducted or get a disciplinary memo), because they got blocked by the convoys of the government officials who just go to the office to grandstand. I suggest these politicians take jeepney for a change, so it would be more real, don't you think?

More rants to come... click to continue...