Fergie, Beyonce and the rest were right.
The Government, per se, makes me want to give up on it totally. From the leader herself, to the big politicians in office down to the smallest branches of government agencies all through out the Philippines, they are all capital FAIL. Since I was a kid I have always been teased by my sisters for being too makabayan (nationalistic) that they thought someday I would join the activists bringing life to the picket lines of Mendiola, EDSA etcetera. Actually to some extent, there is a truth to that, because I love my country to death. However, that doesn’t change my stand as to how rotten is the Body that governs it. And this wrath of mine has both personal and objective basis if I must say.
This morning I got up so early because I had to process a lot of things for my upcoming employment. I had to secure a TIN number since it is mandatory for every registered employee. When I got to the BIR office assigned for our vicinity and began with my transactions, they were asking for different documents blah blahs as a requirement to secure the TIN. That, I definitely understand. I even made it to a point that I would have all of these necessary documents so that I would finish early since I had to attend to other things too. But what I don’t get is that after complying with all of these I would get an irate response from the person manning the front desk saying that their system is fucking offline and they cannot encode the data hence they cannot process anything. And I say that is effin CRAPPY and BULLSHIT! My goodness! Can I just ask, and I pray somebody would gladly answer me, that how come they have these fucked-up days when on the other hand, we taxpayers cannot complain and make an excuse that our wallet is not available or that the ATM machine is offline when we pay our Value Added Tax or file our Income Tax Returns? TELL ME! I together with all the other willing taxpayers waited for hours just to get our transactions done this morning and all we get is a “Hay nako, wala kameng magagawa dyan at hindi naman namin kontrolado ‘to!” (We cannot do anything about this, this is not within our control!) And I would like to emphasize on the exclamation point since that was how he said it to our faces! I got their together with my dad at around 9 am, and it was 11am already but we were still making no progress. Don’t they even have a back-up system or a back-up plan feasible when these kinds of crisis happen?
I don’t even know if I would laugh or be irritated more when I saw the employees coming out of their desks at around past 5 minutes that same time with hot steaming rice on plates on their hands and excitedly mumbling about what ulam (viand) they would be having for lunch. Is it just me or they really looked like grade schoolers excited for recess? How can they eat happily when they know for a fact that about 20 or more people are starving to death outside while patiently waiting for their TIN numbers to be released? Do they even have the conscience to process that thought? Okay fine probably I am making quite a big deal out of this, and that maybe they really cannot do anything about the down system, but it was just so irritating. It what angers me more is that for the past years and for the billions of taxes collected out of that we still cannot make a better Government and a better system. That despite all the Presidents and other Political leaders that have started and finished their term of office, there are still (and a lot of) agencies like this, schools without books, barrios with no light or direct water access and all the other flaws that we could think of.
AND WHAT’S EVEN WORSE IS THAT, MY STORY DOESN’T EVEN AMOUNT TO A QUARTER OF THE TOTAL SUM WHEN QUANTIFYING HOW THIS GOVERNMENT SUCKS. THE NEXT EVENTS ARE EVEN MORE HEARTBREAKING. LITERALLY.
I thought when I finally got my purpose after the long hours of wait I would somehow be able to forget my angst towards the terrible system we have, but when I got home and watched the primetime news, the headlines talked about a certain town along Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur province in Mindanao where students had to ride bangkas (small canoes) and use the paddle themselves for an hour to reach the nearest school (a floating school located at the Marsh) which was 7 kilometers away. There was even a follow-up report that some parents are already fearing for the lives of their children because there was an incident last March 12 of this same year when a 12 year old girl was found headless after being attacked by a 30-foot crocodile while riding his boat home with a classmate. Hence, some of them have asked their kids to stop going to school in the horror that their child would have the same fate. Imagine what these kids had to go through just to get a formal education.
(for more details of this alarming news click here )
AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT THE SENATE?
The next news featured a report on how Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was proposing that the Upper House should have a THOROUGH investigation regarding missing Cell phone loads. Not to mention the TIME and MONEY they spent discussing the Hayden Kho sex video scandals whose main inquisitors included Senator Jamby Madrigal and Senator Bong Revilla. BRAVO BRAVO.
OH, AND THE CONGRESS PERHAPS?
I hate to burst your bubbles, but it seems that House Speaker Nograles and the rest of the other Administration members of the Lower House as of this moment can somehow foresee the success of finally coming up for a Constituent Assembly. And as we all know, this is in preparation for the planned amendments to the Constitution. These people want the Votation of both the Upper and Lower House be done all together, meaning all Senators and Congressmen in one room, and votes would only count once, regardless of their position. But of course! Why wish for a separate House Votation when with this, they could definitely secure the success of the Proposition to have a Constituent Assembly, since it is a given that majority of the entire Legislative body belongs to the Pro-Admin sector. AND TAKE NOTE MY DEARS: they are actually having an overnight session for this! Their say: “As legislators we have to make sure things get done fast, ayaw naming masayang ang tax na binabayad nyo!” (we don’t wan’t the taxes you pay to be put to waste!) But my say: PFFT!
I will not give further ado. Nor would I reiterate more of my subjective opinions regarding this matter. Heck, it is not even needed because even a fresh elementary graduate would have the correct opinion for this. You guys can picture the scenario for yourselves I know, because everything is an obvious fact. The more I rant the more frustrated I become that I might just lose it. I don’t know how the Government would ever make up for all of this or of they could even make up for it ever, that is why for the first time I am advocating that all eligible should stand up and register to vote. It may totally be unrelated to the message of the song but just like what Fergie, Mariah, Beyonce and the rest of the girl divas said to their collab song: Through it all just stand-up! I know, I am guilty because after all these years it is just now that I am finally registering. I was actually already eligible to vote the past election, but I was too engrossed with my other priorities and had the excuse that my vote wouldn’t matter anyway compared to all the hoaxes and magic that would be happening come Election Day. But somehow I finally found the light and purpose of this. That is why it is also important that we stay vigilant. Our responsibilities do not end the moment we get our thumb marks and pictures taken for the electoral process, it just starts there! What we also have to do is that we have to be updated. We have to know our candidates better. Root for the ones who are capable of changing this old sucking system we have been putting up with for years. Do not be blinded by the one who have the brightest shirts worn on campaigns or the ones who have the most numbers of tarpaulins around town or the richest person who can afford as many TV and radio commercials as he can. More importantly, do not be fooled by the ones who make noise, especially the ones who do this act only when the Election days are near. Dissect every word they say. Find every truth behind it. And lastly, pray that you may be guided when choosing for the right one. Whoever you think is the Supreme Being that governs your every action, may He be Jesus, Allah, Bro, Buddha, Brahman, etcetera…or may He be a She or even an IT if you believe so, just ask that somehow you may be properly enlightened.
It is a cliché that if we want a difference, we have to start the change within ourselves. And nothing could better sum up this extra long article than that saying. We can rant all we want, whine about how fucked up life is here in the Philippines, but as long as we just point fingers at people and not make actions on our own then we would remain in this hell until God knows when. We may think that it’s easier said than done, that this small deed is nothing compared to the bigger problems of the world, but remember, all things have foundations. So the best way to start, is digging deeper to the core, then making progress in fixing the most groundwork all the way up to the bigger picture.#