send in the clowns (update three)

(reposting to include the latest pork barrel scam worth, hold your breath, billions of pesos. billions, dahlins, billions!)

even the most callous,  passive, apathetic, jaded among us were moved (angered, sad, mad) after reading the billions of pesos in public funds that allegedly went to the pockets of corrupt government officials, lawmakers and their cohorts in the private sector who created fake non-government organizations to siphon off those billions.

that the president refused to abolish the so-called pork barrel funds allocated every year to lawmakers and their pet projects (the money is not released directly to legislators but to their chosen or approved infrastructure facilities) made the people even angrier.  this is because the president -- the only son of the edsa heroes ninoy and cory aquino -- ran and won under the platform of tuwid na daan (straight path), alluding to his administration's efforts to tread the narrow, thorny but righteous path to salvation. where is that election promise now when we need it most?

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it is therefore but right that the people, the ultimate source of power, but ironically always taken for a ride, always taken for an ignoramus by the government and its agencies, would organize themselves to let their angry voices heard not only in the flood-prone, crime-infested four corners of the metro manille, but also outside of luzon and into the whole world where filipinos live, thrive and are working hard for their families at home, sweating blood and tears so that they can send something to provide for their children's or/and siblings' basic needs in the philippines.

of course we need to be vigilant all the time -- considering the crooks in the government are multiplying at a speed of a million per second. it's a sad reality to be confronted by this tragedy at the time when we are among the bright economic spots in the asia-pacific region, but the first step to salvation is the acknowledgment that such a problem exists and we need to find a solution: fast! 

otherwise, we will all sink deeper into despair faster than one could utter "habagat."

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the recent onslaught of typhoon maring and its lover habagat, whose tryst inundated the metropolis and shut everything -- schools, offices, banks, government, stock, currency and bond markets -- for days showed us the impact of this apathy, of this passivity, of this widespread corruption. had the money been used properly, including pouring more funds to solve the age-old problem of flooding and decongesting metro manille, then the floods would have been minimized or even avoided. 

if other countries can do it, why can't we?

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so on to the august twenty-six gathering at the luneta to denounce the abuse, misuse and corruption of the pork barrel funds.

this time, nobody's trying to be a hero. nobody's trying to overthrow a president. nobody's trying to grab the seat of power. i hope. 

when someone asked me who is leading this activity, i said i don't know. i added, isn't it better that there is nobody? that means no one will take advantage of this situation (see edsa one and two). this means that we don't need a leader all the time to get our message across. 

so what do we want to achieve? simple.

we just want a thorough and honest investigation, to bring those who abused and corrupted the system to justice, and for the pork barrel to be abolished and for the funds to be channeled elsewhere that will benefit more filipino people, boost their livelihood and in the end, enable them to be productive citizens of this country instead of resorting to petty crimes just to make ends meet.

god knows we have enough.

the time for action is now.

to borrow tita cory's presidential election and then later on edsa revolution slogan:"tama na, sobra na!" and may i add: "buwagin na ang pork barrel at korapsyon sa pamahalaan!"

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(flashback to previous post when i was still toiling in lonley hong kong about the forthcoming two thousand and thirteen national election held last summer):

there it was, said beautifully, even poetically by the headline: "circus comes to comelec."

only this time, most of the those in the audience are not happy. they are not clapping their hands. they are not getting their money's worth.

on the opposite side, the clowns never had it so good - you can see it in their eyes, dreamy, shiny, lyk  debutantes waiting for their princes to take them to their first ball.

the picture that accompanied the story showed most of them beaming, smiling, some waving, giving a thumbs up. they were a mixture of everything that had gone wrong in the country,  the recipe for a bleak future, so a lot of comments that accompanied the news item said. most of the commenters were indignant, angry, even hopeless. no doubt decent people, most of them are, trying to make a living, breaking their backs, sweating blood, so to speak, just to give their families a decent life, send their children to school, ensure their bright future. simple, basic, nothing grande.

in contrast to the lifestyle of the clowns, or at least most of them - countless mansions in and out of the country, several mistresses and children out of wedlock, expensive cars, shares in the biggest philippine companies, travels overseas once, twice or three times a year. and did i mention the precious pork barrel and the perks that come with power?

*********

they all ask.

why does the circus continue to come, boding ill for the rest of us?

when will the clowns stop laughing and the audience cease crying?

until when can the audience turn a blind eye and accept this new (or old) normal?

%%%%%%%

last sunday, while i was walking from my flat in wan chai to central, i overheard a chinese woman (a local) berating a group of filipinas in front of the hsbc headquarters. the chinese woman, dressed elegantly lyk a taitai, was shouting at the three stunned filipinas. when the woman saw me approaching them, she immediately left. i asked the three filipinas what happened.

one of them said the woman was scolding them.

why, i asked. was it because they were practicing a dance number on the street? was it the loud music?

no, she said.  the woman simply told them to go back to the philippines.

what's wrong, why? i asked, hoping to get some more answer.

another one said the woman told them that instead of dancing on the streets of hong kong, the filipinas should be fighting corruption at home so that they don't have to work in hong kong and in other countries as maids.

i didn't know what to say.

all i said was, don't worry about it. maybe she was just having a bad day.

the filipinas smiled and said, it was nothing. they were used to it.

how sad!

*******

the incident really haunted me. i couldn't keep it out of my mind.

last year, another reporter at my former employer told me that she was hiring a new maid from the philippines. but she was a bit wary because apparently the filipina was a former teacher in the philippines and that her english was way way better than her. (she was always insecure about her english, even if i had assured her that it was fine.)

i asked her, what's the problem?

she said she couldn't bear (i know the feeling) to have a maid who was better educated than her, who can write and speak better english than her.

she asked me why she was applying as a maid in hong kong when her academic background was impressive. i told her that because of the low salary in the philippines, most professionals prefer to go overseas working as maids or any other  "menial"  jobs even if they have college diplomas.

she gave me a sympathetic nod.

in the end, she didn't hire her. she thought she should look for a better job in hong kong.

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i wish our politicians and government officials will take time to visit  hong kong on sundays and public holidays. instead of enjoying the luxury of the six star hotels, they should walk in central and see how their "modern heroes" spend their holidays in this former british colony. they gather in over and under pass(es), in parks, parking lots and in every vacant lot, sitting on cardboards, playing cards, gossiping, cleaning nails, singing accompanied by guitars. doing anything just to ease the loneliness of being separated from their love ones.

and all for what?

just so they can send some money to pay for their mortgages, send the kids to school, put food on the table, or save some cash for the future.

^^^^^

then at night, these politicians and officials should drop by at wan chai. see how more filipinas are working as "entertainers" in clubs so that they can, again, send some cash to their families back home.

^^^^^^^^^

oh they should listen to their stories. their woes. these are the stuffs made of telenovelas.

on a flyt to manila last march, one woman told me that she was forced to go home after three months in hong kong as advised by  a doctor. apparently, she collapsed while ironing the clothes of her employers.

it turned out that she barely slept at night, she wasn't given enough food. the wife would wake her up at  five or even four in the morning to take care of her baby. then after that, prepare breakfast, wash clothes, clean the house, go to the supermarket, cook, iron clothes, take care of the kids. she was not allowed to go to sleep unless she finished all her chores. and that's already around three in the morning.

on the third month, she collapsed out of exhaustion.

the doctor told her employers she needed to rest.

the employers sent her home for fear that she might sue them.

%%%%%%%%%

these are the stories and the sights that politicians and government officials should hear and see.

and if there is still some humanity left in them, if they still have a conscience, then they can at least do something to alleviate their plight. they are not asking for too much. they are not asking for a share of their (mostly questionable) millions, and in the case of some of them, billions in the banks.

i am not going to enumerate here what the government and the politicians have to do to help these hopeless filipinas who are struggling in this city; battling loneliness, intimidation, discrimination and sometimes cruelty just to give their families back home a decent life, which is what every human being deserves to have - a roof, food, access to education and health services, safety and an honest living.

northing more, nothing less.

is it too much to ask?

^^^^^^^

(unfinished.)