Thursday, January 17, 2008

AN ORDINARY MAN

When your own lawyer has abandoned you and the public attorney thinks you're not "indigent" enough to warrant his services, where do you go? When your wife, son or daughter could not be discharged from the hospital because you couldn't afford to pay the bill, where do you go? When your house will soon be demolished and nobody cares, to whom will you run to?

In a country of 87 million, with about a half of that struggling to make ends meet
I recently read this very interesting comment from a reader in the PDI responding to columnist Conrado De Quiros somewhat derogatory and snide remark about Pinoys trying their best at learning English only to become nurses or blue-skilled workers abroad.
Apparently the reader Michael, was offended at De Quiros' seemingly shallow and frivolous opinion not only as to why Pinoys continue to leave the country in droves, but of OFWs as a whole. And he certainly made his point in the most furious, bristling manner but in effect, eloquently overshadowing whatever De Quiros had to say about the matter.

He emphasized that Pinoys leave, not just for the sake of leaving or earning more--but primarily because deep within is a bottomless discontent at how their own country is being run, and how the system remains as rotten as ever. It is appalling to note how he and millions of others have already lost even the faintest shred of hope for their own nation, but he said this does not warrant the ridicule or mockery or judgment of any other person (like De Quiros).

His other compatriots continue to tell him it's not worth staying here because any person who succeeds in government "are ALL corrupt" and that he and other self-examining and self-respecting Filipinos are all "sick and tired" of propaganda being "shoved down their throats." Michael argues that they should be respected for whatever choices they make because essentially, it concerns the right to self-determination--their right to chart the direction of their lives according to their own terms, without the complications and obstacles inherent in a morally-delinquent, unstable government and a deeply-polarized country.