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Just last night on the news, Malacañang has given word to Filipinos to do some more belt-tightening. This is in the light of the massive economic slump in the Land of Plenty.
Geez, so what else is new?
We have weathered the fiercest typhoons, the most violent earthquakes, several political upheavals, military coups, dictatorships, numerous human rights violations, food shortages, pestilence, civil strife -- almost every natural and man-made catastrophe ever imagined.
And yet we're here with belts cinched to approximate Barbie's waistline, and still as sturdy as ever. May ngiti pa sa labi.
Government no longer has to warn us of dark times ahead. It's already dark as it is. Despite this, Filipinos can simply laugh off these problems or drown them with a bottle or two of beer/tuba/lambanog/any other local alcoholic drink.
This is how resilient Filipinos are.
I guess we have just gotten used to swimming in deep fecal matter already that we have developed an immune system for these kinds of onslaughts.
I can't say the same for people in the Land of Plenty, though. I'm sure incidences of suicide over there are rising again.
And even before this specter of an economic slowdown occurred, many of their kids have already been cutting themselves simply for the heck of it, then they would blame their parents for their pathos.
Disaster management simply isn't one of their strongest points.
See what happened to them when a strong hurricane struck, and when terrorists blew off to Kingdom Come one of their primary landmarks one day in September?
Chaos.
Filipinos have seen worse. We get hit by typhoons almost on a monthly basis, and the same terrorists who destroyed their Twin Towers even trained for warfare here. But we don't go whining like crybabies.
Or cut ourselves.
I know we'll survive this. We always do. We Filipinos may not be perfect: we have an immature democracy, the line that separates the rich from the poor is very distinct, we bicker, we are sometimes lazy, etc. However, when pushed to the limit, Filipinos learn to act as one.
It's no small wonder that Ninoy Aquino said those immortal words: "The Filipino is worth dying for."
Given all our shortcomings, we are still a proud and resilient race.
And thus I say to the so-called incoming economic crunch, BRING IT ON!
Mang Pandoy is dead.
For those not aware who Mang Pandoy is, he was the "mascot" of Pres. Fidel Ramos when the latter decided to give a prominent face to represent the impoverished Filipinos of that time.
In fairness to Mang Pandoy, he properly played the role until his death.
He lived poor. He still died poor. And probably, this will also be the same fate the rest of us are destined to have.
Mang Pandoy did experience a breather during Ramos' term when he was given a consultant position in the House of Representatives. His children were given scholarships, they were given a small piggery, and it even came to a point when he was given a co-hosting stint in a television show.
But when Ramos' term ended, so did all the giving. And Mang Pandoy, for his part, faded into the background and reverted back to his isang-kahig-isang-tuka ways.
Is there a lesson to be learned in all this?
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I can't blame the former president, or any president for that matter, for not following through with the charity provided. After all, government can only do so much to help the poor.
Mechanisms have been built to provide the impoverished many with means to help them in helping themselves. However, a lot of these people deem it much easier to just wait for alms from government. Thus, they mishandle livelihood projects, loan more money from their respective cooperatives than they can repay, and misuse logistics meant as rolling funds for sustainable and/or capability-building programs.
At the end of the day, they go back to Square One: still as dirt-poor as ever.
And then, we'll be seeing these people on TV whining to the president to help them with their day-to-day problems. "Presidente Gloria, tulungan naman po ninyo kaming mga mahihirap." Geez...
The president, through her different government agencies, did try to help. It was just that either many of them were too busy squandering whatever money they had for drinking sprees, or making babies.
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My assessment of Mang Pandoy's fate was that he simply had no idea what to do with the newly-found opportunities that came his way. Perhaps the lack of education became a factor to his "downfall," but that could have been remedied when his children continued with their studies and eventually graduated.
Notwithstanding, it is evident that a blatant mishandling of opportunities led to Mang Pandoy's return to poverty.
Sayang.
I came upon an article in the Inquirer.net blogs from a relatively young Filipina writer who likens an ideal Philippine president to a social entrepreneur. I'd rather let her article do the talking instead:
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Wanted: A president who can run the 
Philippines like a social enterprise
By Niña Terol
Author’s note: This is an abridged version of a blog post originally written for the Young Public Servants website. To view the full article, click on http://www.yps.org.ph/blogs/guest/?p=4
I recently posed this challenge to some like-minded colleagues: draft a want ad for this country’s next president, then let’s see how we are able to articulate the skills, qualifications, and necessary track record of the Philippines’s Chief Executive. After all, we cannot even begin to seriously assess our current crop of presidential hopefuls if we don’t know what we are looking for in the first place. I honestly thought that it would be quite easy because the exercise had to be somewhat similar to writing an ad for a CEO of a large corporation. How hard could that be, right? (The power of Google, and cut and paste…)
Well, I apparently underestimated the task. While doing some online research on the subject it occurred to me that maybe my entire premise was wrong in the first place. The Philippines is not a large corporation. It is not large geographically, politically, economically, or even diplomatically the way the First World countries, or even China or India, are. It is not even a dark horse the way Russia is often viewed. In the local setting, the Philippines is not like one of those multinationals that are housed in one of the ritzier office spaces along Ayala Avenue. It might not even be located in any of the central business districts. If the Philippines were an enterprise, it could probably be considered a startup, or a relatively young SME at the most.
Therefore, the kind of president that we need is not somebody who will saunter into the office in an extremely expensive suit — with an army of executive assistants, senior vice presidents, and consultants in tow — and be a “boardroom executive.” We need someone who has the mindset of an entrepreneur and who will be able to dig through the mud (literally, sometimes) to get things done.
But because I’m a fan of social enterprises and social enterprises, I’d take it up a notch and venture to say that the Philippines could be likened to a social enterprise, and therefore needs a president who has the mindset of a social entrepreneur.
What’s in a social entrepreneur?
According to the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurs are “unusually courageous men and women that pursue their vision of a better world by applying extraordinary creativity and resourcefulness to some of the world’s most challenging issues. They are not just dreamers… They have the rare ability to ground their dreams in reality and translate them into pragmatic, goal-oriented and measurable action. As a result, they have produced some of the most innovative approaches to social, economic and political problems that continue to defy conventional means of action [boldface mine].”
On the other hand, Stacey Childress (2006) of the Harvard Business School, talks of the need for a “Theory of Change” — a belief about how actions will contribute to the fulfillment of a larger vision. This “theory” could be focused on either local or systemic change, but it has to define how the social enterprise’s activities will contribute to the big picture.
Social entrepreneurs, therefore, are visionaries — wild, passionate, big-picture thinkers — first and foremost. They are unafraid of dreaming of WHAT COULD BE; to them, “impossible” means “I’ll Make it POSSIBLE.” Who in our current crop of presidentiable-wannabes thinks that way?
Moreover, social entrepreneurs are able to link current gaps with current givens and future possibilities in ways that are extremely innovative, creative, “out of the universe” and yet very, very logical. They are unafraid of asking the important question — “Why not?” — and going, “What next?” For instance, one of my favorite social enterprises, Rags 2 Riches, linked the existing realities of dismal economic conditions in Payatas and the nanays’ current means of livelihood — rag-making — to the big dream of making “designer rags.” Throw renowned fashion designer Rajo Laurel into the mix, and you’ve got a kick-ass concept (which just recently won an international business plan competition) and beautiful bags that even Angelina Jolie will buy because (1) they’re great products and (2) they support fair trade.
Imagine this: If we could reinvent the Philippines using the social enterprise model, what would it look like? More importantly, are any of our politicians willing to take the risk of painstaking — but powerful — transformation? Or are they simply promising the same old Spartan slippers and simply rebranding them as Havaianas?
Social entrepreneurs also know what their goals look like and, therefore, how to know when they’ve already achieved them. Social enterprises are not just lofty causes filled with empty promises. At the heart of it all, social enterprises are income-generating operations for which metrics, indicators, and impact are very important. At the end of the day, we will know where we stand and what else we need to do to fill in the gaps.
Think about it: if we had a president who at the very least was as entrepreneurial, as passionate, as savvy, as creative, and as progressive as some of our country’s top (social) entrepreneurs, wouldn’t you feel a tad more hopeful about our future and more willing to help make things work?
Niña Terol, 28, is a writer, editor, communications consultant, and emerging social entrepreneur. She is also the Vice Chairperson for Internal Affairs of Team RP, a youth-led movement for truth, accountability, and reform in Philippine governance.
I've been very busy the past few days at work and with my family life that several recent issues have passed me by already. I have yet to come up with a piece regarding the Ces Drilon hostage crisis, and then the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars happens.
Maybe when I find some time (when that time comes, I may never know), I'll try really sitting down to write. In the meantime, I'd like to share a nicely-written feature article from Economist.com that discusses this most recent maritime tragedy involving -- yet again -- another floating coffin of the Sulpicio Lines. You can read about it yourself by clicking on this link.
Here's the entire article from Economist.com. It's still lacking in details, but it captures the thought of how grossly mismanaged our local shipping industry is:
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The Philippine Ferry Disaster: Those in Peril 
Jun 26th 2008 MANILA
From The Economist print edition
Not for the first time, navigating the archipelago by ferry proves deadly
The shipping industry in the Philippines put another big blot on its abysmal safety record when the ferry Princess of the Stars, carrying 862 passengers and crew, sank during a typhoon in the central Philippines on June 21st. By the middle of the week rescuers had found 48 survivors. But 70 bodies had been recovered and 744 people were still missing. The authorities had little hope of finding any more alive. It will probably turn out to have been the most deadly maritime accident in the Philippines for 20 years.
The route taken by the 24,000-tonnes Princess of the Stars from Manila heading for the central city of Cebu took it straight into the path of the approaching Typhoon Fengshen. The coastguard received a signal saying the ship had engine trouble and that it had run aground just off the island of Sibuyan. Survivors said that the order to abandon ship was given, but that the vessel capsized shortly afterwards in high winds and rough seas.
An official inquiry will focus on the captain’s decision to sail into the teeth of an oncoming storm and the coastguard’s decision to allow the voyage. It will also examine the seaworthiness of the vessel and the competence of its crew. The owners, Sulpicio Lines, said the vessel was only 24 years old (positively new, by Philippine standards) and that it met all the safety requirements.
The domestic shipping industry is vital to the economy of the archipelago, but its history is one of lethal mishaps. In 1987 the world’s most deadly peacetime shipping disaster occurred in the central Philippines, when another ship owned by Sulpicio Lines, the Dona Paz, sank with the loss of more than 4,000 lives. The rules governing shipping safety are comprehensive, but they are often weakly enforced and circumvented by corruption. Official encouragement of competition on domestic routes in the 1990s prompted owners to buy newer and bigger ships. But since then the advent of cheap air travel has creamed off the highest-paying passengers. The Philippines provides about one-quarter of the world’s merchant seamen, but the best officers and crew are lured away by the pay offered by foreign shipping lines.
Human failings aside, no one can legislate for the weather. About two dozen typhoons or weaker storms hit the country every year. Apart from sinking the Princess of the Stars, Typhoon Fengshen left more than 700 dead or missing in various parts of the Philippines.
Transplant tourism, the rectum surgery scandal, last year's brouhaha over leaks in the nursing board exams, and now, Filipino hospitals involved in the US veterans' insurance scam.
Just when will all these controversies regarding the Philippine medical profession end?
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Let me give my dear readers an overview of these said scandals, starting with the Philippines being a premiere destination for "transplant tourism."
Early this year, it was revealed through media that several jail inmates, as well as people from the more impoverished areas of the country, have been living with only one kidney. As it turned out, these people sold their other kidneys to foreigners who paid them with quite a substantial sum of money. They were made to believe that since they still had one kidney left, their bodies can still function normally.
Blinded by money that could support their respective families for some time, these individuals are now slowly finding out the repercussions resulting from the loss of their other kidney. Most of them are no longer as physically strong as they were, and some of them are now deprived of specific food and beverages that could otherwise make their weakened condition worse.
The Department of Health (DOH) has already stepped in on the matter, banning the continuation of such a trade perpetrated not only by foreigners but also by wealthy Filipinos in need of kidney transplants. Both the kidney "transplantees" and "receivers" are up in arms regarding this issue, and debates on this matter have yet to be resolved.
It's creepy and somewhat twisted to think that people would be so desperate so as to sell their vital organs just for a few months' release from financial deprivation.
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The rectum surgery scandal, of course, is the one where an admittedly-gay person underwent surgery for removal of a six-inch long body spray canister which was inserted in his rectum by his lover. The said surgery could have gone on smoothly and quietly -- but medical personnel of the Vicente Sotto Medical Memorial Center (VSMMC) decided to do otherwise. All throughout the procedure, the poor patient became victim to jeers and cajoling from these beasts in white. Several of them even brought in cellular phones to the surgery room and took pictures and videos of the procedure. One of these cellphone videos even made it to YouTube and registered a whopping two million hits. For more details of this, just click on this link to my earlier entry pertaining to this issue.
Recently, names of the five main members of the surgery team who operated on the hapless gay patient were released. Just to make sure they get their just desserts, allow me to name these foul creatures who took their playfulness in the operating room a little too far:
- VSMMC head surgeon Dr. Philip Leo Arias
- Assistant surgeon Dr. Angelo Linawagan
- Surgeon Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo
- Nursing attendant Rosemarie Villareal
- Circulating nurse Carmina Sapio
Just a personal note to these five people: if justice is not given to you so-called paragons of the Philippine medical profession here on Earth, then may your souls burn in Hell.
Only five people were named as participants in the rectum surgery scandal, but I am very sure that there are more. The video proves that. Even these noisy onlookers should be deemed as accessories to the crime. Not even one of them thought of at least shushing the group.
I say, take away all of their licenses! Ban all of them from the medical profession forever!
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It's been some time since the issue about leaks in the 2006 nursing board examination has been discussed, but it still haunts the local nursing profession. A shadow of doubt now hangs over credentials of nurses going abroad. Even those nurses are already working in hospitals and nursing homes abroad are being regarded with suspicion.
I can't blame foreign employers for having this state of mind. I mean, honestly, how long has this cheating been going on? For all we know, we've already been sending nurses with bogus credentials abroad for some time already.
Look at the nurses who took part in the rectum surgery scandal. They make one truly wonder about the quality of nurses our nursing schools are producing these days.
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Now, here's something new to add to the list of the Philippine medical profession's foibles. the US State Department recently revealed that a number of Philippine hospitals are involved in a million-dollar US veteran insurance anomaly.
This is very embarrassing. Imagine: Philippine medical personnel are actually involved in including names of people who aren't even war veterans in a list of those who are supposed to be eligible for insurance claims from the US government.
If they thought the US State Department wasn't going to find out, then they'd better think again.
Somehow, I believe that this is sort of a comeuppance for Filipinos who always think they can "get away with murder," so to say.
I had an uncle who served as some sort of a guerrilla in World War II. I said "some sort of" because he wasn't much of a guerrilla. In fact, he was among those responsible for the burning of our town proper, as well as the eventual looting. They rationalized that they had to burn the town so that the Japanese won't have any place to hide. (Yeah, right.) My mother's ancestral home was reduced to ashes because of that.
After the war, this uncle of mine was able to avail of benefits due for US war veterans. Well and good, except that he also listed his wife (she was the one I was related to) as a veteran -- even if she was not. Thus, they received money from the US up to the day they bit the dust.
This is just one story. I'm sure there are others who also duped the US into giving more than they should.
And it pains me to say that we once again find Philippine medical practitioners at the heart of this scandal.
When will we ever learn?
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I don't know how the Philippine medical profession can get out of the muck it has submerged itself in. One thing is sure, though: our esteemed doctors and nurses should probably recite the Hippocratic Oath again and digest the principles that this oath stands for.
The Philippine government should also probably set aside its grand plans for "medical tourism" for the meantime and instead concentrate on moves to weed out unscrupulous individuals who mar the face of Philippine medical practice and strengthen efforts to come up with a credible, dependable, and world-class healthcare industry.
Either that, or probably we should just accept the fact that Philippine health service sucks and do nothing about it. How about playing golf instead?
After being proud of the Filipino race with the emergence of ZTE scam whistle-blower Jun Lozada and Renaldo Lapus' unforgettable performance in the "American Idol" auditions, here comes another incident to drag down my euphoria.Lately, a video on YouTube managed to once again destroy my belief that "the Filipino can." Yup, the Filipino really can...make a total fool of himself, that is.The video I'm referring to is the one about an allegedly gay patient who had a body spray canister taken out of his rectum surgically following a sexual act with his partner. Unfortunately, the whole procedure was done amid cajoling by the team of doctors and nurses who were operating on him. A bevy of cellular phones with camera/video capabilities were also seen in the video taking closeup shots of the operation. The poor patient couldn't do anything about it, considering that he was in an...errrrr...compromising position.
This video soon found its way to YouTube where about two million hits registered in only a few days. But don't bother looking for it now: the person who posted it (said to be one of the interns there) already deleted it.
I simply have to take note of the hospital where this detestable incident occurred: the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.--------------------
The latest development regarding this relates to the public apology offered by the medical staff of the VSMMC to the patient whose rectum became an instant celebity.Good Lord: a public apology?! Doesn't the poor guy deserve something better than that?It's a good thing that the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as the Department of Health are stepping in to investigate and provide the necessary sanctions for these erring hospital staff. The VSMMC is a public hospital after all, and we poor taxpayers would like to see our money going to deserving public servants, not beasts like these VSMMC doctors and nurses.I want to see heads rolling this time.
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Somehow, ghosts of the past are coming back to haunt us after this controversy. Remember the big fuss we made over that racial slur on medical schools in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives? (Read my earlier entry regarding this by clicking on this link.)The producers of the said show must be laughing their heads off by now.Geez, and we had the gall to demand for a public apology then...
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There are dire consequences stemming from this video brouhaha. First is the breach of ethics upon the public screening of this said video. A patient reserves the right to privacy in every surgical operation unless there is consent to have the said procedure documented on video or in pictures. The mere fact that the video was placed in YouTube of all places was already tantamount to robbing the patient of his vital right. To add more insult to injury, the patient was being openly ridiculed by so-called professionals whom he trusted to conduct the operation on him.
I could only imagine the utter shame this patient was feeling during the entire process.His butt may be healing already, but I doubt it if his dignity is. And dignity isn't something you can buy either in the sari-sari store next door or in the glitziest mall in the city.
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Another can of worms opened by this video is the sorry state of public hospitals in the Philippines. The VSMMC isn't the only public hospital with crappy medical staff and horrible facilities. In fact, almost all public hospitals in the Philippines have personnel like these atrocious beings. Many of these medical personnel apparently have this "rich-man-poor-man" syndrome that they use over their patients who mostly come from the poorer segment of society. Knowing fully well that most of these patients can only afford nothing more than charity, these monsters in white treat them shabbily with little or no regard for their welfare. In their minds, they think: "I'm just in this hellhole for the salary. Why go the extra mile for these smelly rats? Heck, I shouldn't be here in the first place!"These medical personnel may argue that with the kind of compensation they are receiving in public hospitals, there really isn't much to hope for. However, this doesn't give them a license to be total boors to their indigent patients.
Example: in a maternity ward. One pregnant woman is already in labor and is screaming in pain from the contractions. Apparently bothered by the noise, the nurses shout at her to shut up. "Wala ka namang pambayad ng anaesthesia, kaya magdusa ka diyan (Since you don't have money to pay for anaesthesia, then just bear with the pain)!" says one of them. Another riles her and says, "Sisigaw-sigaw ka diyan, tapos wala pang isang taon, nandito ka na naman (You keep on shouting in pain and yet a year won't even pass and you'll be back here again)!"
Talk about being sterling examples of healthcare.
Probably these people have yet to be acquainted with the term, "public service."
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Another point raised here is the issue of gay acceptance in Philippine society. True, the deed of having a six-inch long body spray inserted in one's rectum during a sexual male-to-male act can be considered horrendous and downright kinky. (Honestly, just the thought of having something like that shoved up my own ass must be really, REALLY painful and totally unexciting -- but of course, different strokes for different folks.) However, this should not be a valid reason for the victim/patient to be ridiculed on the operating table, much less, for the entire act to be caught on video.
So he's gay. He's got a body spray canister up his rectum. He's in pain, so I guess he and his partner won't be trying anything like that again -- or at least in the near future. Can't these people be professional about it and just take the darn canister out without turning the entire spectacle into a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus?Or do these monsters in white think they can make fun of this person simply because he's gay?Hypothetical question: would these people have been more professional toward the situation if the patient was a female?
The point here is that whether straight or gay, a person still has the right to preserve his/her dignity, whether on the operating table or anywhere else.
One doesn't need to look for that in any medical code of ethics because it is a basic human right -- as basic as free speech.
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Last case in point -- the effect of this latest spectacle on medical tourism. Lately, the Philippines has turned into a hub for medical tourism. In fact, note the spas, wellness centers, and the like opening all over the place. Private hospitals are investing in state-of-the-art facilities to accomodate the influx of people -- both local and foreign -- who want to experience the best of what the Philippine medical profession can offer. So much money is being invested so that we can be known as a center of wellness and professionalism in the medical sphere.
And now, this.
If I was a foreigner who stumbled upon the VSMMC video, I'd be shaking my head in disgust.I am a Filipina, and I'm still shaking my head in disgust.
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Sigh, another deduction in points for the Filipino.
By the way, if you want to understand more about this issue, simply click on the link to this news article from Sun.Star Cebu online.
I just have to say this: Jun Lozada once again renewed my belief in the Filipino.
After receiving numerous death threats and almost getting erased from the face of this earth by operatives of the PNP, Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada is finally coming into terms with his new moniker as "star witness" with regard to the anomalous National Broadband Network (NBN) deal.
It takes a humongous amount of guts to actually face up to the powers that be and admit that they've been receiving massive kickbacks in return for "presidential favors." With the kind of track record 
the Arroyo administration has in terms of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings, I wouldn't be surprised if anyone would have the balls to squeal on corrupt practices made by some of the president's men -- including the president's own husband!
But Jun Lozada stood up to the challenge, although not exactly with open arms -- which is quite understandable.
May God protect Filipinos like Jun Lozada. He may just be the key to finally blowing out in the open all the dastardly deeds of these people in power.
Almost every concerned Filipino is now tuned in to the teleserye-like unfolding of events in the Senate, and if history is going to be a basis (remember the Estrada impeachment proceedings?), something climactic is going to happen. I'm just waiting for that "you-can't-handle-the-truth" moment, and I'm sure that Jun Lozada will be at the heart of it all.
I call on every caring Filipino to please pray for Jun Lozada. Lord knows he'll really need it.
If we are to judge things by the numbers, ranking 15th of 23 is really bad.This is actually the Philippines' standing among 23 developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of real per-capita income, or average earnings per person. This is according to a study made by the Asian Development Bank that underscored the disparities in the living standards among countries in the said region. For more information on this news item, you can visit this link from Inquirer.net.In fairness, we're still ahead of Pakistan (17th), Vietnam (18th), and India (19th).I don't even know if I can call this "consuelo de bobo." Imagine: during the Ramos administration in the mid 90s, the Philippines was already considered as the "Sleeping Tiger of Asia." Even earlier than that in the late 60s (I wasn't alive yet), countries like Thailand and Malaysia were sending their citizens to the Philippines to be schooled on the newest methods in agriculture and other developmental skills. These countries were waaaaay behind us at that time.Now, Malaysia and Thailand are ranked sixth and eighth respectively in the said ADB report. That, despite the Thai baht's dramatic fall in recent time and Malaysia's economic and political problems that are much like ours.What's even scarier is that Pakistan -- a land swept by the ravages of armed conflict and civil unrest -- is fast catching up on the Philippines.Even Vietnam is also on its way to leap-frogging over the Philippines despite the fact that the red Communist flag is flying high over its capital. As for India, this country is learning to tap its strongest natural resources: its people and its land. India is turning into a very busy exotic tourist destination. Moreover, with its cheap labor to rival China and our country as well as its fast-growing English proficiency, foreign investors are now looking at India as the newest investment hub.It is also disturbing to note that Sri Lanka -- once considered as among the poorest nations in the world -- has landed on the 13th spot in the ADB report. That's two places ahead of the Philippines.If I find out that Bangladesh outruns the Philippines in the race for economic supremacy......I'm transferring to Timbuktu.Or I'll be praying to St. Antonio Trillanes IV for redemption.
Just last night on the news, Malacañang has given word to Filipinos to do some more belt-tightening. This is in the light of the massive economic slump in the Land of Plenty.
