In recent days we’ve been hearing and reading the word “Bayanihan” to the point of its being reduced to but a mere platitude of the sort politicians and most media folk mouth off when their faculties for spin are on auto-pilot. The concept of Bayanihan is now just this much short of being included in that infamous list of otherwise noble concepts that Filipinos have all but perverted as it is now used to highlight an outpouring of virtuous behaviour in the wake of a crisis that could have been prevented if a more routine and ingrained flavour of that behaviour had been observed before said crisis hit.
Of course so many Filipinos have risen to the occasion and many of us deserve a pat on the back for all the bayanihan we fancy ourselves to be a part of in the aftermath of the devastation wreaked by cyclone Ondoy. Considering how fight-or-flight situations often bring out adrenaline-fuelled strengths in us we never knew existed, perhaps we should appreciate how disturbing it is that we rely on such vicissitudes to assure ourselves that we as a people still possess such virtues.
Such is the irony that probably escapes most of us when we read ego candy such as this:
Storm “Ondoy” was a great equalizer. The flood treated everybody, rich and poor, equally. It didn’t play favorites, exempting no one. It made everybody miserable. Celebrities and the influential suffered along with the poor. The rich in their gated communities suffered just as much as the squatters in their shanties. The relatively well off Provident Village in Marikina was among the worst hit, with floodwaters reaching the rooftops. Many residents waited on their roofs for rescue that did not come as they watched in terror the water rise higher.
Shotgun bayanihan time.
Indeed, it took an Ondoy disaster to extract people from their gated enclaves and force them to rough it up with the masses. Did our accidental “solidarity” with the masses happen in the true (read: voluntary) spirit of bayanihan in this instance? Quite debatable in this light, isn’t it? Had Ondoy not come along, most of us would still be cloistered in our pristine subdivisions patrolled by armed private security guards applying a blanket presumption of ill-intent in their regard for each visitor that comes through their gates. While the rest of the city’s stormwater drains and canals get clogged with refuse and raw sewage, our walled leafy oases of manicured lawns, paved footpaths, and “village associations” all but prop up the bizarre notion that the Philippines is a “modern” country.
The floods surely equalised all that and turned bayanihan into a temporary reality for Filipinos, rich and poor. With floodwaters submerging all those gates and walls, Manila from the air looked like a real community. When the floodwaters subside and everything goes back to normal, Manila from the air will go back to looking like the sorry excuse for an urban “community” it has always been, as the walls and gates become visible and the contrasts in infrastructure, personal space, and physical aesthetics among the patchwork of “villages” in the city become stark once again.
Can we as a people prove that the bayanihan spirit really is alive in the Filipino and the inhabitants of its premier urban region? Yes we can, but only if we can demonstrate an ability to sustain it under normal conditions. Some insight into the immensity of the size of that challenge can be gleaned from an old PinoyExchange.com thread I recall from way back in 2002 which the threadstarter opened with these words:
that idiot mmda chairman fernando is proposing to open up the gates of private subdivisions to the public. that will compromise the security and safety of people residing in private subdivisions.
i am opposed to any such foolish and immoral proposal/s
for the safety and security of the few is far more important than the mere convenience of the many( remember that it is not the presence of private subdivisions that is causing the traffic congestion.)
That pretty much captures the real spirit of the Filipino under normal conditions. Perhaps the bayanihan we so fancy ourselves as exhibiting these days is just a mythical label we slap onto what is nothing more than a normal human response when suddenly faced with an enemy that is bigger than the petty issues and politics that divide us on any other day. Why not find a purpose, a stand, or a challenge to collectively face that is bigger than all the petty issues and partisanism we squabble about amongst ourselves put together that will unite us over the long-term, instead of always having to wait for a big “enemy” to unite us under some phoney sense of “bayanihan” every now and then?
Bayanihan is reminiscent of thinking at a villager‘s scale and is a relic of pre Twentieth Century thinking. What we need in order to face the challenges of the Twenty-first Century is thinking that is applied at a scale more appropriate for a citizen of a modern state. And that will involve tearing down some of the walls that divide us into the “villages” that remain a poignant reminder of our renowned heritage of smallness.
============
Join us on Facebook!
Popularity: 5% [?]
Man, you’re a bitter pill you are ;-)
That sure is what the country needs. Too bad comfort-seeking Pinoys aren’t apt to take it.
“The blue pill or the red pill?”
“Whichever’s the bitter one.” :-P
Huh?
Are you sure it is bayanihan you are talking about? Bayanihan does not only happen once every major disaster that happens in our country. It is not a “feel good” concept like you purport it to be. It happens everyday in little ways in each and every neighborhoods. Ang tawag diyan ay pakikipagkapwa-tao. It was never perverted. It was never distorted. It just needs to be improved and applied to a more possible endeavor like neighborhood cleanup drives and education to prevent calamities like these.
I mean “positive endeavor”, not “possible”.
Bayanihan is NOT the looters that struck Provident Village helping themselves to TV sets, electric fans and whatever “stuff” they can get from the abandoned homes. A looter is a perverted person taking initiative.
It’s been a while since moving each other’s bahay kubos was a normal thing, figuratively speaking.
I dunno.
What word would you describe a group of middle-class middle-aged housewives helping to clean other people’s muddied houses, help wash their clothes, and provide cooked food for a day for 20+ families?
That’s what my mom and her “aerobics amigas” did yesterday in one baranggay in Caloocan.
Touching as it is to see the outpouring of help from all walks of life, I don’t really think we can call it Bayanihan but rather the actions are just merely disaster relief efforts. I mean, what else can you do but help in times like these, right? Filipinos might be stupid in may ways for letting this happen but we haven’t reached the level of callousness as some societies have. Unfortunately though, you won’t normally see people helping out strangers.
Usually, the elite in Manila don’t really give a hoot about the people living in cartons along the train tracks or river banks or the street children without any clothes on because they have become desensitised or insensitive to the number of homeless on a regular sunny day. Being influential as they are to implement changes in the community, they’d rather be partying with their own kind.
Most elites have a passport ready in hand just in case the peasants revolt and charge their gated communities. Instead of working on making the country a better place to live in, they foresee a situation that one day they might have to evacuate so it’s best to have a house in the US. Of course, we can’t really blame this situation entirely on the elite, but however, why did they get their higher education for if it’s not going to be any use to prevent this?
Wikepedia meaning of bayanihan : Bayanihan (pronounced [bajɐˈnɪhan]) is a Filipino term taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, town or community. The whole term bayanihan refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective.
What is the Filipino objective beyond this aftermath?
Wherever he goes, she goes. Wherever he stays, she stays.
You are focussed on the wrong things again non-malignant. Ever heard of the word idea or concept?
Let’s just talk about ideas and concepts, ok?!
Of course you didn’t get what I mean. :-)
It is indeed about a kind of “shotgun bayanihan”.
Correction: may should be many.
Benigno
Have you been saved by an Aussie?
or have you saved an Australian?
or Australians are saving you from the miseries of being Filipino?
Bludger!
This is an entirely useless comment – there is no reference at all to the article.
Anyone caught in a life or death situation will instinctively act to save someone in need no matter where they are. It is universal and not exclusive to Filipinos.
Dahan-dahan ka sa panunukso kay benigs, blackshama, ha? Masyadong nasasaktan si ilda, alam mo namang masyadong over-protective ang magandang binibini (selos tuloy ako).
Bert, if you had the same mentality as b0, I would gladly defend you too against people who continue to questions your motives.
Just try and understand that he is not attacking you as an individual. He is attacking the culture of indifference, complacency and mediocrity that persist in our society. Unfortunately, there is no better way to tell the truth than to say it like it is. We need to accept our shortcomings before we can improve.
correction: questions should have been question.
will not happen ilda, i’m no pervert. benignO is attacking himself, and you as well, heheh.
C’mon Bert, don’t tell me you can’t see the evidence of people’s neglect all around us right now? It’s not just government neglect you know. People have to be accountable for their own actions too.
In some countries, people don’t throw their garbage on the streets or riverbanks. I’m sure you don’t do it but what about those who do? Do you expect the government to pick-up every single garbage thrown by each individual? The government cannot police everyone; each individual has to be accountable for the environment and their own well-being because it will come back to bite them. What’s evident in our society is the kanya-kanya attitude.
Let’s talk about selling votes. You say you don’t sell your votes but what about those who do? When people sell their votes, they don’t have the right to complain anymore. The reason why b0 is asking for a platform from every candidate is so that we know what the candidate is planning to do once they are in office. If we vote for them based on their platform and they do not stick to it, we now have a basis to call for their resignation. We can’t expect different results if we keep doing the same things over and over. We have been voting for people based on their popularity for decades, it’s time we demand what they plan to do first before we put them in office.
The problem we have right now is bigger than each and every one of us. We have let our population grow to a level we cannot feed anymore. It is so hard to educate all of them now and there’s problem of where to house them.
It is so hard to convince Filipinos that we all have to do our part, not just the government in being accountable for the environment and our wellbeing. If people can’t afford to buy birth control pills for example, it only means they can’t afford to feed a baby. They can’t expect the government to feed their baby. We don’t live in a welfare state.
You know what, I have a feeling the reason why benign0 has become sarcastic in his articles is because it is so hard to convince people like you and he has been doing this for years. Frankly, I don’t know how long I can sustain my patience if the above explanation does not convince you that there is a problem with our society.
You are beginnign to sound like benignO, ilda, heheh.
“Frankly, I don’t know how long I can sustain my patience if the above explanation does not convince you that there is a problem with our society.”
Not very convincing. All society has it’s problems. Why concentrate on the ‘muck’ and ignore the ‘gems’, always trumpeting, always with derision, the negatives of your countrymen all over.
Ilda, do you agree with benignO that the Filipinos (meaning you, him, and me) are pigs living in pigsty?
Would I be surprise if your answer is ‘yes’ seeing how over-protective you are of him?
Ilda, do you agree with benignO that the Filipinos (meaning you, him and me) are pigs living in pigsty? - Bert
You are beginning to sound like a broken record Bert. First of all, I don’t recall b0 saying that. Second, I don’t think you are a pig and I’m certainly not a pig because I don’t live like one. Third, look around you right now, some parts of the country does look like a pigsty after Ondoy. God created a beautiful place but the people living in it made it look ugly.
I’m now realising something that I didn’t before, that people like you don’t really want the Philippines to be a better place to live in. If you know your arithmetic, try and multiply the kind of mentality you have by 90 million and it’s safe to conclude that you just don’t want to do anything at all to change. It’s sad man, really sad. You just expect your government to magically solve everything. Yes, some government officials are corrupt but who voted for them anyway?
You keep saying you love the Philippines, but in what way? You don’t want to accept responsibility, you don’t want to accept criticism; you don’t want to do anything. You know what? People like Benign0 love the Philippines more than you do. He’s been offering solutions after solutions and all you can say is that he is a pervert. Don’t you know that it’s easier for someone who lives abroad to forget about the Philippines? Do you realise that he’s not being paid to do what he does? Do you even have an alternative solution?
Your response to me indicates your lack of understanding of the situation Bert.
You are contradicting yourself, Ilda. You’re agreeing with benignO, saying just now that “some parts of the country look like pigsty” (how very benignOist), and yet you said here you are not a pig even if benignO said so you are a pig.
I’m giving up on you, Ilda, you will have the last words.
Btw, I’m not contesting your ignorance of what benignO had said, I’ll just have to let benignO redeem himself here by letting him deny it.
Still, you are a beauty, Ilda, and I’m a lover of beauty, not like benignO who loves looking at the mud, and so will never say, or believe, that you are a pig. CHEERS!
Institutionalizing bayanihan sounds like a good idea but insanely hard to practice. I mean people have jobs to go back to and a million other ‘petty’ concerns. We pay taxes to make sure that community services get delivered. We understand that this is an extraordinary situation–that’s why you saw an extraordinary display of bayanihan or ‘people power’ to help the government cope with the crisis. But, really, it’s asking too much from ordinary citizens to take up bayanihan beyond this.
Let the government do its job. There’s always bayanihan if we got fed up by their incompetence and cupidity.
We pay taxes.. are we paying the correct amount?
We get services, are we exercising vigilance so that the services are fully rendered? Do we exert the effort to have the services improved?
Bayanihan still goes back to one thing… that the individual.. does the right thing.
TANG INA NYAN – NATUTULOG NA NAMAN SA PANSITAN!
IT’S FRAKKING 5 HOURS DUDES!
**********
*
BongV BongV says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 1, 2009 at 9:48 pm
We pay taxes.. are we paying the correct amount?
We get services, are we exercising vigilance so that the services are fully rendered? Do we exert the effort to have the services improved?
Bayanihan still goes back to one thing… that the individual.. does the right thing.
Reply
Bayanihan requires sacrifice and asks not too much but volunteerism. It’s real essence is “reciprocal heroism” or simply being a hero to one another.
Paying taxes in the hope of getting basic services from the government is a form of reciprocity. Yet there are times of emergency that government services are inadequate for some reasons, and this is when true bayanihan spirit can fill the gap.
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:14-16
People are starving right now and are grateful for anything that will give them strength and sustenance. As for people that donate, I think for the most part, it springs from the faith that is deep in the hearts of Filipinos which moves them to act. They know that knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
Right. Community engagement in the face of disaster. Complacency a few weeks later. I still would like to know who was held accountable for the two recent ferry disasters. Anyone know?
Probably not, without googling it.
Anybody care?
Joe
JoeAm: Pabayaan mo na iyong ferry disaster, nakaraan na.
Until the next ferry disaster. :)
Next time around, the chickens will be riding submarine.
The question posed here is extremely valid: Bayanihan seems to be happening only when there’s disaster. Can’t it be done when there’s no disaster?
Look around. Ordinary people helping their neighbors in need any given ordinary day.
Examples, please. Because I see people behaving pretty selfishly as a normal matter of course, and only stepping up when there’s a problem (someone dies, someone’s house burns, there’s a flood, etc.).
Hmm, now I realize… when you see neighbors helping others in need, probably what you see is only 5% of all the people you see. Look around, yeah, but you don’t see enough.
Ben K,
The need for bayanihan arises from needs. Any given ordinary day, we mind our own business. When someone is in need, we rise for the occasion. It may come in a form of bayanihan when there is a celebration like weddings. People (some have nothing better to do) usually offer to help in the preparations like butchering livestock for food and women doing the dishes. It doesn’t only happen during emergencies. What I would like to see, I’m sure everybody would agree, is bayanhihan in a proactive, rather than reactive endeavor.
darwin25:
i see proactive bayanihan a lot in the roster of volunteer organizations (not in the Philippines though)
* St. Johns River Keeper and other River Keeper Organizations – weekly activities to keep the river clean and free of trash. The mission of the Riverkeeper Program is to protect and restore the _____ River for our families and future generations. The goal is to reduce pollution, sedimentation, contamination, and loss of habitat so that the _______ is removed from EPA’s “impaired waterways” list. We emphasize water quality monitoring, restoration, education, and advocacy.
*Neighborhood Watch – citizens acting as eyes and ears of law enforcement. Neighborhood Watch is one of the oldest and best-known crime prevention concepts in North America. In the late 1960s, an increase in crime heightened the need for a crime prevention initiative focused on residential areas and involving local citizens. The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) responded, creating the National Neighborhood Watch Program in 1972 to assist citizens and law enforcement. In 2002, the NSA in partnership with USA Freedom Corps, Citizen Corps and the U.S. Department of Justice launched USAonWatch, the face of the revitalized Neighborhood Watch initiative, which represents the expanded role of watch programs throughout the United States. USAonWatch empowers citizens to become active in homeland security efforts through participation in Neighborhood Watch groups. Many neighborhoods already have established watch groups that are vibrant, effective, and can take on this expanded role with ease. For neighborhoods without thriving groups, the renewed emphasis on emergency preparedness and response may provide the right incentive for citizens to participate in Neighborhood Watch in their community.
* Adopt A Street Program – All volunteers must do is care for and improve the aesthetics on both sides of a one-mile section of a city street. The city places a sign at the beginning and end of the street to recognize the group’s efforts. The cleanup efforts of approximately 510 miles of city streets include litter and trash pickup, weed and grass removal, and painting over graffiti. Volunteers may work on their street as needed, and a minimum of four cleanups a year are recommended. The city provides trash bags and will pick up contained trash.
And that’s only a sprinkling.
Invite a typical Filipino (particularly those with jolog heritage) to any of these associations – kung walang dinner and dance, they are not attending… LOL
USA-style volunteerism has a premise that Pinoys in Pinas (some, maybe a lot) are not willing to make. The premise — The government can not do it all. The government does not collect enough taxes to have all the money to do everything that a community needs to have happen.
That clean-a-river is messy work does not stop community volunteers to undertake the job on an on-going basis (as government — city or state — does its share with scheduled yearly- or every-other-year dredging using more elaborate hydraulic equipment).
I see those, that’s good too. But I see another aspect of Bayanihan: if you’re hounded by friends who want you to get drunk with them at a night club, what will you do? The right understanding of Bayanihan would tell you not to join and tell them instead to do something better. Or some fellow government employees teach you how to embezzle funds, but you choose not to do it. Not exactly the Bayanihan we all think about at first, but these actions help the bayan. Thus, bayanihan.
Pakikipagsabwatan is not pakikipagbayanihan. Pakikipagbayanihan is pakikipagkapwa-tao
If bayanihan means I can’t get drunk anymore in a nightclub (how about sa kanto?) count me out. :)
Chino, am I wrong to say that maybe you have not live a life in the Pinas where you have experience the true spirit of bayanihan? It seems you are ignorant of what bayanihan is really all about, you may have just heard of it but have not actually experienced it.
Don’t worry, I see it in my life here in QC. But I agree that it’s probably not enough to create useful change in this country. Let’s watch out for people who use bayanihan as a springboard for self-propagation; bayanihan now, gamitan later.
I thank darwin for mentioning ‘pakikipagsabwatan’ which is the negative aspect of ‘bayanihan’
I was looking for that.
Living in this country is already hard enough. With a little exaggeration, the sinking ferries symbolize the national plight, and that’s why people are leaving in droves.
But we make do, and even those abroad who send their hard earned money are helping keep this ship afloat. All these little, everyday efforts might not be dramatic but, again with a little exaggeration, they are still heroic.
The day of reckoning will come.
Living in this country is hard enough. With a little exaggeration, the sinking ferries symbolize the national plight, and that’s why people are leaving in droves.
But we make do, and those abroad who are sending their hard earned money also help in keeping this ship afloat. These little, everyday efforts might not be dramtic, but, again with a little exaggeration, they are heroic.
The day of reckoning will come.
Even if its sensible, I think this is already nitpicking considering that the bayanihan efforts are already helping people.
But since you brought it up, there are a lot of efforts of bayanihan in peace time in the Philippines. Probably not in politics. Its difficult to find out since they are not being put much attention to by the media. You won’t certainly find it in the Internet in abundance.
Here’s an idea:
Maybe its time we scrapped corporate/political pyramidal hierarchies/schemes like western cultures and focus more on bayanihan since right now we see that its working. We suck at the “I am your leader and you give me your resources so I could help everyone” crap causing blame to ourselves. Seeing the definition, we’re a communal kind of people rather than the King/Kingdom structure. We are motivated when we have “karamay”. Fascism is not inherently dominant in national character. Volunteerism rather than funding institutions. Decentralize power.
Try visiting the remote batangays in the provinces and you will see how the bayanihan spirit is well functioning and active in the everyday lives of our ordinary kababayans.
Yes I hear them a lot from people that they’re effective.
I was referring to major gov’t institutions like like ombudsman,congress besides the barangays. That’s why I was pointing to give more power to barangays and decentralize the government, if its plausible.
benigno, natumbok mo. indeed it is a remarkable show of communal spirit, the haves pooling their resources and sharing with the have-nots victims of ondoy. i’m curious what gina lopez will do with the multimillion pesos cash raised by sagip kapamilya. something wholistic daw, i suppose meaning, hindi lang pang dole-out. but so many people communities need immediate doleouts, now na, basic food and water, clothing and shelter, atbp. which all cost money. relief contributions in kind only begin to address these needs. and hindi rin bottomless ang mga bulsa ng corporate and citizen donors. gina lopez should be thinking fast. maybe now is not yet the time to think long-term. meet immediate needs first.
Tina Palma of ABS-CBN answered that particular concern in one of her TV interview at ANC. Their approach to the problem is wholistic and it is worth appreciating.
php 32 million cash as of tonight. yes, i’d like to hear the details. maybe we’ll see an exercise in accountability and hopefully some creativity.
My messages in this particular blog entry are waiting moderation because I carelessly misspelled the email address required in every comment.
________@______.ocm instead of ________@_______.com
Other commenters maybe experiencing similar situation as I have, and didn’t know the reason why their message(s) was deleted automatically after a while.
i dont get it: your best example of bayanihan is opening up the roads of private subdivisions? because gated subdivisions are selfish?
and this is the same as helping the victims of the flood who have lost their possession, and got nothing to eat?
convenience == food and clothing to survive?
what kind of an analogy is that?
There is a reason for the gates.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090929-227575/Cops-deployed-to-stop-looters
What’s in a name? Helping a countryman in need of help would smell as sweet, anytime, anywhere.
“Bayanihan” is a little bit more than just helping.
Bayanihan has showmanship. Kailangan, magpakita sa tao.
Giving money is not good enough; para bayanihan,
kailangan ay makita ng tao.
Is that your kind of ‘bayanihan’, Mike H? Bahala ka. Baka ang ibig mong sabihin…”payabangan”.
Bert… Pinoys will suspect you are not of the “bayanihan”-brotherhood if they did not see you
with their own eyes. para bayanihan,
kailangan ay makita ng tao.
Mike H,
Ah, ang ibig mong sabihin ng ‘Pinoy’ ay kagaya nina Ben K na hindi makita kung nasaan daw ang sinasabing ‘bayanihan’? Eh, paanong makikita, eh, wala nga yata dito sa Pinas ang mga iyan, baka mga kapitbahay ni benignO sa Australia ang mga iyan. Kaya tanong ng tanong si Non-malignant sa kanila kung nasaan sila kasi nakakaduda ang mga sinasabi, heheh. Pati tuloy ang mga makabayang totoong Pinoy na tunay namang nagmamalasakit sa kababayang kapatid ay nadadamay.
Tingnan mo na lang si Chino F, Mike H. Ang akala yata sa ‘bayanihan’ ay “inuman”. Heheh, sanay sa beerhouse.
Nice post. Mostly agree. Just like in People Power, pinoys only seem to be makabayan when it becomes almost a matter of national survival. Otherwise, complacency is the norm. Still, better that than no bayanihan at all. It’s still a positive national trait, now the challenge is to make it the norm of everyday life. Amd I think we’re slowly but surely moving in that direction, what with many grassroots-initiatives like Gawad Kalinga, etc.
“the challenge is to make it the norm of everyday life”
easier said than done. but i like your optimism.
I clicked on the wiki link you gave for bayanihan, and it said it has origins from: helping someone move from one location to the other. Didn’t that just happen recently? When people risked their lives to physically move their neighbors to safer ground? Are you saying that this is not bayanihan, when in essence this is the real meaning of the word?
Are you proposing that we tear down the “walls” after the flood tragedy subsides? That is ludicrous! People are helping people now. This is the day for action. We must find the good in that instead of criticizing the circumstance when you yourself have not done a single physical concrete act to HELP!
I suggest you wake up and leave your political bias for now and wear some compassion. This may be your lifeboat for good karma.
What China, USA, Taiwan, Malaysia and other countries have implemented to reduce deaths from floods is early-warning PLUS an informed citizenry.
If the waters rise very slowly, then dikes or levees can be strengthened or even raised. People can do what they need to do to flood-protect their houses.
When the waters rise very fast, evacuation is the action-word. The death count drops the earlier the citizenry have been alerted to danger and the faster the residents move to higher ground (either on their own initiative or with the help of government agencies). [Note: some countries have looting problems --- leaving a house unattended is an invitation to looters -- some countries do not.]
informed or not, people still die, get trapped, or lose their homes. Remember Katrina? There was enough time and enough warnings given. That is your “informed citizenry”. Human nature would dictate that people stay with their belongings and homes. No amount of information can foretell how a disaster would decimate a location. Same thinking with residents in the area. The issue here is not pre-information, that is all about government responsibilities. But the grass roots level of helping people. No amount of critics and talkathons can devalue of what we are witnessing in the bayanihan spirit of the Filipinos–Today, not bukas na lang, not saka na kapag na implement na ang mga polisiya. Ngayon!
Mahalia: I am not asking you to feel less good about the bayanihan-spirit that you feel.
oh you mean – those in Katrina, who were told to leave – but didn’t. then when the waters hit – they claimed to be victims. they were told to leave didn’t they?
those who listened were on safe ground. those who didn’t are still.. well filing claims.
bayanihan – that is an every day thing in US, EU, AU – i guess pinoys need a pat in the back for finally making it to the rungs of civilized human behavior?
BongV, I don’t get it, how can you classify a civilized society or civilized human behavior? Aren’t we all civilized? No matter the location? Do you mean there are still apes living among us? I didn’t notice.
And what does location have to do with the word bayanihan?
Mahalia:
you were saying “aren’t we all civilized”…
ergo, aren’t all human beings capable of “bayanihan”? what makes pinoy “bayanihan” different from another nationalities’ “bayanihan” because the word is in filipino?
so what’s the biggie?
Barrio Siete is running a BAYANIHAN FUND DRIVE. We would like to invite everyone to join the BAYANIHAN spirit including all those who live in Australia. Thank you.
Amen!
BARRIO SIETE’s focus is on BAYANIHAN with Overseas Filipinos. We have bayanihan spirit from Finland…
Norway…
Belgium
Indonesia…
United States!!!
Singapore
UK!
Canada
UAE
Sweden
Huwag namang kalimutan na among Ondoy-donors via BarrioSiette are from Cavite, Caloocan, Davao, Quezon City, Taguig, San Juan, Pangasinan, Manila, Calamba, Lucena.
USA-based who donate to Ondoy-relief via UNICEF can double their contributions. UNICEF has this announcement:
https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=5960&5960.donation=form1
It was the true spirit of ancient Filipinos. It is now perverted
by self serving Politicians and Political Candidates to gain a bunch
of people to vote for them. I am praying that those politicians who
do this. Will be surely affected by these coming natural calamities.
They will also feel the sting of what they are giving to people.
American Samoa was hit by a huge Tsunaunami recently. Mother Earth is bringing out her second wave of armaments and attacks. We sit on the Pacific Rim of Fire. So, geological natural calamities are next!
Sad but true!
Philippines needs disaster 365 for Filipinos to be united.
The only time Filipinos ceased to be a disaster is when facing a disaster except of course the government which is hopeless. :D
hi benign0. Bayanihan is a strong act of positivity for me that’s why it was used in our campaign for Ondoy victims but you managed to redefine Bayanihan through this post. perhaps you have not experienced Bayanihan and now is your chance to be a part of one. I encourage you to donate a single australian dollar to our fund drive. It will help a lot. Especially you.
bO, naman you go to such lengths to promote your ignorance. Do not bring in your discourse on the state of societal development in the Philippines in the mist of a natural calamity.
There is no man made calamity by the way since we are part of nature. Having that higher sense of consciousness does not preclude all our own stupidity.
The tribe always gets together when nature strikes a blow. Please note that scavengers and vultures also abound as they are part of the natural world. Pinoys like to reassure themselves that they are God fearing when the shit hits the fan. Gated communities notwithstanding.
They are part of the natural equilibrium process.
Right now there are reports that the victims of the flood are attacking relief laden trucks.
It appears (I hope I am wrong)that there may be a lot of hungry and angry people in the flood stricken areas.
Out little one’s style of micro managing in the light of a massive natural calamity has been found to be wanting.
The informality of our economic, political systems and structures are showing through all the hype about being a tiger economy on the verge of becoming a first world economy.
There is a story going around of a man who bought a boat in Makati and brought it to Marikina and used it to save his family and others. He had the personal will to do something and he did it.
Where was the government and what were they doing at a time when a single individual was able on his own to do this? With all the resources at its command it put out an SOS for resources. Something is very very wrong about the people running government. Mabilis sa pork pero when the chips are down wala. Something is very wrong with us to have allowed this to get this far.
Truly incredible.
@ mel beckham
Indeed, perhaps I haven’t experienced helping carry a bahay kubo with the rest of the barrio across a talahiban, Mr. Beckham.
But what I have (and continue to) experience(d) was/is having the everyday routine decency to dispose of my garbage properly, not piss on walls, call out real issues AT THE TIME THEY ARE MOST RELEVANT (and not when the shlt hits the fan), not singing into my karaoke machine at full blast at 3 in the morning, wrapping my chewing gum in its foil wrapper before tossing it into a trash can, ensuring that people who had arrived first get served first at a McDonald’s counter, treating domestic servants with respect (like not waking them up in the middle of the night to buy a single cigarette stick), not staring at people excessively, treating public toilets the way I would my own, paying the right taxes, and LAST BUT NOT LEAST, regarding the coming presidential elections INTELLIGENTLY instead of the TRADITIONAL VACUOUS WAY we always have as a people.
To give you some credit, Mr. beckham, consider me “encouraged” to donate “a single australian dollar” to the relief effort. But then again, you don’t really know whether I will, or won’t, will you? That’s right, because how much or how little I or anyone here contributes to the relief effort is not something anybody here can presume to be the judge of.
Keep your eye on the ball, dude. I’m sure you are doing good work where you are to the best of your abilities and commensurate to the opportunities offered by your personal circumstances.
You can be all those things, but if you continue to tolerate injustice and look down on your fellow Filipino with your elitist attitude, then you remain a part of the problem.
cvj:
there is a big difference between looking down – and identifying a glaring gap, and calling for solutions, or even presenting a solution.
when you look down – you just simply look down. it’s a gut feel. period.
however, when:
* a gap is identified
* the AS-IS state is defined.
* the desired TO-BE state is presented.
* the next steps to implement so that the TO-BE state is identified
that’s not looking down, that’s not even elitist
that’s what a human being who uses his brain does.
“…But then again, you don’t really know whether I will, or won’t, will you? That’s right, because how much or how little I or anyone here contributes to the relief effort is not something anybody here can presume to be the judge of.”
judge you? whoa…
he was giving you a good faith comment, and you diss him for it?
wow.
It is our responsibility to do what you enumerated above and has nothing to do with Bayanihan.
I certainly can’t force you to consider what the real spirit of Bayanihan a lot of people believes it to be.
And I’m still happy that what you think is appropriate especially in these times is not the popular thinking of perhaps, everybody.
Of course we all know that benignO has the eyes for the small details. Nothing wrong with that, except that, for one used to smelling and looking for the gory and the obnoxious in people, his people, his eyes and nose chose to look only for the gory and the obnoxious, the good, the pleasant, and the beautiful in his people, although not alien to his nature, totally ignored.
He fled to Australia, perhaps thinking that the gory and the obnoxious are the monopoly of his people, the Filipino people, his brilliant mind not being able to fathom the truth that the gory and the obnoxious are part and parcel of any people of the world.
I’m sure some day he’ll find that out, and my gad, he’ll be dissapointed.
Bert:
The gory and the obnoxious boils down to proportion.
you know… Philippine proportion – ABC group – 7%, DE group (the jologs and the tontows of the world) 93%
Australian proportions – the C group accounts for 50%
Looking at the proportion, he’ll be disappointed to be in a place with more gory and obnoxious jologs and tontows – 93%
Cheers!
Justice,
CHEERS!
YOHOOO…. IGANG BATUGAN
NATUTULOG SA PANSITAN
NEARLY 5 FRAKKING HOURS AND COUNTING.
*************
BongV BongV says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 1, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Bert:
The gory and the obnoxious boils down to proportion.
you know… Philippine proportion – ABC group – 7%, DE group (the jologs and the tontows of the world) 93%
Australian proportions – the C group accounts for 50%
Looking at the proportion, he’ll be disappointed to be in a place with more gory and obnoxious jologs and tontows – 93%
Cheers!
My understanding of bayanihan can be two ways. One is good and the other is bad.
1. Standard, natural act of kindness or expected practice at COMMUNITY level. It is a civic duty. It is a good thing.
2. Non existent or not in practice at higher level of public management. Simply put, walang bayanihan sa Congress, sa Malacanang or in the lower house. Their duties are defined by laws and yet they are non performing. They cannot move the country forward.
Bayanihan can also be defined as teamwork or collective effort of executives to help one another to execute a plan in preparation for any disaster or to prepare a plan after learning and experiencing the bad consequences of a previously known disasters.
Therefore, being proud of Bayanihan does not reflect the country as a whole because the END RESULT, nothing has been accomplished in terms of stronger policymaking to prevent or to lessen the financial consequence, emotional and mental trauma , and economic damage to th country.
I think Benigno is trying to say that Bayanihan doe snot exist at higher executive level including congress, the lower house and its constitutents to benefit the country as a whole.
World view, Bayanihan nowadays is common among many countries in the world. Some may call it “Good samaritan or volunteer work”. It’s not something NEW.
Of course this time, it is reasonable to feel the spirit. It’s the right time and the right thing to do for many filipinos but the spirit must continue…It should not end.
Bayanihan is about “serving” , to serve the country or help the people like a PUBLIC servant.
The ancient Filipinos know how to be at peace with their
fellowmen. With nature and the environment. And with
the universe as a whole. They were knowledgeable of
Mother Earth. We were Animists; before we became
Christians and Moslems. Ever noticed other Filipinos, still offering today foods, candles, etc…on trees, plants, shrubs, forests. To appease the Spirits.
Look at how they carve the Bannawe Rice Terraces. It is
about 5,000 years old. Yet, it was never eroded with time.The improvised ricefields gave food to Filipinos in the area.Still giving it today. Mother Earth allowed them to use her mountain to feed them.
It is more blessed to give than receive. Where have I read that? It conjures up bible lessons from my childhood when the Lutheran Church sought my soul but only came away with my intellectual grasp that one can choose right over wrong.
This grand blogging dialogue is about a word that ought to be a way of life. Ben K observes that he finds a great deal of selfishness in the Philippines, approaching an observation that was on my mind, too, but I could not figure out how to put it forward gracefully. Certainly, many Americans, for sure, put themselves first, accumulating consumer goods as fast as dockworkers can unload the boats from Japan or China. And showing off their acquisitions as if their very being were defined by the latest fad.
But it is really weird to me, here, frankly. It’s not that there is no community spirit; there is, especially around fiesta time. It’s not that there is not a tighter family bonding than you will find in the US; there is, especially in times of need. But there seems to be a lack of interest in the greater good of the greater community, evidenced by legislators who serve themselves first and the people if it is convenient, or by people throwing trash across this gorgeous country, or people selling their vote, that precious instrument where by they demonstrate their dedication to their nation.
But even with the tight community and family bonds, there are also animosities galore, little hatreds and bitternesses that flare up and die down when, well . . . often when someone else has died down. They are all over the place, within families, between families, spites and jealousies and little pinpricks of gossip, the tearing down of others.
So what is this blind spot in the Filipino conscience, the place where caring for others is vacant, missing in action as a way of life? Where is the public consciousness that says I am rich when I help others or when I forgive others? When I don’t push my plastic into their yard, my shit into their river, my noise into the ears of those who must go to school or work in the morning, and where HOW SOMEONE ELSE IS DOING is just as important as how I am doing.
What is this blind spot?
It only goes away in the aftermath of the devastation of a typhoon?
Not to be unkind, but if it takes typhoons to encourage a caring for the welfare of others as a natural part of one’s being, maybe God has a PLAN by sending in relentless waves of destruction . . .
Joe
Add to your observation some comment on this link:
http://www.juancountry.com/what-an-american-said-about-the-ondoy-bayanihan/
“So what is this blind spot in the Filipino conscience, the place where caring for others is vacant, missing in action as a way of life?” – Joe
And the Americans seem to have nothing of this kind of stuff? It’s always fine to focus on the mistakes of others.
non-malignant:
that such phenomenon (blind spot) is universal, is well founded. but that misses the point – it boils down to proportion, incidence, epidemiology.
voting for a known thief, who in turn steals money for storm drains. then when the floods came due to the storm drains, points a finger at the crook ONLY – but does not recognize his culpability in voting for a known crook despite the availability of honest and competent candidates. the Pinoy would rather “laugh at the allegation”, “brush off the comment”, pass the buck, instead of examining what can be done better next time.
Caring is a way of life. It is a sustained conscious act performed daily – it is not a superhuman activity that happens only in times of catastrophe.
After all, if people cared enough to do the right thing, the casualties could have been minimized, the correct infrastructure and response protocols could have been in place.
That these were not in place shows that people do not care enough – aka, the blind spot.
Non-malignant,
Thank you for the link. I particularly appreciated this reaction to the compliment given by the American: “this is who we are and we don’t need to hear it from foreigners for us to believe something that has defined us as a people for as long as one can remember . . .”
We can discuss American shortcomings if you wish. They exist. But that was not the point of my comment. I personally believe there is a different “compassion set” to everyday life here in the Philippines than in the US. That is my point, and I suppose you would have me bury it in the sand, rather than read it and think about it.
In the US there is a notion that “my freedom ends when it affects the well-being of others.” So excess noise, trash-tossing, pollution . . . they are considered offenses, in that they are offensive to others. There are regulations and fines attached to abuses, and they are levied.
It is a mindset, to be considerate. It is different here, and if you want to keep the difference, you can.
Joe
Yes. For all these “American shortcomings” so-called, what has been lacking in the conversation is the fact that Americans died to secure freedom in other countries such as ours — which not only covers but surpasses or transcends the “bayanihan” notion we Pinoys are so proud of. The weather satellites that we use to study and [try to] predict storms are made in large part by Americans. “American shortcomings” pale in comparison to the mountain of achievements and contributions they made to their neighbors or fellow-men.
Asia-West,
Have you read, the space people have concluded that there is water on the moon? The questions is whether or not there is enough to crack it for oxygen and spacecraft fuel. If there is enough, look for an American colony on the moon in, oh, 25 years or so. From there, Mars . . .
We would not be blogging here if it weren’t for such aspirations and the technologies they spawned.
Joe
to my understanding, the point benign0 wants to make is that we don’t practice bayanihan enough.
of course, it’s great that people are taking action now helping out each other. that should be expected for that is obviously required in this time of need. but what next after all the floodwaters have subsided and the detritus and mud have been washed away this. it is very likely that this nation will just go back to its default status of being totally passive and submissive to what is happening around it. relax, relax na naman. wala na namang pakialamanan. nakalimutan na naman ang bayanihan.
i, for one, am particularly annoyed by the media’s penchant for creating hype around the idea of bayanihan in such a showbizy manner. it trivializes the whole thing and, unfortunately, many people are buying it. what happens then is that bayanihan becomes nothing more than entertainment, something to be warm and fuzzy about.
bayanihan is not the problem but our inconsistency.
You are too right betterphil.
If bayanihan was consistent in our society before Ondoy, this mess could have been avoided or the destruction would have been minimal.
Bayanihan or tulungan can be a double edge sword too. The people in power in our beloved country for instance, only help those who will give them something in return. Hence, you see lots of kamag-anak and kaibigan in sensitive positions. Some of them are also afraid of filing cases of graft and corruption against their friends for fear of losing favors.
Pakikisama is also bad in this context: makisama ka naman sa pangungurakot or else we will kill you.
Benigno,
They certainly can’t be faulted for that.
Maureen Hultman and Claudio Teehankee jr. both lived in Dasmarinas village. The Vizcondes and Hubert Webb both lived in BF homes Paranaque. That Teehankee and Webb were convicted for those respective murders shows how little village residents know about the intentions of their co-residents so how much more for the intentions of those from the outside.
Here we go again with the heritage thing.
http://filipinovoices.com/wanted-empire-builders/comment-page-1#comment-74683
http://filipinovoices.com/the-poignancy-of-filipino-aspirations/comment-page-1#comment-76300
You can help Mel Beckham a lot to determine if you actually contribute even a single Australian Dollar.
I would say a lot of those here got to read that post wherein someone stated your real name . Beckham can just read through all the articles posted here and look for that.
So you can either contribute in your real name or use your online name. As long as you don’t contribute as “anonymous”; then that problem is solved.
But since you brought up the idea of how someone will know or won’t really know about what you do; what you implied/stated there is actually applicable to what you claim as “having the everyday routine decency to dispose of your garbage properly, not piss on walls, not singing into your karaoke machine at full blast at 3 in the morning, wrapping your chewing gum in its foil wrapper before tossing it into a trash can, ensuring that people who had arrived first get served first at a McDonald’s counter, treating domestic servants with respect (like not waking them up in the middle of the night to buy a single cigarette stick), not staring at people excessively, treating public toilets the way you would your own, paying the right taxes.
All that anyone here has to believe your word is your word. And you purposely put “your word” in question. And that should put in proper perspective your claims of brilliance.
And in reference to your regard for the coming Presidential elections; Ben Kritz’s platform is already detailed but where is yours? You did imply that you’ll be coming out with yours in your “challenge” didn’t you?
Bert,
Interesting. Back in MLQ3s blog; he referred to details as the nitty gritty and implied that it’s the world of the small minded. Check out “Primer on the Neri case” in MLQ3’s blog.
Justice,
Another CHEERS!
Justice League, i believe you are referring to this statement from Benign0.
putang ina naman nyan.
an tagal ng nakalagay yung comment ko dito. yung tatlong moderator na utusan ni Nick – syet, natutulog na naman kayo sa pansitan.
kung nagpapalusot kayo ng mga walang kwentang comment – yung pantay pantay – mga hindot kayong mga lintik kayo. kung nasa pinas lang ako ngayon, baka sinapak ko na kayong tatlo.
Bert,
Cheers.
CVJ,
Yes. That would be it. Cheers.
I saw your posts a month back here but there was never an instance where we got to interact before this. Nice to know you’re back.
Here is the International Red Cross site for sending donations (in US dollars, Euros, Swiss Franc) for Ketsana relief (as well as Samoa tsunami, Indonesia earthquake, flu pandemic, Africa relief, others).
http://donate.ifrc.org/
[Using Red Cross, UNICEF, World Food Programme and other established organizations provides a degree of reliability that donor-money gets received by the intended relief programs.]
Ok pinoys… Bayanihan NOW… another strong storm Parma is coming. The bayanihan spirit must be done ahead of the storm…
Check how CNN report and compare with ours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUXZw6N7zjo
Look at the eye of that storm.. Heavy rains is highly likely and landslide can occur and flash flooding. Prepare first then pray…..
Let’s not be stucked here at FV. Communicate now and demand emergency measures from public officials. I have no accessed to Philippine TV but this Parma storm is a category 4 or 5 hurricane in the atlantic ocean.. It’s like Katrina in New Orleans or even worst. Prepare…..
Check out this brilliantly simple ‘systems diagram’ of the key factors that contribute to chronic flood-related disasters in the Philippines here.
It also contains a diagram in PDF format that can be downloaded and reproduced into leaflets to create better awareness around the reality that flooding is really a SYSTEM composed of inter-related root causes and as such can only be addressed using proper systems approaches to developing the right long-term solutions!
Real solutions demand real resolve to apply real thinking.
you can add river siltation, lack of water route to the ocean 2 ur guide.
Benigno, this is a more useful approach to the problem than any of your other approaches. It is worth appreciating.
It is concise and simple to understand and it highlights the real major causes of the problem. Although it does specifically suggest any solution yet logic points the obvious and practical solutions.
What would the next president do about this problem? How would he implement his solution?
That questions need to be asked to those aspiring for the presidency. This is where your advocacy finds real meaning. So, borrowing from your words, “Presidentiables, Platform Plz”.
mistake (word “NOT” is missing): “Although it does specifically suggest…”
Phrase should be: “Although it does NOT specifically suggest…”
If there is a version of this diagram that emphasizes more the danger of living in the floodplains, and the major nationwide TV networks use it to educate the “masa”, perhaps it will help create some impact to the mindsets of those families who informally settle in those dangerous flood-prone areas.
The problem now isn’t listing down reasons why there’s flooding. thats relatively easy.
the truly hard problems are:
I.medium/long term issues
1) the problem is to understand which of the reasons is most important in reducing flooding (or flood damage) in the future (ranking the problems in terms of importance
2) what are the easiest (cheapest) reasons to fix?
3) using (1) and (2), implement a plan of reforms.
II. short term issues
1) what do we do with the thousands of refugees in terms of housing, schooling, health, nutrition?
2) where do we get the money to do all of that?
Yes, indeed.
This problem should be a big part of the platform of those who are aspiring to be the next president of our country.
My two cents on additional long term issues:
1) Address squatting and make it a criminal offense to deter people from engaging in it. Also littering like Singapore. Add destruction of public properties considering the damage wrought on the evacuation centers by the evacuees. With almost all shanties torn down, this is one big opportunity for the government to clear up all these lands that should not have been built on in the first place. Unless the cynical in me is right that this is source of hakot votes come election time and so inertia would rule.
2) See the Vietnamese model where they cities along the coast are all being encouraged to develop and supporting infrastructures are built in order to not create just one big metro-city with inherent big city problems.
3) Encourage citizens to go back to the provinces by assisting them in relocation if they are not successful in finding livelihood in Manila
4) Treeplanting initiatives should be accelerated and be mandatory like ROTC
5) Developers should show plans on where the drainage or storm sewers are before projects gret approved. Also, housing density should be examined by the housing planners office. Inclusion of green spaces as well.
6) Feasibility of drilling water disposal wells
7) Issue of overpopulation (Reproductive Health Bill is starting to look very attractive)
8) Encouraging corporate and individual donations by giving tax breaks. This donations could be earmarked for relief when calamity strikes but also as a source of funding for research and studies on flood control in Phil. setting.
9) Utilize the people who have been evacuated in after-flood clean-ups (able-bodied people of course). Conduct flood awareness and response at the barangay level.
10) Improve garbage collection. My suggestion is that since cell phones is the must have item for everyone, why not impose an environmental tax on it since filipino people seem to have lots of money to spend on these things. Also karaoke machines. Also movies. Also cable – just thing of all the thousands who watch Wowowie etc. I think I am on to something here. I could go on and on.
11) The importance of wetlands should be a mandatory subject in the grade schools.
Rosa, I like your suggestions especially 1,3,4 & 5.
In some countries, you need a permit before you can cut down a tree branch and you can go to jail or get a big fine if you cut down a whole tree.
There will be no shortage of good ideas when there is “bayanihan of solutions”. :-)
Ideas are cheap! Action, different story.
Of course ideas are cheap without corresponding actions. But right actions are always the result of good ideas. What is less than “cheap” are actions that lack right and good ideas first.
“The government can not do it all. The government does not collect enough taxes to have all the money to do everything that a community needs to have happen.”-UP n
Whaaaat? And what are those they’re stuffing inside their pockets, newsprint?
NASA talks about PARMA. [with satellite pictures]
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2009/h2009_Parma.html
As benigs has now become a flood control engineer (diploma from Google University) I am encouraged to apply myself assiduously in the field of cultural anthropology in order to help build a modern, prosperous Philippines.
To discourage pissing on walls, let’s learn from the Bangladeshis who put religious images on walls (including an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) instead of the uncouth warnings Filipino savages use.In fact we can take it one step further by filling up Malacanang and Batasang Pambansa with Sto Ninos and Nazarenos so they can finally stop pissing on the nation.
Loud karaoke singers can be silenced by following the example of Japan which deputized Pollution Complaint Counselors (PCCs). Since barangay tanods are too uneducated to become PCCs we will hire conservatory graduates with perfect pitch ears to police the neighborhood against criminal karaoke singing. We will have Simon Cowell as the Noise Pollution Czar.
We will pressure foreign countries where there are Filipino maids to enact laws against arbitrary in-the-middle-of-the-night orders. Our maids need all the sleep so they can take all the physical abuse and nonpayment of salaries their enlightened foreign employers routinely subject them to.
I can go on with Benigs’ list of routine decencies he now enjoys down in modern Australia where everybody gets famously along. But my nationality and traditional upbringing has cursed me with this unfortunate tendency to not complete a task and follow through. So I’m dropping out of Google University.
LOL apanfilo! and i love this “… But my nationality and traditional upbringing has cursed me with this unfortunate tendency to not complete a task and follow through.” among other unfortunate tendencies. benigz knows them all.
Your response though witty, is another example of why the Philippines will not move forward. People like you just make a mockery out of all the solutions being offered. Sige, tawa na lang tayo.
Whatever humor you try to put in, I would like to see a couple of these laws you mentioned actually put into action. That religious imagery wall does seem smart. Same with the anti-loud karaoke singers law. As for the maids, well, while maids should sleep, the employers should be liable for the abuse subjected to them – including verbal abuse at the hands (oops, I mean mouths) of savage Filipino masters. haha.
Will some candidate put these on their platform, plez? hehehe
“As for Benign0’s inconsistency, one ego calling out another, you are certainly free to make that observation. For myself, I appreciate his perspectives, no matter what sense of self-importance they are wrapped in…”-Joe to Non-malignant
Not to cast aspersion to my American friend Joe who I sincerely believe is a very decent, fair, and upright person even if he’s beginning to like and agree with benignO already. But this muckraking of the Filipino people by some Filipinos themselves can be likened to a person who is fond of shouting to the world, like, “Hey, neighbors, I have warts on my kili-kili, they stinks…I’m a wartsy dude you see…”.
That’s benignO and his band of tseware-warewaps shouting to the world.
And the world will believe.
And not saying ” “Hey, neighbors, I have warts on my kili-kili, they stinks…I’m a wartsy dude you see…”.” will make the warts and stinking kili kili go away.?But that’s your interpretation.
Where your story gets stuck up, was it forgot that these same neighbor you speak of had a twin – who after hearing the other speak, seplied – “Dudes I had warts and stinky armpits, guess what I used wart remover, and took a bath every morning and used tawas”, end of story.
Bert,
You are mighty upstanding, too, and I appreciate that we can disagree from time to time without falling to insults. Your sense of humor is refreshing, I might add.
As for Benign0, I have no idea if I would like him as a person or not, nor is it particularly relevant. There have been numerous instances when I have disagreed with him, too.
I had a boss once, a brilliant Brit, who taught me a lot about adhering to principles in anything you do. He was a sum’bitch to work for because he believed chemical reactions worked faster when heated, and he was trying to change things quickly. So he was pretty . . . ummm . . . ruthlessly challenging. But it was just a method, nothing personal.
Furthermore, I find that Benign0 is conceptually about three layers deep in much of what he writes, and it is sometimes a challenge to get to level three because my brain is a one-layer brain. I respect his intellect much more than dislike his style. His style is just his peculiar craft.
Joe
Joe,
One half of me admires benignO’s acumen also, I know he’s an extremely bright dude. But, when he starts dissing my people and my country, or start saying nonsense, those get my goat. Not that I don’t talk nonsense at all, most times I did, I’m just the mediocre guy you know, and he’s the elite, so people have higher expectations from him than from me.
And so I dissed him when he did those. Nothing personal.
@ GabbyD, Ilda, Non-malignant, Rosa, and others who are interested in bringing proposed solutions to the next level of detail, this is a great start. I’ve put a bit more meat around the points I raised in the flooding diagram in a separate and more comprehensive blog post on the subject. Check it out.
- Terrace farming for flood adjustment/delay, decrease landslides, and prevent soil erosion as well as practically flood resistant agriculture.
- Map the under ground water and institute ground water replenishment system so dams need not release water that produces surface runoff, prevent ground subsidence, etc…
- Continue desilting rivers.
- Specific tax on fastfood item packages. Those who choose to dine-in probably shouldn’t have their meals served on take-out packages. Large burgers that come in carton boxes are still covered by a plastic wrapper that function better than coming in carton boxes if you dine-in anyway.
- Composting at source. Minimize landfill delivery, limits pest, decrease garbage drop off from garbage trucks, etc…
- Spread training of military to endangered forest …
Etc…
justice league,
Yes, and freeze large-scale development of office buildings, residential towers, malls, and heavily populated commercial/industrial structures in Manila, and move such activities to a properly zoned region along the Subic/Clark expressway.
I actually think the people who blog here have a better grasp of the practical things that can be done than do the government officials tasked with protecting the people. Perhaps they have their eyes on different priorities . . . or is it purses . . .
Joe
Joe America,
Cheers then.
first of all, is it wrong to admit what’s wrong with
us? how else would we know what to fix if we don’t
check what needs fixing? i don’t know about you but i
know there’s much that needs fixing.
you should know that progress can only happen
once we start acknowledging our faults and
undertaking real improvements.
but of course there are those among us who just
enjoy being complacent. to these people I dare say
re-evaluate yourselves. who knows you might come
to realize that the filipino is worth improving.
Pardon my thought.
But I would rather subscribe to the view that there is at least one agency of government that can save lives, protect lives – in times of calamities or disasters that are characterized more as ‘acts of God’. If this is so, let it be taken to task.
I would rather commit to the view as well, that if that agency fails to undertake much-need rescue, search, and relief, that agency is deemed to have failed and if in a larger sense, there is reason to blame BIG BAD GOVERNMENT.
Marikina has set the highest standards of the things that should be done right after the calamity if it were unable to do during the calamity itself.
If other similary-situated municipalities or cities can follow suit, so much the better.
Politics is local so leave it to the local chief executive, first and foremost, the task to save, protect, and preserve life and property of every constituent under him or her.
Bayanihan stops where the looting starts.
Aside from looting of abandoned homes, I heard even an evacuation center was itself looted by some evacuees. The anti-pinoy at work. :/
Bayanihan…. Let’s watch Aga Muhlach.. He talks about GOVERNANCE UNDER ARROYO ADMINISTRATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7w8cRubL0
This is a good thing. I wish the entertainment industry will also use all resources including actors and actresses to educate the people not to sell their votes… It’s time for real Bayanihan…
Forgive my asking. Please make plain how or in what context have you used the terms – shotgun bayanihan.
If you ask me, the true meaning of the word bayanihan is this: BAYANI-han which is a social and cultural phenomenon that is best exemplified in the case of Marikina a day after the disaster of unseen proportion that virtually flooded the entire Marikina City.
That to me is the true meaning of BAYANI-han. Let the BIG GOOD GOVERNMENT do its social role in times of disaster such as the rain floods that took many lives, destroyed belongings, and dislocated the squatters.
Time to reconstruct the future for the BETTER. And we need BAYANI FERNANDO for the next six years.
Just like any other kid, he’ll lose his teeth 1 or 2 at a time. Keep feeding him exactly the way you’ve been doing so you don’t upset his stomach. Cats tend to swallow their kibble whole, but if he wants to crunch he’ll still have other teeth to use. You may or may not find any teeth lying around. He’ll swallow some of them and others will get lost in the carpet, outdoors, or other places where you’ll never find them.