The real Philippines
published 27 Oct 2008, MST
Boy Limos is the name I have for the man who gets on board jeepneys along Avenida Rizal, between Tayuman and Blumentritt, at night. I take this route on my way home from work and chance upon this guy at least once every two weeks.
Normally, the beggars who climb into jeeps and ask for alms in the guise of wiping passengers’ shoes are little boys not older than 10. But Boy Limos is tall, dark—and looks like he is in his late 20s or early 30s. He appears healthy. He forgoes the shoe wiping and instead kneels as he mouths his spiel. He says he needs the money to buy food for himself and his brother and that not all beggars are drug addicts.
My impulsive reaction has always been to clutch at my bag. The guy may claim he is not an addict, but he looks the part. He has tattoos on his arm and his demeanor is flighty, as though he could not sit still or talk in an even manner. In the meantime, one can almost hear what’s going on in other passengers’ minds. He looks able enough—so why doesn’t he get a job? Of course nobody has ever ventured to tell him this. The man looks quite menacing, and where we are is not exactly the safest part of town.
When some passengers fish for some coins in their bags or pocket and hand them to Boy Limos, they immediately regret doing so. This is because when he sees that all he gets are a few P1 coins or, at most, a P5 coin, he makes a face, rolls his eyes, sighs, and storms out of the vehicle with heavy feet, muttering something unintelligible. I guess after all this time he is still expecting somebody would be stupid enough to hand him a 500-peso bill.
***
These nightly jeepney rides are in contrast with the good life I had a peek into as I chaperoned my pre-schooler to his field trip at Tagaytay Highlands over the weekend. The place has been etched in the public’ s consciousness as the site of this celebrity wedding or the location shoot of that movie. Houses built here by prominent personalities have also not escaped attention. Indeed, the Highlands enjoys the reputation of being the enclave of the rich and famous.
So only a few chosen ones (as well as employees of companies who have their team building or planning sessions there or parents of children in schools who have excursions here)get to experience boarding the twin treats of the cable car and the funicular train aside from other amenities common to resorts. Still fewer outside of the shareholders’ extended network get to experience the breeze, the view and the tranquility it brings. It’s a respite, yes, because the aura of luxury is poles apart from the realities one witnesses back home.
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In the United States, Sarah Palin’s reference to small towns constituting “the real America” is getting flak. Is there such a thing as a real and a not-quite-real part of the nation? If we are to conjure a single image of our own country, what would be the real Philippines be like? When we say we love our country, who or what is it we claim we love? Is it Boy Limos who seems to believe he is entitled to beg and be haughty just because he was born poor? Or those ladies I saw in Tagaytay, sipping their drinks in the clubhouse or preparing to board the cable car as they wait for their husbands to finish playing golf?
Sadly, the real Philippines is all about the gaping disparity between the very poor and the very rich. There is something fundamentally unjust and reprehensible in that. And if there is one single objective that the government can set for itself, it should be the promotion of socio-economic equity. Everything else follows.
One of Barack Obama’s battle cries in his campaign is to “spread the wealth.” His plan is to impose more taxes on segments of the population that earn a relatively higher income as a means of leveling the playing field. His rival has accused him of being a socialist because of this. But dismissing McCain as desperate, or exaggerating, or both, will Obama’s approach be instructive elsewhere, say for instance in a developing country like ours?
But why provide a disincentive for people who work so hard to earn much, assuming that their earnings are commensurate with the value they add to their organizations? And can we ever really spread the existing aggregate wealth when some (or most) of it is in the hands of corrupt officials whose greed pushes them to amass money that can last one hundred lifetimes? Curiously, public sector corruption in the US does not seem to be so big a deal.
So we can’t work with spreading wealth because it is almost certain those who now have it will fight tooth and nail to hang on to it. So why not spread opportunities instead?
Government officials can do this by providing greater access to quality education, building infrastructure, generating jobs—and getting rid of corruption. It does not do so by handing out P500 doles to poor families, engaging in infighting between and among themselves and saying it is fighting corruption but actually doing nothing about it. Why, we have yet to see a high-profile official charged, tried, found guilty, and locked up in jail for messing with the people’s money (that would be a happy day)!
These ideas are in no way new or original. But if indeed opportunities are created for more people, Boy Limos would go to school, find a job and be productive for himself and his brother. He does not have to dream of fancy vacations—just meals at the right time, a humble shelter, school for the little ones and the dream that life would be better for the next generation.
When people have dignity, they don’t allow themselves to beg or steal. Not when they are paupers on Avenida, not even when they succeed enough to and get themselves elected to public office. And a dignified Philippines is what all of us should shoot for.
