THE CLASSIC PHILIPPINE DRAMA

There goes the poor Pearl of the Orient Seas, left alone with nothing. Its children are way too busy working out their lives to even notice that she is stripped of her pearl, standing naked in front of them. Stripped of her dignity, sovereignty and beauty, exposed and defenseless, she tries so hard to cover her nakedness with juicy celebrity scoops, epic boxing and basketball matches and teleseryes to pass the time. What once was a glorious, lustrous and magnificent Pearl of the Orient Seas now contents itself with temporary concealers that never do any good to cover her aching soul, looking distantly at her children.

            With roughly twenty-five million poor Filipinos, more than two million unemployed individuals, twenty-one new cases of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) every day, one out of ten young Filipinas aged 15-19 pregnant, unresolved territorial dispute, rampant corruption… how can the Filipinos still manage to smile?

            It’s no secret that the Philippines is a struggling country. It is evident enough that one needs not to even try to be observant. From the point of view of a common citizen, many people have grown weary of the daily news filled with killings, corrupt officials, rising economy with no impact to common people- just plain hopeless endless cycle of bad news. Somehow, the people have devised a way to battle the negativity that surrounds them. That is, by growing immune to the routine: the tedious abysmal plunge to darkness and uncertainty of the many facets of the Philippines as a nation.

They’re tired enough fighting every day to feed their hungry family, doing a job that never pays enough, trying hard to keep their sanity and their spirit to keep them living and working. They have learned to turn a blind eye, mastered the art of being numb because they have already endured too much pain and difficulties. In order to mask the pain, many Filipinos manage to smile despite the many problems they face. As they say, fake it till you make it. Some people are fascinated with this smile while others think it absurd to smile when they have lost everything after a great typhoon or flood. But what is there left to lose when they have lost everything? So they smile, smile the brightest smile they can, because at the end of the day, they want to see themselves fight. When they have been hurt too much and they are just too worn-out to cry, they smile and mock the face of their many obstacles.

          The Philippines may be a developing country but it is also a country of resilient, creative, hardworking and spirited individuals. It is a nation of survivors, masters of adapting to various kinds of hardships since time immemorial. It is very definitive that no matter how the Filipinos seem discorded at times, there is always a moment when they unite for a single cause. With the rate the Philippines is going, it needs more moments of unity to catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbors.  It is one thing to progress as an individual and another to progress as a nation. Why advance alone when both can be done at the same time? To accomplish this, massive reform is needed from top to bottom, inside out, both as an individual and a Filipino citizen. Even so, Filipinos believe in miracles. It wouldn’t be that hard to make one- not for the nearly one hundred million strong determined Filipinos.

THE CHIC IN PLASTIC

               I am an avid fan of all things fashion- Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Burberry, Givenchy, Armani, Alexander McQueen- you name it. But I can only have them noted in my cell phone and newspaper clippings of various fashion weeks from Tokyo to Paris.

            I guess it all started when I was in high school, at Las Piñas East National High School- Verdant. From Northern Samar, I transferred to Las Piñas because a relative of ours promised to sponsor my studies. Unfortunately, like many such promises, it did not prove true. Luckily, I have a mother who never stopped working night and day just to provide for our family. She did not let herself become jobless because she knows her family relies on her. My mother, a maid, never failed to provide for her family. So whatever she gave us, we were just happy and content with it.

Because we could not afford a bag then, I would go to school with my books, notebooks and pens in a plastic bag. I was not embarrassed then because I had nothing else and having a plastic bag is better than nothing. Aside from that, I would also just wear rubber shoes even if the school policy strictly implements wearing black shoes. Noticing this, my advisers and the whole Science Department of LPENHS-Verdant donated a bag, a pair of black shoes, clothes, toothpaste and toothbrush, a lip balm and a perfume to me. I was just a regular student, a stranger, but they treated me like I was part of their family.

Up until this day, I have not forgotten all the people who became part of my journey to education. I may not remember all your names one by one, I most certainly haven’t forgotten to keep you in my heart.

POVERTY IS POWER

        We, Filipinos are known globally for our resilience. We thrive in challenges, whatever form they come to be. But the greatest adversary that many we are trying to conquer is poverty. With roughly two million poor Filipinos nationwide, many are struggling to feed their empty stomach. In the face of desperation, many have lost hope. With no idea on how to feed our grumbling stomachs without money, how can we manage to live well?

Since I was an elementary student, I have been notorious for being a nerd who burns her eyebrows studying. But they were very wrong. I did not burn my eyebrows, I burnt my hair. My family is from Palapag, Northern Samar. My mother is a maid while my father was a habal-habal (motorbicycle) driver. With an income that hardly feeds the family, we cannot afford to have electricity then. So I had an improvised gas lamp as my study buddy. Since the light would still be dim for my reading, I would lower my head further to be able to read better. Since I’m too busy reading, I wouldn’t notice immediately that my hair is already burning. I would only do so when I get a whiff of my burnt hair. But even then, it didn’t stop me from reading and learning and continuously striving for education.

            Many children especially in remote areas of the Philippines do not have whatever is needed to go to school or simply, they do not have access to school. These children need all the support they can get. Various stories of children moving mountains and seas just to get to school have been told through newspapers, magazines, television radio and all other media. Many of them still hope. They just won’t give up rather still fight and struggle to learn because they know that learning is beyond what is written in books and blackboards, it is more than just being the top one of the class, it is more than quizzes and exams. Learning is what they do with their lives. Learning is the everyday desire to know more, not only about lessons being taught in school, but more about what life teaches. Learning is a choice, no matter how deprived they may seem.

            Poverty keeps us motivated. It makes us yearn for a better life. It fuels us to work hard to achieve the common goal, that is, have a brighter future. We never stop seizing every opportunity that comes our way. Jean-Paul Sartre said “We are our choices.” If there is a downside to poverty, it is when it becomes an end point, when people stop hoping for a better life. And when people do, they block the possibilities that await them.

But if we turn poverty into an inspiration, it gives us power that drives us towards the goal we want to achieve because poverty teaches people how to endure countless difficulties. It provides us the courage that suffices for lack of financial resources. It makes us resourceful, self-reliant, creative, industrious, patient, content and compassionate to the plight of others. And best of all, poverty makes us proud once we look back at how they fought to have a better life.