> The
quality of life
The other day something hit me that suddenly changed my outlook on
life. From where I stand, and from what’s been happening to our
socio-political situation, I could see that almost everyone seems
to have been duped by the Opposition’s obsession to bring down
Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, at all cost, even up to the point
of burning down this country to the ground, if need be!
Even the Church which has been the unshakable bastion of Christian
Love and Forgiveness now seems to have taken sides. Forgiveness,
to some men of the cloth must now be something to be earned,
rather than given, 40 times 40 times! ‘Man proposes, God
disposes’, and ‘Only I will Judge, sayeth the Lord’, are now
fading echoes which some Bishops now seem to have conveniently
relegated to ‘spiritual poesy’, the meanings of which, could be
cleverly ‘misunderstood’!
The Military, which is supposed to be undergoing some
‘housecleaning’, has finally accepted the fact that it is just as
‘rat infested’ as both Houses of Congress! And these ‘rats’ seem
to have been taken by the smell of money just as the natural kind
have been taken by cheese! Money, lots of it, could’ve been made
to bait some Rat Officers to attempt that failed EDSA Anniversary
Coup. Only the fear of losing their lives could’ve prevented them
from pushing through with their lackluster and ill-fated power
grab!
Some sectors of the Business Community, no doubt, have been
tempted to dip their fingers in these ‘misadventures’, only to
realize that they can only take the side of the Economy and nobody
else’s! Business is affected by Politics, but like oil and water,
they can never mix! Businessmen have eventually learned to be
patient, and just wait for events to unfold, rather than try to
influence them for a more favorable outcome. Still, the Politics
of Corruption has all the more made business ventures and
investments in this part of the world as risky as flushing paper
money down the toilet bowl and hoping it still manages to remain
on top!
The C.P.P.-N.P.A., ‘Ideological Puppets’ of Almighty JoMa. Sison,
must be cheering their arch-enemies in the Military who have been
trying to bring the Government down, ever since the time of former
Pres. Cory Aquino! The boondocks must be reverberating with
rah-rah-rahs every time these soldiers attempt to do their bloody
work for them! Mama Mia! Can you imagine these Commies watching
with glee as that Marine Stand-off in Camp Aguinaldo was in
progress? They must’ve been disappointed when no guns and cannons
went off, and those politicians sulkingly walked away!
High quality Education in this country has become an exclusive
privilege and blessing of the Rich who can still afford to send
their children to the expensive and exclusive schools where
‘papers’ don’t become ‘peppers’, and English is spoken and written
much better than Pilipino! Quality teachers have opted to either
go to these higher paying Private Schools or Abroad, depriving our
less fortunate students of, at least, a decent education which
they very much deserve! Consequently, we have College students who
cannot even write a grammatically acceptable letter, much less,
carry a good conversation in English. No wonder Bar Flankers
abound, mostly because of this English language problem.
The Health Care System in this country leaves much to be desired.
Our Barangay, Municipal, and even City Health centers, Hospitals,
and Medical Centers, oftentimes, lack the necessary medicines and
services, and the medical workers, nurses, and even doctors, treat
their sick and suffering patients like fourth class citizens,
maybe because they are so poor they can barely afford to pay for
their roundtrip fare, and 5 cotton balls! These ego-tripping
workers have been reported to shout at patients and make them wait
endlessly while they go on extended lunch hours and merienda
brakes, driving their patients wild with hunger and aggravating
their illnesses needlessly! Most of the really GOOD doctors have
become ‘chameleons’ ready to be shipped abroad as nurses until
they, perhaps, pass their U.S. State Board Exams, and are ready to
revert to being the doctors that they really are. Still if they
choose to work just as nurses their salaries will be way beyond
their earnings even as private doctors here in the Philippines!
The Peace and Order situation doesn’t need much space as the
Newspapers, T.V., and Radio remind us daily of the perils of
living in a land where most crimes are committed by the very
people we are paying to protect us! And as if these weren’t enough
to really blow our minds out, these men in uniform have tried to
go ‘big time’ and launched some Coup d’etats preceded by some
silly and anti-climactic ‘withdrawal of support’! Sosmaryosep!
Only in the Philippines will you see these very same Coup plotters
punished with 20 push-ups and allowed to run for Senator of the
land and win, hands down! With such a ‘painful’ deterrent it
really isn’t so surprising why Coup threats and the like have now
become a fad in the Armed Forces of the Philippines!
Indeed after weighing things carefully I have come to the sad but
necessary conclusion that owning a lot of property and being
financially well-off here is a curse that can lead you to an early
death. Thinking about how you will enjoy all your riches here and
now, or making sure that these are not taken away from you through
‘legal’ or illegal means (like having your child kidnapped) is
indeed a big problem which can give you ulcers and even lead to a
mental breakdown. So given all these, and more, I have finally
opted to fly to the land of Uncle Sam and enjoy a really good and
peaceful life with the little that I have, for the rest of my
WALKING years, because, in the final analysis, it really isn’t the
quantity but the QUALITY OF LIFE that counts! This is not a
cop-out but simply a temporary ‘rest’, until things settle down,
and everyone grows up and finally gets their act together!
