I’ve received several queries of concern about the present situation here in the Philippines. There’s nothing that is affecting me currently here in Central Luzon. I don’t anticipate anything happening here, either … the current furor is being caused by some armed groups on the island of Mindanao, about a thousand miles from me, give or take.
My friend Bob … Mindanao Bob to be exact … is updating the situation from his first-hand perspective on his blog, see:
http://liveinthephilippines.com/content/2009/12/its-martial-law/
and
http://liveinthephilippines.com/content/2009/12/my-neighborhood-is-under-lockdown/
for some interesting insights.
I have no direct opinion or comments on the government’s actions or the events leading up to recent activities, but I would like to take advantage of this rather tense and tragic situation to point out a thing or two.
First of all, you’ve heard me and many others use comments like, “You’re not in Kansas anymore” when reporting on various issues involved in living here in the Philippines. It’s hard to imagine a government letting armed bands owned and controlled essentially by independent warlords. But it has been going on since long before the Spanish came here nearly 500 years ago .. the Spanish never fully conquered Mindanao and neither did did the Americans 100 years ago during the “War of the Philippine Insurrection.”
I can’t predict the future, and I won’t be around for a couple hundred years I am sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised to come back two hundred years hence and seeing the same situation. It’s a fact of life. Many think that sending in more and more troops is a solution, but take it from someone who served in one such ill-advised war and has watched half a dozen more since then, the military is not a solution.
The only thing that I see having any chance of success is promoting better understanding among the various “mini-states” that masquerade as the nation of the Philippines. Filipinos can and will band together against an outside attack, but to take action with other Filipinos to fix problems inside the country? Often impossible.
The proximate cause of the current unrest can be seen over the last few years as the government in manila has steadfastly tried to dictate terms to people in Mindanao. The many and varied people of Mindanao have quite understandable resented this dictatorial, “one side fits all’ approach, and not without hundreds of years of hands-on experience remain very distrustful of Manila.
One thing I have noted in my years in the US … it’s highly unusual, nearly unheard of in fact, when meeting someone for business to have them ask what state you are from, to have them publically deride other business acquaintances based on the state (province?) they were born in, or even to award contracts and make other weighty business decisions based on what school someone attended.
Here in the Philippines it’s the most common, unremarkable day to day thing to hear comments such as: “people from such and such province are cheats and liars”, “people from this other province are “money faced”, “people from some other province are so lazy they can’t hold a job”, “the women from province are so loose that no man is safe travelling through there” … believe me, I‘ve heard all these and more.
Frequent readers will recall I have often said that one of the charming aspects of living here in the Philippines is that many norms in society are very similar to small town America in the 1950s. But while there is an upside to this, there is also a very real downside. Those of you my age or older will remember that in that idyllic “Mayberry RFD” USA of yesteryear, hardly anyone blinked when terms like Nigger and Drunken Indian and Blood Sucking Jew were tossed around, sometimes even by people in powerful positions.
There are a lot of things that have changed in my America since I was a boy … some for the better, some (in my opinion) for the worse. But one thing I can say with clarity and conviction. We became much kinder and “inclusionary” rather than a nation of a ruling middle class 9white only of course) and then a bunch of others to be “Excluded’ whenever possible.
One key to making a better Philippines and possibly making some headway on major issues like Mindanao would be for the Filipino people to start becoming more “inclusionary’ in thought and deed. As long as the Philippines remains a “nation” of “Manila” and “the provinces”, issues like we see going on today in Mindanao will always impede progress. or so Dave opines.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Hi Dave;
You changed the Site again, it looks good.
The thing I don’t understand about the government of the Philippines is the Senate. I know there are 24 Senators, all elected nationally and do not represent any particular area of the country. Most, if not all reside in Mega Manila and have no ties to any one region, unlike the Philippine Congress who represent a specific area.
This is not a judgment as to the right or wrong of it, it’s just something I don’t understand.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind words. I hope to be able to build something at a really higher level with this theme … I know many time I can’t find anything myself, so I know a stranger coming here for the first time has their problems … and this site exists mainly from search visitors … people typing something into Google or some other search engine to learn an answer they need about living here in the Philippines.
The way the lower house and the senate are set up here is, indeed, puzzling to and outsider. Especially us Americans tend to develop long-0tyerm relationships with our Senators. Love them or hate them, they are “ours” based on our state. Here, they don’t represent any particular locale, and as you say, they seldom ever leave Metro Manila, unless it’s to visit their land holdings.
As you know there has been talk of a complimentary system here .. many seem to favor it … they already have their “House of Lords”, all they have to do is change the stationery.
Once again another place we foreigners can get confused when we try to equate how things are here with how they are back home … just because a name is the same doesn’t mean things work the same … and don’t anyone take this as criticism, if this is what serves the Filipino people the best, I’m all for it.
As the newspapers say, you need a good Con-Ass to have working Cha-Cha. Say what??????
Cha Cha Cha, baby, Cha Cha Cha.
You know it is really humorous to me to be a spectator in the process. It’s kind of an apriori issue that President Arroyo is running for Congress so that she can help push through charter change.
What’s funny is the reaction you see from people. I mean there is no real secrecy or underhandedness here, the woman believes it will be good for the country and she is trying, in legal ways to make it happen.
Most Filipinos, though, are aghast … “it’s blatant ambition” is a comment I have heard often. Umm, ambition is a bad thing? I’m confused.
What about Manny Paquiao’s “blatant ambition” to be the best fighter in the world?
What about Manuel Quezon’s “blatant ambition” to make the Philippines a stand alone nation instead of a US “underling”.
What about Henry Sy’s “blatant ambition” to change the face of retail and employ hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in their own country, as a side note) in the Philippines.
How the heck did ‘ambition’ become a dirty word? Having lived in the UK and several other parliamentary countries I don’t think it has a tinker’s dam chance of succeeding here, but I sure as hell don’t deny those who want to make it work their chance … at east they aren’t “staumby’s” waiting around with holes in their chinellas waiting for the next money transfer from the US or some other country where “ambition” isn’t a dirty word.
Hmm … I think I might have just written my next blog post LoL