The Filipino Setting

By: Aaron Testado

I saw people on the streets as I am above at the 2^nd floor of the building. I wonder how my countrymen moving around the streets.

Motorcycles and cars alike are going crazy side by side; I think it’s because of the busy schedule of my countrymen. I saw a kid vending a banana on a stick (Banana cue) then while he’s doing that he is drinking a cup of juice then he throw the cup on the street. An officer (traffic officer) on the other hand are restlessly swaying his hand pointing for direction and guiding people when to cross, while the vehicles are moving crazy. The sidewalks are occupied by cars and jeepneys that’s why people are using the motorway for sidewalks. Some did not know that the sidewalks are meant for people and not for vehicle parking. A child around five years old is playing near the streets as the vehicles are passing by restlessly.

The local government on the other hand has implemented a traffic regulation to protect lives of people and to discourage restless drivers, but what is sad, it is not properly implemented. Implementation is the problem nowadays as people saw it as harassment because they are not use to it. Public utility driver who, in someway violated a certain regulation use to pay hideously at the traffic officer than to pay for the ticket because of the long lines at the payment center. PUV driver are busy that they cannot wait for a long line because they have a stomach to feed and a vehicle to pay for the boundary (daily payment for a public vehicle if the driver is not the owner of the said vehicle).

While on the other hand people don’t know about garbage problem because they lack information about what may happen to their environment, some or mostly know about it but the problem is lack of available trashcan at public places and on the streets. These are the problems we are facing my countrymen.

I visited some country abroad and I saw my countrymen as followers, they are unique and different from other foreigners as they are mostly aware about a certain regulation abroad. They followed traffic regulations and the law but they are aware that in their own country this is not the case.

I am saddened about the gravity of the situation here in the Philippines, Sometimes I am thinking that the government is allowing people what they want to do. This is a place of anarchy with certain laws. We are expressing our freedom dominantly than of the government impose laws on us. I am not here to just write a story about what went wrong on the Philippine setting. I write this so that others will know what I can see that others can’t.

I saw people in the government tolerating this problem for their political advancement. But my teacher told me that “Country first before myself” because it is not our own advancement will push this country but with political will, our own initiatives and our binding as one nation……..We hand on hand can create a great nation.

Philippine Flood

Our house is flooded only roof is keeping up here in Rizal, Philippines. As the typhoon crosses our province, me and my family fled to the hillside by the farm, we risk ourselves crossing a 150 meters farming land near the creek, the water is rushing sideways we choose to crossing it  than to die helpless in the subdivision. It was an extraordinary experience and I don’t want it to happen again to my family. My wife is pregnant but I still manage to calm her as we walk at the side of the farm. I organized our group by two’s so that when one can’t manage to get up the other one would help. We use our head not our heart, we tend not to cry or murmur our loss we just saves ourselves than rescuer save us.

This is a loud call to our countrymen to stop throwing garbage and stop polluting our waterways, stop cutting trees, stop mining the hills for minerals that money can buy. This is a matter of self responsibility to live by the right ways and in line with Mother Nature.

For our government please stop spending people’s money in non sense self- agenda. Disperse our money in proper way, put more money to stop global warming, produce more food, health, education and utilities such us boats, amphibian trucks, helicopters with real instrument for stormy weather. For your information our Defense has a little air logistics for all out rescue effort, we have many helicopters but only a few can deploy on stormy condition. Almost all can’t fly because they don’t have a good avionics system for stormy weather.  The ratio of air-logistics is 1 helicopter: 10,000 people and may be more. 1 boat is to 1000 people. It is very poor.  I was sadden because thousand of government money is spend to buy guns that enemy can acquired. I heard a story to one military person a master sergeant in the army that they killed an enemy in cotobato whose gun with a serial number and tag of the Philippine Army.

People are powerless because most of the government logistics is stuck on the road. All in all I can say that they do their best, our brave army, NGO’s, Rescuer, Volunteer and other people who involve their selves on effort to help us. We thank them very much but still I can say we have the people to help but we don’t have a proper tool to do it.

Communication is down on the day of the storm, clean water and food can’t be deliver because most of the government logistic is in line with the road (on the ARMY 6X6 truck), road are flooded 10X as the normal flooding, some looters are still roaming because most of the police are in line with rescue efforts, rich and poor alike still waiting on their rooftop to be save by the rescuer. The rescue effort is gone wild because of the yield of the area; it is almost 1 rescuer is to 100 people. It is a total disaster for urban area like Pasig City, Cainta, Angono, San Mateo, Markina City and many more.