From Riches to Rags: The 40-year Philippine Tragedy

They say that the Philippines used to be the Pearl of the Orient. I wouldn't really know. Maybe it was true. Maybe there really was once a time when our country was the glittering gem of Asia that was so envied by many nations and our fortunes were so coveted by lonely wayfarers. I never saw those days, although I wish I did. How it must've felt like to be so admired and respected by the world. The past generation had their days of glory, and they carelessly threw the dice and gambled it away at the expense of their children. Will we, the children of this generation, ever get to taste the resplendent sweetness of paradise?

The most imposing factor that has led to our downfall is corruption. Truly, corruption is the root of all evil. Starting from the Marcos era, civilian and military cronies all staked a claim on the country's bountiful coffers and tarnished our government's integrity. As time passed, more and more money was siphoned away from beneficial projects and into the lavish mansions and estates of government crooks who stepped up to answer to the people with lies and empty promises. The costs of projects would triple, even quadruple, to pay for the increasingly fat commissions and mysterious "fees" that the government incurred. Anti-corruption teams were assembled and dismantled like a pathetic game the government played with the Filipino people, to keep them quiet and show them that they are doing something, while the people are robbed and pilfered of the services that are due from their taxes. Those who are bold and vigilant enough to lead crusades against corruption are quieted or gunned down under hazy circumstances, and the perpetrators have simply to pay their way through the holes and cracks of our moribund justice system. And yet you wonder why our schools and hospitals are inadequate and substandard, why our roads are rundown, why there are no jobs to be had. All the red tape and money involved in applying for a simple business license is enough to scare investors away.

The Philippines, though, as much a victim of its own scheming politicians as it is of the vested interests of the commercial world. Filipinos have always been taught that they are inferior, mindless folks who will not know better if not for the benevolence of their foreign "benefactors". Our history has always been taught to us from the point of view of our conquerors-through time, the Spanish, the Americans and the Japanese. To this very day, we are enslaved in the pangs of American mind control, all the way from pop culture to political agenda. We've always worshipped the Americans, the white men of pure intentions who came onto our shores not to divide and conquer, but to educate us, teach us the value of democracy and give us the gift of Coca Cola. Why are we not surprised that there has never been an anti-American president in Malacanang? Somehow, the world works to the schemes of the overreaching and the almighty. So far, Filipinos have been happy enough to play second fiddle to what is only the most powerful nation on earth. Until we rediscover our identity and truly accept that "white man's burden" is nothing but the backward theory of a disillusioned Englishman, then we can never be-de facto-a nation of freedom and fortune.

A sad and very urgent byproduct of this American fanaticism is the brain drain of this generation. There are a host of quality universities churning out impressive young minds and ideals-ideals that are cut short and disappointingly crushed by the yoke of the "real world". Locally, there is a serious dearth of satisfactory jobs to be had that our universities end up becoming training grounds for, previously, brilliant IT technicians and consequently, nurses, that will move on to power development elsewhere. The Philippines is a hopeless, toxic place when the forging middle class dreams of honey wraps and milk baths; there are other places for that. At the end of the day, who then is left to forage the country's stockpiles of rubbish but the poor folk who were cut off from access to a decent education? And we complain about how Filipinos have no discipline. We should know better to already expect that, when most of our decent, educated countrymen have already gone on to seek their fortunes someplace else.

The Philippines has gone down from glittering jewel to sinkhole dreg all in a span of a generation. Corruption can spoil the party faster than we know it. A few greedy minds develop the habit of dipping their hands into the box of candy, and this deprives many honest, hardworking folk of their dibs at a good education and access to quality medical services and infrastructure. Red tape steadily grows into a messy tangle, and many, many jobs are lost to our eagerly awaiting neighbors. Without jobs, our universities end up training leaders and brilliant minds that will not go into running the country's future, but into the lure of some offshore corporation that needs aggressive young minds to take over their aging work force and churn out new ideas to fill up their patent books. And in the midst of it all, Filipinos are at a loss for national identity.

All they needed to bring us to our knees was a fizzing bottle of Coke.