Reassessing Politics

This thought has been grazing my brains for the past days. I don't talk about politics much because it's so rotten as the name itself. Yes, I maybe one of those people who despise our country's government. But simply because the people in there are considered to be one of the country's prominent and erudite figures, yet they choose to act so opposite. However, my article today doesn't concern the politicians at all. Well, at least not that much. I have noticed that the nation has persecuted these people for more than a century now, and this time I think they need a break. Why don't we adjust focus now, shall we? Let us discuss about these protest people for a change.

Last week's juicy news was all about Noli de Castro bursting with anger. So what was the real story? VP Noli went to Laguna to turn over land titles. However, instead of being thanked by the people, he was welcomed by protests. There was, I believe, a housing project going on there and the VP arranged to turnover the land titles to the people. The protesters claim that the VP did not fulfill his promises to the poor and that he and Presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo conspired to demolish the houses and relocate the squatters. These squatters were given assistance for relocation and building of their own houses by the government.

I am not a fan of politicians. But I have to say that VP Noli had every right to be angry. I was even impressed because I haven't seen any other politician losing all that composure. They are fond of maintaining this calm, composed nature even if most of the time it looks fake. To me, he seemed more, shall we say, human.

Filipinos are so fond of protesting, rallying. They say this is a free country and we have the freedom of expression. But there had been a lot of times that this "freedom" that they are talking about had created, not just noise, but also violence. Moreover, expression is not only confined to protesting. There are other ways of expressing thoughts that are noiseless, peaceful and clean. But that's beside my point.

On an objective standpoint, these squatters do not have the right to protest because in the first place, they do not own the land. They should have been grateful for they were allowed to stay there even if it's illegal, and for they were given assistance by the government to relocate or have themselves build their own new home. By law, any land that is not privately owned belongs to the government. And they can do anything with it if it's for the benefit of the many. And I guess they used it well. They developed housing projects and turned it over to the people. I just got pissed upon watching the news about the protest. I was like what the hell were they thinking? They should have been thankful because they were given houses, and yet they see that they should be extended more help for the sole reason that they are poor. These marginalized people have always used this as a lame excuse for them to receive more "compensation" from the government. Why don't they try working to feed themselves for a change instead of just bystanding and making babies? I have always babbled this at home that it is not the government's responsibility to feed it's people. It's job is to give ASSISTANCE and to protect them from any outside harm. It is still the parents' responsibility to feed and send their children to school. We are lucky we still got public schools and establishments, The sustenance now lies upon the shoulders of the parents themselves.

Probably some of them say that they are not lazy, they work but they are poor because we got corrupt officials. Every country has corrupt officials. I believe that is already given -- it's sad, yes, but it's true. The challenge to us now is how we respond to this worldwide epidemic. For years people have protested, but up until now it has not vanished. I am not saying though that we should give up fighting corruption. Of course not. But what I'm trying to say is, whether you are rich or poor, we should not be too dependent on our government. What's the purpose of our individual brains and limbs if we are not going to use them? Are we just going to let it rot like the morals of these officials? If we want change, it could only happen if we start restructuring and reassessing ourselves, and not other people's. VP Noli might have said harsh words that were unexpected of him, but let's face it... everybody has his imits and surely officials like him have the right to be angry, just like when people protest because they are angry.

I come from a poor family as well. I don't intend to share my life story but do not think that I don't know what I'm talking about. I have never heard my parents say that we are poor because the government officials are corrupt or something. We were able to go to school because of their perseverance, my mom specially. Through them I realized that we are the only ones who make our future. If your life is miserable now, it is because you made it that way.