Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Filipino is worth dying for?! Hahaha!

 Writing about what our heroes would have thought about our society today has proven to be a popular, polarizing, and ultimately, pointless debacle. No one can say for sure what they would have done or said in this ever-changing modern world. But like mythical sports/comics match-ups, they are a lot of fun to discuss. It's a lot like watching a dog chase it's tail; there is no point in it, you laugh at how dumb that dog is, and then realize that you just wasted your time watching a dog chase it's tail. In short, you just do it without really thinking why.

 So what am I really trying to say here? What can I say that hasn't already been said or talked about like 500 times already in just the last 25 years? Nothing, really, but that won't really stop me now, would it? And that, dear reader is my point. Huh?! If you haven't figured it out already, I can sum it up like this: We always like talking about the what, the who, the when, the where and the how. Less seldom do we talk about the WHY.

 So since the topic has been revealed in an utterly pretentious manner, allow me to ruin any of your illusions of me supplying self-indulgent, self-serving and self-pleasuring solutions. I have absolutely no idea how our society came to be this ugly, albeit morbidly entertaining circus of idiosyncrasies. All I do know is that I live it, I breathe it, and, as masochistic as it sounds, I probably can't live any other way. It just seems to be the way we are all wired. They say that there is no place like home. And it has proven true, no matter how impossibly ridiculous and (pardon the term,) WTF this country of ours gets.

Since I have no better answers than most, all I will do is post questions that ask WHY. That should probably at least spark some point of interest in our heads, that is, unless of course you are too busy watching Jersey Shore or My Super Sweet 16, for which I can't blame you, but judge you nonetheless, and curse the Western culture that cultivated such monstrosities upon mankind; of which unfortunately you've fallen prey to.

And so, without further ado, here are the questions I would like to ask. (I said I'll be posting only questions, but I can't help answering some of them myself.)

Why is the Filipino still worth dying for? --Dunno.. 'cause Ninoy said so. (who is he anyway?)

What would Rizal be doing today? Why? --Blogging is such a safe answer, so I'll presume he'd be a hipster. With a legitimate cause. Because that's how he rolls.

Why are most of the top schools run by religious orders?

Why do we aspire so hard to be Americans? --They've already "freed" us decades ago.

Why, in heaven's name, do people get killed over singing "My Way?"

Why is it so easy for us to mock our Asian neighbors that do so well compared to us?

Why is Fort Bonifacio, a playground for society's upper echelon, named after a proletariat hero?

Why are we so resistant to globally progressive social movements/reforms and yet so quick in changing sides in politics?

Why do we still believe in superstitions? --even the so-called elite members of society are not immune to this

Why is it so important to say/boast that you're Filipino when you are abroad?


Why do we laugh at the Visayan accent, when more of our countrymen speak with it than we with our carefully rolled r's and v's?

Why do we laugh at our countrymen that can't speak fluent English, but think it's cute when foreigners speak broken Filipino? --I am guilty on this charge. "Oh how cute Solenn Heusaff and Diana Menezes sound, trying (and failing miserably) to speak in Filipino. I'm in looooooove."

Why can't we stop the most talented of our countrymen from leaving our nation? 

on the other end,

Why can't we give our laborers better working conditions and compensation?

Why do us NCR people have this false sense of superiority over our "Promdi" brothers and sisters?

Why do we consider Manny Pacquiao a hero, a savior and a deity? --Probably from the primal satisfaction we get in seeing him beat pro boxers like bums who slept with his wife, ate his dog, and later stole his iPad.

Why have so many of our teenage girls fallen to dark side of Asian music, K-Pop?

on a related note,

Why are they so rabid in their adoration and recruitment of others into the cult of Korea-mania?

and speaking of rabid adoration,

Why are fans of our local actors so freaking crazy? --Kim Chiu fans send death threats to Gerald Anderson's mom because of their breakup. Marian Rivera proudly threatening unpleasant consequences to whoever tries to steal Dingdong from her, courtesy of her equally crazy fans. The list goes on and on..

Why are we so quick to blame others for failures, and so quick to hog credit for accomplishments?

Why are we more afraid of policemen than the neighborhood tambays?

Why are the most blatantly corrupt officials also almost always the most publicly religious and "charitable?"

Why are we so utterly dependent on what is "in" in the western world?

Why are we so racist against other nationalities, and yet so sensitive when we are criticized by other nations?

Why can't we take a joke against us? -- even though we're pretty good at making them

Why are we not very good at detecting sarcasm, black humor, and satire?

Why do the local TV networks love recycling, remaking, updating old shows?

Why do most of our local musicians have expiration dates that are shorter than can of sardines?

Why do we have so little will in improving public education and transport?

Why is it so hard for us to follow instructions/laws? 

Why are pawnshops so damn popular in here anyway? --I have yet to hear another country which can claim to have a pawnshop chain that can afford an endorser AND TVC's .

Why don't we ever learn to prepare adequately for natural disasters? --or at least as prepared as we can for these unpredictable manifestations of Mother Nature's cold, cold fury.

Why do we insist in making sportsmen into celebrities? --Have you seen Chris Tiu host Ripley's believe it or not? If not, you've probably at least seen "Ninong Manny" throw away cash like his mother's life depends on it, on a Christmas party masquerading as a game show--complete with dancers and "co-hosts" thrown in, for good measure.

Why do we insist on voting for celebrities into public office? --Oh yeah, Erap almost got re-elected, which leads me to ask,

Why is it so hard for the poor to grasp that Erap is a plunderer?

and finally,

Why aren't we doing more stuff to change all these things? --Haven't you heard? Rizal failed. Ninoy failed. Maybe Manny Pacquiao can do it! (Unless he loses to Floyd Mayweather, at which point we're all screwed.)

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