Sad

Is the Filipino happy? Are we living a life promised by our forefathers after fighting for our so-called freedom? Are we getting a life that we really deserve as rightful citizens of this country? Have we reaped the fruits of our heroes' labour?

A friend of mine, Alisa, got confined in the hospital after having been stabbed on the neck with a knife by still-unidentified thieves while waiting for a ride home in one of the streets in Makati. She died a week after.

An uncle of a friend went to the mountains and is now serving as a member of the CPP / NPA. He once served as a board member in the Visayas. After realizing that he has joined a big circle of lies, deceit and heartlessness towards the poor, he left his home and family, and is now fighting for what he believes as the true evil of this society.

Another close friend of mine, Alfie, once worked in a state university. She was once a very dedicated teacher. Three months ago, she retired from the job she should have loved so much, because, according to her, she cannot last working in a haven of corruption and dirty politics anymore. After having been stripped off of her pride, she's now working on graveyard shift in a call center in the city, away from her family, away from her normal life.

We also knew of a good court judge. He retired from his duties because of old age. He tried to get the pension and benefits from the government he served for so long. He died poor and forgotten, receiving no recognition nor financial assistance from those who owe him much.

A cousin of mine used to have a dream of being a lawyer when we were all young. Now, he's about to finish Nursing, with hopes of getting out of this country as soon as he can, to find his luck out there. No more dream, just being practical, he says.

Women are forced to accept a life of "legal prostitution". Now you see bare bodies everywhere, unclothing themselves even from the morals brought to them by the customs and religions given to us by our ancestors. Looks like it's better to live in shame than to die in hunger these days. But can you blame them?

I once knew a cheerful tindera who had a small stall for local comics and newspapers in our hometown. She was famous in our little town, for she was the first smiling face you'd see before you enter the marketplace. Last time I saw her, she now lives inside the roof of a waiting shed in Quezon City, without the usual smile.

We used to have a neigbor who owned a huge area of land which he personally tills as a farmer. Two years after selling the land because of bankruptcy, he now roams around a nearby town, asking for alms on one corner of the town's main church.

A government that works for its henchmen, not the people. A government that boasts performance, yet the only performance it's doing so far is not to serve the people. The answer to basic infrastructure? Let private companies do it. NLEX used to be efficient. Later, it will be efficient, and expensive. The answer to basic services? Sell em to the cronies. Now, even education can't work without the support of the elite. Makes us wonder, Brunei must be doing wonders and must be run by saintly beings in providing free education for everybody.

So, uneducated and, thus, uncivilized as most of us are, people would willingly beat up a man whom they think is a criminal, without serving justice first. We feel beat up by the system. We are angry, but most of us don't know why. The answer for local reality TV? Street justice.

We are fond of telenovelas, noontime shows and cheap teenage romance mini-flicks because we love to escape. We'd cherish every moment that we can get away from the harsh parts of reality. Philippine reality.

It is said that what is just makes a man happy. In this country, real justice is just a few thousand pesos away. Or some product of mere fantasy.

This is a country where dreams are continuously shattered to the deep forgotten, where shadows smirk while the righteous suffers on the foreground. People wouldn't notice, nor budge a little, for they are hungry. They look only for what replenishes, not to what damages. They tend to notice every once in a while, try to correct what's wrong, but they are weak. The few is strong. So they return to their homes, to their miserable lives, sighing.

The cost of living is going high for the benefit of the few, and for the misery of the many. The middle class are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, the poor are slowly dying.

This is a country where every man has to think of surviving rather than living, of food rather than honor, of submission rather than fighting for what is right. Laws are continuously bent, while rules continually strike the common people down. The Filipino accept this as a fact of life.

Do you see people smiling in EDSA? Do you see people in Makati walking on the sidewalks, looking contented and satisfied? The only smile you'd see are hidden behind the tinted glass windows of BMWs and Jaguars.

The Filipino is not a happy people. And some of us are fed up already.