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Monday, May 31, 2010

CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINES




GOOD AS CHISELED ON THE WALL

Believe Me

Or Not!

A five-minute immersion in Philippine history

By

JOSE SISON LUZADAS

Delray Beach , Fl

Topic:

INTERESTING QUOTES GOOD AS CHISELED IN THE WALL


A friend sent an email about his impression the last time he visited the Philippines.


There is this “Black Stone Walls“, he said, erected on opposite sides of the main entrance road leading to the LIBINGAN NG MGA BAYANI close to the Heroes Memorial Gate. Two impressive looking 12-foot high black stone walls bore the following boldly printed phrase:


“I DO NOT KNOW THE DIGNITY OF YOUR BIRTH, BUT I DO KNOW THE GLORY OF YOUR DEATH.”


These touching heartrending words full of sentiments at the same time pride were taken from General Douglas Mac Arthur’s address in 1961 visit paying his tribute to the Unknown Soldiers. The eager audience was saddened when the general acknowledged “seeing “the shadows of his life”, meaning another sentimental journey is a remote possibility.


Let’s begin reading the inscription in the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier“. What a sensible dedication to every fallen warrior whose name has never been known nor does his gallant deeds ever been recorded!


“HERE LIES A FILIPINO SOLDIER WHOSE NAME IS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD”


I noted with interest an amusing quote to read and is located in Roxas Blvd and Luneta now Rizal Park. There is a building that housed the Manila Eye Institute. Inside is an E-Y-E-catching phrase boldly printed in the wall:


"THAT NO FILIPINO SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF GOD'S GIFT OF SIGHT"


I remember there used to be marker, a real eye-stopper you won’t want to bypass is erected in front of the Manila Police Department building so emphatic about the harm and danger every member of the "Manila's Finest" will most likely to face:



”GO AND SPREAD THE WORD

TELL THE PASSERS-BY

THAT IN THIS LITTLE WORLD

MEN KNEW HOW TO DIE.”


Of all classic example of mockery, this one is what I call “AN IRONY OF ALL IRONIES, AN ODD OF ALL ODDITIES” that only “ERAP” or Joseph Ejercito Estrada has a monopoly in stupidity, jokes and blames of a failed Philippine president.


It was on June 1, 1999 when, Joseph Estrada who at the beginning of his term as president of the Republic enjoyed immense popularity was invited to

Inaugurate a building where the people’s COURTHOUSE known as SANDIGANBAYAN is located along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City .

Like a latter-day Julius Caesar, “HE CAME, HE SAW and was CAPTIVATED" to read in bold prints, a catchy phrase:


”TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST GRAFT AND CORRUPTION IN THE GOVERNMENT”


More so exciting to him to read is his name shown below as the honored guest.


Came September 11, 2007, eight years later, in the same building ERAP is no longer a public figure but a suspected criminal who “CAME, SAW AND HEARD ”the guilty verdict" by the very same SANDIGANBAYAN' of


”GRAFT AND CORRUPTION IN THE GOVERNMENTbased on the multiple charges filed that he plundered the nation’s wealth. It's not just an "irony" but a terrible "twist" of fate


Thanks for walking with me scouring for amazing if not amusing quotes of chiseled printed words so delightful to read. I know somewhere in the Greater Manila Area are still to find would-be artifacts or relic waiting to be "discovered" of man’s creativity expressing his ideas, sentiments, yearnings and aspirations.


A Short Neurological Test


1- Find the C below.. Please do not use any cursor help.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO

2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.

9999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999
9999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999
9999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999
6999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999
9999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999
9999999999999999999 9999999999999999 999999999999

3 - Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM

This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these 3 tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you're far from having a close
relationship with Alzheimer.

Congratulations!

Oh. two more tests ...

eonvrye that can raed this rsaie your hnad.

To my 'selected' strange-minded friends: If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends and the person that sent it to you with 'yes' in the subject line.


Only great minds can read this This is weird, but interesting! If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too. Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this forwrad it

FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT -Forward it & put 'YES' in the Subject


Sunday, May 30, 2010

Superstition That Evil Causes Illness

Common among Filipinos is the belief that sickness is the work of some evil spirits. Examples of such beliefs are the following:

1. When a child has epileptic fits or when a pregnant woman has convulsive seizures, an evil spirit is supposed to have entered the body of the child or of the woman.

2. When some painful and red spots appear suddenly on the body of a person who came from the field or from a thicket, an invisible hand is suspected to have mischievously touched the person.

3. When a man has a stroke of paralysis, an evil wind is believed to have hit him.

4. When a tumor grows in a part of the body, a displeased witch or a person who has contact with an evil spirit is thought to have planted it.

5. When a member of the family has persistent fever, the spirit of a deceased relative is presumed to remind the family of an unfulfilled obligation to the departed soul.

6. To aware the spirits away and to cure those afflicted by the evil spirits, the curative practices are: to flog the patient, put signs of the cross on his forehead or at every post of his house, and make all kinds of noises; sacrifice some live animals or offer some food, “buyo” and oil to appease the offended spirit; and wear amulets (anting-anting) to neutralize the machinations of the devil.

7. When a sick person is seriously ill or is pronounced by reputable physicians as hopeless or incurable, he and his family have that instinctive urge to resort to the cure of the magicians, wizards, sorcerers, voodoos, mystics, conjurers, ”manghihilot” (sprain curer), “herbolarios”, or faith-healer, be it of dubious value. Remorse comes if they do not resort to such a practice because as a result of breaking away from old beliefs and practices, someone in the family might keep saying ever afterward, half only we had done this, the patient might have pulled throughout

8. After biting a person, the dog is killed to protect its victim from contracting rabies.

9. The heat or moisture of the earth neutralizes the snake venom in a snake bite.

10. Many people leave their skin diseases untreated because of the belief that these ailments serve as outlets for noxious substances produced in the body.

11. A red patch of skin is the result of the mischievous “touch” of an invisible hand of an “anino”.

12. No two pregnant women should live under a common roof lest one meet with a tragic accident.

13. Delivering twins is a result of eating twin bananas or looking at twin objects.

14. A child in the womb might be marked in some obscure Way by what the mother has thought, felt, or seen during pregnancy. Thus, a pregnant woman should refrain from seeing horror movies and looking at grotesque pictures in comic magazines and advertising billboards.

15. All the wishes of the pregnant woman should be satisfied lest miscarriage take place. A husband should inquire most solicitously about all that his pregnant wife wishes to eat or to possess.

16. A pregnant woman should not go out at night unless she hangs her hair loose. A vampire (“aswang”) might trail her and suck her blood or that of her fetus.

17. Tying the umbilical cord of a baby with a string and hanging it in the front part of the house will give the baby girl many suitors when she grows up.

18. Air should not be allowed to seep through the skin or genital organ of a woman who has just delivered a baby. Otherwise, the woman and the baby will have frequent attacks of colic or the mother will be inane.

19. Certain varieties of fruits and vegetables like eggplants, squash, gab! and arrow roots should be excluded from the diet of a woman who has just given birth. Eating them may cause colic in the newly-born baby or swelling and itching on the genital organs of the mother.

20. A woman who has just delivered a baby will bleed if she eats unpolished rice mixed with other colored pains.

21. A pregnant woman should not sleep at noontime; it will cause swelling of her body.

22. The baby’s umbilical cord should be cut with the sharpened edge of a bamboo stick. Otherwise, a spirit might make the baby suffer pain during the next five days when the cord would begin to separate from the body.

23. When the umbilical stump is about to he cast off between the fifth and the tenth day after birth, the baby is expected to suffer from pains.

24. Amulets or “anting-anting”s protect the wearer from illnesses and help counteract witchery. They also promote good health.

25. Diarrhea and fever normally come with the teething of babies.

26. Eating too much fish causes intestinal worms.

27. Splashing urine on a child’s face will stop its convulsions.

28. Peeping causes styes (kuliti)

29. Looking at a placenta causes a rapid deterioration of one’s eyesight. Because of this belief, the placenta should be carefully wrapped in rags and immediately buried in the backyard after a mother’s delivery of a baby in the house.

30. Should a child look at objects above his forehead as a gust of wind passes by, he will develop a squint.

31. An evil spirit usually goes with the fragrance of flowers at night. Anyone who smells it would also suck in the evil spirit who will eat the bridge of the nose until it crumbles down.

32. Every temporary tooth of a child that falls off should be buried in the moist earth under the “batalan” (an open bathroom next to the kitchen of a Filipino nipa house) so that it may be replaced by a permanent tooth that is resistant to decay.

33. Any person delivered breech or buttocks or feet first has the special power to remove fish spines in the throat of others either by simply applying his hands or handkerchief on the neck or by rubbing his saliva over it.

34. A sacrifice should be offered in newly opened forest areas to befriend the evil spirits that are present in those places.

35. Recurrence of an illness, vernacularly called “binat”, “begnat” or “belnat”, is caused by eating certain kinds of food or by cutting the hair too soon after illness. This relapse is best treated by fumigating the patient with smoke produced by burning the offending food or the patient’s hair.

36. After a person dies, his soul wanders around for a time at least, before it goes to its final assignment. To keep this soul from molesting the bereaved family, relatives, and friends, and to coax it to go to its resting place, a novena should be recited for nine consecutive days.

37. Friday the 13th is an unlucky day-doubly unlucky- or anyone who does any business, work, or operation.

38. Every year, in the month of May, a certain number of lives will be claimed by lightning or falls from trees.

39. If one smells a burning candle, a relative must have died.

40 Meeting a funeral procession is a bad omen.

41. lf a black bird perches on the roof-top of a house, someone in that house will soon die.

42. Dreaming of falling teeth forbodes misfortune, usually death, of a near relative.

43. If a fork drops to the floor accidentally, a male visitor is coming; if a spoon, a female visitor will come.

44. When a cat sitting by the door cleans its paws or rubs its face, a visitor is coming.

45. When a house lizard makes a noise, a visitor will come.

46. When someone sings in front of a fire while cooking, a visitor is coming soon.

47. No marriage should take place except during the period of the full moon. It is the belief that good fortune comes only during that period

48. Giving religious articles to one’s sweetheart will cause breaking up of the relationship.

49. If a person gives another a pair of shoes as a gift, they will become enemies.

50. Appearance of a comet foretells war, pestilence and calamity.

51. When a star gets near the moon, it is an omen of war.

C. Some Filipinos believe in lucky and unlucky dates and numbers.

1. The lucky dates of the twelve months of the year are the following:

January 1, 3, 4, 5, 28, 29

February 2, 4, 5, 17, 26, 27, 28

March 2, 3, 8, 9, 10

April 2, 6, 25, 26, 27

May 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 18, 20

June 3, 5, 16, 19, 24, 30

July 4, 12, 15, 19, 26

August 6 , 9, 14, 19, 26, 31

September 3, 12, 20, 21, 29

October 7, 12, 17, 24, 29, 30

November 1, 2, 11, 18, 23, 28

December 5, 8, 16, 20, 24, 25

2. The unlucky three 18ths of the three months are:

March 18

September 18

August 18

3. The lucky dates for planting are the following:

In January: 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 18, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31

In February: 2, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 26

In March: 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 25, 26, 28, 29

In April: 1, 4, 11, 12, 14, 21, 22, 26, 27

In May: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31

In June: 7, 8, 10, 16, 19, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27

In July: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31

In August: 1, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28

In September: 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30

In October: 3, 7, 10, 12, 16, 17, 21, 22, 26, 27

In November: 3, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, 19, 20, 24, 27, 30

In December: 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31

4. The four unlucky Mondays of the months are;

a) Monday of April, when God condemned the towns of Beram, Lipandas, Madama,

b) Monday of August,, when Eve gave birth to Cain

c) Monday of September, when Judas Escariot was born

d) Monday of January, when Cain killed Abel

Source: http://www.western-asian.com/evil-causes-illness

JUST TO SHARPEN YOUR WITS

Believe Me

Or Not!


A five-minute immersion exercise to sharpen your verbal joust from a collection of folk Sayings, aphorism, cliches quotations and witty witty words of wisdom

by

Jose Sison Luzadas, KGOR

Scarborough Chapter

CANADA


Mere mortals like you and me don’t have to be poet to understand and appreciate the beauty of words. Here are quotable clichés and sayings from various sources for us to think, ponder and sigh in relief of finally discovering how true the message brings. While tracing their origins can be monumental task for research, try Internet, a valuable ally!

Women and policemen like to listen to confessions.

The difference between Madonna and Mother Theresa is the difference between

FAME and SUCCESS.

There are no incurable diseases, only ignorant doctors.

It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

“The Surgeon General advises that smoking can cause cancer”

“Cancer can stop smoking”

Definition of Atheism: a non-prophet organization.

Motorists warning: If you want to see the beauty of our town,

“DRIVE SLOW”: our cemetery? “DRIVE FAST”

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else

Even the longest way starts with a first step.

Billboard advertisement: “IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT WORK

YOU HAVE A TERMINAL PROBLEM”

Follow, lead or get out of the way.

At sunset, even dwarfs cast long shadows.

More people drown in the mug than in the ocean.

Billboard advertisement: “THERE IS BEER IN EVERY CAN”

The only form of suicide sanctioned by society is to work oneself to death.

Habits are spider at first, but turn later into barbed wire.

Look what pen can do as mightier than the sword, “ONE DROP OF INK, THOUSANDS OR PERHAPS MILLIONS THINK”

A drop of luck is better than a barrel of wisdom.

Courier billboard advertisement: “WE CAN DELIVER ANYTHING ANYTIME, ANYWHERE EXCEPT BABIES"

Nodding is easier for an empty head.

Men would let their wives have the last word

If they knew for sure it would be the last one.

Interviewee: “We want somebody to fill this position who is always sober”.

“By the way do you drink?”

Prospective applicant: “Is that a question or an invitation?”

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

Sign written at the back of a garbage truck:”OUR BUSINESS IS PICKING UP”

It's relatively easy to turn a learned man into a specialist.
But it's very difficult to turn a specialist into a learned man.

A saint has a past, a Sinner a future.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Birthdays become dangerous when the candles cost more than the cake.

In many offices, the most important head is the letterhead.

Sign at the back of a dental delivery truck: “WE HAVE BEEN TO YOUR DENTIST, HAVE YOU SEEN HIM LATELY?”

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

You will never know the value of water until the well dried up!

“GO SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND”

WANT MORE?

1) The reason that WORK kills more people than WORRY is that more people WORRY than WORK!

2) Unhappy is the man who has no nails with which to scratch his head.

3) The things most people want to know are usually none of their business!

4) Do not discourage other people's plan unless you have a better one.

5) A practical nurse is one who falls in love with a wealthy patient!

6) Many are called, fewer are chosen, fewer still get to do the choosing!

7) Remember that AVERAGE is simply the best of the poorest and the poorest of the best!

8) It is a poor workman who blames his tools.

9) DELAY is the deadliest form of denial.

10) You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time!

11) LEAD, FOLLOW or get out of the way.

12) EXPERIENCE is a wonderful thing - it enables you to recognize a mistake everytime you repeat it!

13) Don't learn the tricks of the trade, LEARN THE TRADE!

14) He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another's mishap!

15) If FATE throws a knife at you, there are two ways of catching it: by the blade or by the handle!

16) TEMPER is what gets most of us into trouble, PRIDE is what keeps us there!

17) LIFE is a perpetual drunkeness: the PLEASURE passes but the HEADACHE remains.

18) I am not afraid of the FUTURE for I have seen YESTERDAY but I love TODAY!

19) For the sake of one rose, the gardener became slave of a thousand swords!

20) RUMOR writes faster than TRUTH can erase.


CHEERS and have A NICE DAY!


THE OTHER RIZAL'S FRIEND WE HARDLY KNEW

Believe Me Or Not!

By

Jose Sison Luzadas, KGOR

Scarborough Chapter

CANADA

A five-minute immersion in Philippine history

Topic:

The other Rizal friend who many among us hardly knew

If there was one man other than Ferdinand Blumentrtitt who by just delivering an obituary boasted so much credibility on who Rizal was, is no one but this famous German pathologist. Famous as a German doctor, anthropologist, public health activist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician. He is referred to as the "Father of Pathology," and founded the field of Social Medicine.

Famous, because it was he who put an end to the search in the quest for the “missing link”! His name is Dr. Rudolf Virchow whom Rizal met when Blumentritt introduced him.

Dr. Rudolf Virchow who at that time was a member of the German parliament and president of the Berlin Society delivered his obituary to Dr. Jose Rizal during a meeting of paleontologists, pathologists, archeologists and other members of the Berlin Society to which Rizal was a member. It happened in 1897, one year after Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan, December 30, 1896.

Here is the excerpt from the obituary

“In the penetrating psychological analysis of the man by Mr. Blumentritt there is mention of Rizal's sensitivity as an artist, Mr. Blumentritt being the possessor of three terracotta statues: Prometheus bound, the victory of death over life and the triumph of the intellect over death.

We are losing in Rizal not only a faithful friend of Germany and German scholarship but also the only man with sufficient knowledge and resolution to open a way for modern thought into that far-off island world."

Rizal demonstrated as multi talented man not just medicine and literary work but also what Rudolf Virchow described “sensitivity as an ARTIST.

Here are the three pieces of artwork originally made from terracotta by Rizal and mentioned in Virchow’s obituary to Rizal. They are (1) Prometheus Bound, (2) The Triumph of Intellect over Death and (3) Victory of death over Life

In the first artwork, Rizal showed his interest in Greek mythology by using a mythical hero, Prometheus whose hands were tied to a rock with an eagle watching and eating his liver as punishment.

If we go back to Greek mythology, Prometheus was of one the Gods in Mount Olympus with Zeus as the BIG Chief. Prometheus has nothing but pity and sympathy to man because he was created to be slave, born to be stupid, obedient and cannot reason out.

One day when Zeus was sleeping Prometheus stole a fire and gave it man. Thus putting an end to man’s stupidity. By receiving the fire, man is now equipped with “knowledge”, “intelligence” and “independence”. Zeus was angry for having been deceived and sold out by a lesser god exacted his revenge. The sculpture depicts Prometheus with both hands tied to big rock, receiving his punishment from an eagle assigned to eat his liver.

The use of the mythic hero Prometheus has special meaning to explain Rizal’s philosophy. Did he not say in the NOLI that he is going to remove the veil of ignorance to open the minds of his countrymen through education?

Therefore symbols like Light, Torch and Fire could mean Knowledge, Learning, Education, awakening, liberation and emancipation.

Let’s go back to our elementary and high school years when we are required to NOTE BOOK for writing and homework? In the cover page made from manila paper there is a picture of a TORCH and around it is boldly printed “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER” or “ANG KARUNUNGAN AY TANGLAW”.

The second Rizal artwork illustrates “The Triumph of Intellect Over Death”. Rizal used the symbolic TORCH or LIGHT to wipe out ignorance, superstition and darkness.

A close look at the third artwork demonstrates how sensitive Rizal was on the grim reality when mortal life is extinguished. “The Victory of Death over Life” as the title he gave reflects the popular theme when the evil forces of darkness gain upper hand from the forces of good and righteousness.

Depicting the interplay of life and death is still the most popular theme among writers, dramatists, poets, philosophers and composers from the Renaissance to the present.


Beware of Filipina Scammers

I was browsing through youtube for a good article topic. I keyed in Filipina, Filipinos and Filipino-western relationships on the search bar and although I found some inspiring wedding videos of happily-married Filipino-Western couples, I also came across equally disappointing clips of Filipina online scammers.


I was quite appalled that there are Filipinas who devote themselves in luring unsuspecting western men, telling them sad stories and all of their life’s woes and before the first chat is even finished, they would be begging their western chatmates to send them money. Some of them are doing the scam with the encouragement of their parents/guardians. I find this very distasteful as they do project a very bad image for the general Filipino public. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, Filipino is a proud race and to lower oneself to that level is very much unbecoming of traditional Filipinos.

I would therefore suggest to any foreign national who are planning to enter into a relationship with a Filipina to be a bit more vigilant. This should however not be construed as a discouragement to enter into the same. It is merely a caution. There are plenty of good Filipinas but it takes a while to find them. But when you find yourself a good one, it’s all gonna be worth it.

I will be placing a video player on the front page showing stories of happily-married Filipino-western couples for inspiration to our readers. Please check back for it in a few days.

Source: http://www.western-asian.com/beware-of-scammers

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Is the Philippines Becoming a Nation of Cheaters?

Are we a nation of cheaters? It seems we never run out of news about cheating in the Philippines. Way back then, the perception was that only government officials and employees were prone to cheating.

Fast forward a decade. We shout in the streets against cheating – everyone else cheats, but us. Really? Is that so?

Cheating at the Macro Level

What a difference a year makes.

In 2009, the Philippines was the sixth most corrupt country in Southeast Asia out of based on the PERC scorecard. In 2010, the score has changed for the worse – to the fourth most corrupt country in Southeast Asia. The hopeless optimists will be glad to point out that the rank is better than that of 2008 when the Philippines was seen as THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.

You can read the executive summary here:

Download (PDF, 147.42KB)

Note the PERC’s outlook on the Philippines:

There will not be much headway in reducing systemic problems like corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, especially in countries like India, the Philippines and Indonesia. In most cases, what you see is what you will get. Where there will be changes for the better are in cross-Strait’s commercial relations between China and Taiwan and an emphasis on cooperation between the major powers of Northeast Asia (China, Korea and Japan).

noynoy - wrong on corruption - 'told you so ;)

I am not surprised by the PERC consulting groups assessment because it was the same assessment I made when I said Noynoy is wrong on corruption. Administrative reform measures can only do so much – and are ineffective in the face of systemic corruption.

Given the plethora of laws and talks about law enforcement, and the number of law enforcers – the Philippines is still in the lowest the rankings of Transparency International. While the Philippines CPI rose from #141 in 2008 to #139 in 2009, it makes one weep to see where the Philippines’ ASEAN counterparts are in list – South Korea at #39, Malaysia at #56, Indonesia at #111, Vietnam at #120!

In the case of the Philippines, corruption is no longer petty but systemic as well. Therefore, administrative reform which focuses on “the strict enforcement of anticorruption laws on one hand, and on the other, the provision of “sufficient means” for government employees to be able to fend for their families. ” IS NOT ENOUGH, does not address systemic corruption.

To paraphrase Klitgaard – “When corruption does become systemic, as it is in the Philippines, the usual anticorruption measures are insufficient. Not obsolete, to be sure: there will always be a need to raise consciousness about corruption’s costs and to make the institutions of state and market less vulnerable to corruption. But we also need new thinking about new modes of action by new sorts of actors that can faciliate joint efforts to subvert corruption”.

And now, we have another rehash from Noynoy – ““We have good laws [that punish and prevent graft and corruption]. All we need to do is enforce those laws,” ” – WTF, it’s a sirang plaka that just wouldn’t give up till you get a sledgehammer and smash it to pieces.

Noynoy is right on the issue of administrative/institutional anti-corruption measures – but so is everyone else – that means Gordon, Villar, Perlas, and all Pinoys who have felt the brunt of petty corruption. For short, Noynoy does not have a monopoly of the corruption issue.

To reiterate what I said then – it is not enough to implement reforms, the existing relationships that make up the socio economic foundations of Philippine society need to be addressed and changed so that more economic opportunities are available to the widest number of citizens thereby decreasing the systemic pressure to resort to corruption.

Cheating at the Micro Level

We are so quick to take offense about corruption in government And yet we take a lot of other things for granted, for example:

We Cheat In School

It doesn’t matter – elementary, high school, college, Masters – we cheat.

We cheat in the board exams – not just in the nursing board. Actually the nursing board is just the latest casualty. The Engineering, CPA, Medical, Lawyers board exams – all of those professions have their share of cheating. So much so that, nudging those rates from passing to failure has supposedly become a cottage industry in the PRC.

Consider all the top professional review centers – someone somewhere always knows a board examiner, or a leakage which insures that reviewees get the latest questions and be assured of a high score, even become a top notcher.

The thing is when these so-called “professionals” are screened (as in the Visa Screen for nurses) – they will get in trouble. Unfortunately, it casts doubt on us who took the exams fair and square. Worse, the credibility of our professionals sink rather quick.

Whether it’s the school exams, quizzes. We’d rather be “in” and known as someone who is “pakisama” instead of doing the right thing. And so we agree to cooperate, to turn a blind eye, to keep our lips sealed, to pretend nothing happened. Who the hell are we kidding – we were cheating – ALL OF US.

We Cheat In Sports

The more memorable ones included the 1992 Little League World Series where we fielded overaged players. Al Mendoza, a Filipino journalist blew the whistle.

Six true Zamboangueños were over-age, at least one as old as 15,[9] and thus ineligible. It was discovered that, as with the eight non-district players, the fraud had been maintained by the players’ assumption of identities of (eligible) players who had represented the city at the national championships, the families of whom were reportedly willing to reveal all, jealous of the prizes bestowed upon the players who had used their sons’ identities to represent their country at the Far East and World Series. In some cases, even the parents of the ineligible players assumed appropriate identities to maintain the appearance of propriety.[8] Nocum, seemingly backing Andaya’s assertion that the substitutes were not chosen to artificially inflate the team’s performance, was reported later as saying that had the original Zamboanga City team participated in the World Series, they would have trounced Long Beach by far more runs.[6]

In an interesting post-script, Zamboanga City was disqualified from the Filipino national titles the very next year in another over-age player scandal.[10]

What’s worse is that a lot of Filipinos were angry at Mendoza for blowing the whistle. Susmaryosep.

Consider our PRISAA/UAAP – how many of those athletes are true students and not over-aged? I do understand that there are second coursers – but when you have for example, a men’s basketball team where the players have been at it for 10 to 20 years – that’s no longer a student, that’s a professional student whose sole purpose is to win games for the school. That’s still cheating, butwe sure do cheer from the sidelines when the dude sinks a hoop – we know he is over age, we know it is cheating, but hey, we keep on clapping.

We Cheat In the Workplace

Our penchant for cheating in the workplace is something else.

We steal office supplies. We come in super late. We time out super early. We moonlight on company time. We have ghost employees – on top of the 15-30 employees. We have two accounting journals – one for the BIR, and one that shows how much money we actually made. We under-declare our taxes – and that’s being “good” because more often than not, we are evading taxes. We cut corners like crazy. We adulterate products. We make the taxi meters run faster than they should.

Huh… we cry foul when public officials cheat – but somehow, we, Juan de la Cruz get some sordid satisfaction in getting away with stuff. Isn’t that convenient – and hypocritical?

The list goes on and on.

We Cheat in Elections

Of course, the Philippine elections is the superbowl of cheating. As fellow AP blogger ilda commented

It turns out that automated machines are not foolproof. Reports abound of machines malfunctioning, machines found kept in someone’s shed, the discrepancies in time lapsed, and allegations of malicious software installed in the machine itself.

Lesson learned: Filipinos cannot be trusted with both manual and automated election. Filipinos are very resourceful at finding a way to cheat.

Some people just never know when to stop. Attempting to cheat an automated system actually makes detection a lot easier. Can you imagine if the counting was done manually – it would have taken a longer time to track and trace the variance. When the time to run the numbers is shorter, I’d wager that it will make spotting spikes and abnormalities rather quicker.

Epilogue

Whether it’s the government, in school, in the workplace, at home, or in the elections – we cheat.

And for that – we have all this sh*t.

C’mon guys and gals – haven’t we made the connection yet – in the end, the cheats wind up with sh*t. And you thought that the nice guys finish last. Singapore’s definitely saying no to that – it pays to be nice, to be honest, to be straight.

It is a crying shame – the Philippines is not just reduced to an idiocracy, but it is becoming a nation of cheats.

About: Bong:
A self-described "mutt" having ancestors of diverse origins - Maranao, Ilonggo, Butuanon, and Ilocano. Born and raised in Southern Mindanao's Davao City, now living in the East Coast's Sunshine State.

29 Comments

  1. Is the Philippines Becoming a Nation of Cheaters?

    What do you mean “becoming”. It has been for a long long time.

    [Reply]

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    BongV

    Dang, you are such a spoiler :lol:

    [Reply]

    Hung Hang Reply:

    Here’s one topic you or the other AP writers can write about and why Karl Marx was spot on with the Philippines, although he failed to foresee another opiate.

    “Religion and show biz are the opiates of the Filipino masses”

    [Reply]

    J.B. Reply:

    Revolutions too, both non-violent (EDSA) and violent (NPA), are opiates of the Filipino masses.

    ChinoF Reply:

    Filipinos love opiates rather than solutions… hmmm, that’s a topic too.

    ChinoF Reply:

    Agreed…. it’s a culture that’s been around ever since. Reinforced by victim mentality, anti-foreignism and arrogance. We get the government we deserve.

    I’ve got a lengthy article on family values coming up that explains one reason why we have such a strong “cheat” culture.

    [Reply]

  2. Cheating is no longer too horrid in the eyes of practitioners.

    Take for instance the pork barrel kickbacks. It has spun too many nice-sounding terms: ‘system loss’, SOP (standard operating procedure), commitment, etc.

    [Reply]

  3. There is a joke about how a barber once offered free haircutting services for a given time and how various people of different nationalities came in and responded to the offer in ways that kinda reflected stereotypes about each culture.

    The punchline is when the Filipino comes in with an army of kin tagging along behind him.

    Cheating is but a component of a larger framework of an ingrained inability in Da Pinoy to recognise the thin line that delineates being resourceful and being compliant to accepted rules.

    Resourcefulness in the context of navigating the complexities of living in a modern civilisation to some extent involves a bit of savviness applied to playing the rules. Trouble is Filipinos FAIL to get THE RIGHT BALANCE. Indeed, it seems Pinoys are more inclined towards impropriety and thievery and less towards fairness and community spirit.

    We can go as far as saying that Filipinos have a culture of crime:

    All with nonchalant impunity from the bottom of the pecking order to the top: humble jeepney drivers thumb their noses at traffic ordinances, families build entire houses on public property and other lands they are not entitled to, retailers sell pirated intellectual property at high-end market facilities, entrepeneurs build high walls around their mansions to conceal their illicit warehousing activities, megastars evade taxation with a smile, and we elect our leaders to office fully expecting them to “recover” their campaign investment within their terms of office.

    Kawawang Pinoy. So much to learn, so little brain capacity to absorb. :D

    [Reply]

    HalleluyahHymen Reply:

    The problem is purely “transactional”. It’s a choice between being ignorant and learning how to understand what is one’s “social contract” or “social obligation”. If a person or a company cheats, he / it has the knowledge of the repercussions of the result of the act but all the other “social obligations” are not taken into account of… such as… the effect to other persons or firms including himself / their own. If one will be able to consider the amoral social contractual obligation of being a good citizen/firm and a useful labor unit/firm in an economy, there will be less probability of cheating and stealing.

    For example, a firm from the Makati Business Club (http://www.mbc.com.ph/members/default.htm) will always have the proclivity to evade the right payment of taxes. They would not cheat their accounting systems and employ the most advanced technological software and hardware to monitor sales and expenditures so that there would be transparency from among their stakeholders. OTOH, they would do anything to kill competition and minimize expenses by not paying equitably assessed taxes. The social contractual commitment is discarded when it comes to the accounting of profits. The long run or the grander effect of tax evasion is not by any means considered at all.

    To maintain this status quo ante… they need to support somebody like Noynoy who for the last 12 years as a legislator never had this concept of what a social contract is… what is more convenient is that they’ve used the “social contract” phrase in their call to vote for him. It worked for the ignorant and lazy registered voters who do not even know their “social contract” as a VOTER where one obligation would be to research for the truth about their candidates of choice. In the long run or in the next six years… these firms and individuals will always do their own thing… how convenient!

    [Reply]

    J.B. Reply:

    Benig0, I wonder what’s your take on calling “so little brain capacity to absorb”.

    Human beings are basically the same wherever they are on this planet. If the absence of proper education is the root cause, then finding means to plug the hole would be one of the best solutions possible.

    I know AP tends to educate but there are technological vacuum between the techie reader and ordinary pinoys. There must be something more tangible and fruitful beyond the reach of ordinary pinoys.

    [Reply]

    Jon Abaca Reply:

    The void between an average AP reader and an average Pinoy exists in three levels.

    The linguistic void: AP readers are more expressive in English. Average Pinoys are more expressive in whatever regional dialect they normally use.

    The Technological void: AP readers have access to the Internet, AND see the internal as a viable source of information. Average Pinoys either don’t have access to the Internet, or see it as either facebook, skype, YM, a place to find scandal videos, or the source of the latest DotA version.

    The Cultural void: AP readers are well, more serious and willing to argue about their beliefs. The average Pinoy would much rather avoid conflict and watch Wowowee or whatever soap opera is on right now.

    The hole that needs to be plugged is the size of the Grand Canyon.

    Sentro ng Katotohanan is a great start. A television program would be helpful, but too many Filipinos would rather watch Wowowee or Habang May Buhay that any informative program would end up late in the evening. Unfortunately, only the adults are most likely to be awake then. These adults are more likely to consider the cultural dysfunction canon, and are more likely to resist change.

    [Reply]

    J.B. Reply:

    True about the voids above but we’re not dealings here with the “Bonjings”, the Pinoys who have grown-up abnormally.

    I am more inclined to teach the youngs especially those who are still can be mould.

    If the leftist could make a cult following brainwashing the youngs, I would think the same people could also be lured into something more proactive and realistic.

    benign0 Reply:

    @ J.B., education is a key key ingredient to world-class thinking. But there is also something to be said of the underlying infrastructure that supports how Filipinos think — the kind of stuff that would normally be ingrained in early childhood and through the nature of how one is raised. I glibly refer to it as a lack of “brain capacity to absorb”. What I was specifically describing in using that term is how the collective intellectual faculties of the Filipino are so sorely lacking in many essential building blocks of modern-day thinking — the sort of thinking needed not only to survive, but to thrive and succeed in the modern world.

    One area would be how Filipino children are both not expected to think and, for that matter, discouraged from thinking to the extent that they are routinely lied to or misled by their elders who seem to be of the mindset that they do not owe any explanation to people they see to be subordinate to them (in most cases, their own children!).

    One of my favourite illustrative texts of this comes from an email sent in by a reader a couple of years ago where I highlight this excerpt:

    when I was a kid (am now 40 [years old]) our elders never give us straight answer. one day while playing to my female friend, we were both taking a bath (nude and I was 5 [years old]) I shout “ay pepe” [and] my aunt scolded me for saying bad words.

    another was, when I ask my aunt again how did I come out in this world. and without hesitation she said “galing ka sa puwet”.

    there’s alot more lies and half truth i learn from my elders, when we went to US at my age of 10 [years old], I was so surprised how ordinary folks explain everything as if am talking to them as the same age as mine. up to now am still wandering why we filipinos doesnt treat kids as intellectual and the future of our country, in the philippines, youth are deprive of ideas what is better for them.

    You can see from the above where the stunted comprehension faculties of the Filipino seem to be rooted. It goes deeper than the quality of the education delivered by the public syste. It goes down to the very bedrock institution of the society itself — the family.

    If you don’t mind, I’m developing the above into a proper article which I shall publish in GetRealPhilippines.net wihtin the next hour or so (into which I will also incorporate my responses to HalleluyahHymen‘s and Jon Abaca‘s comments as well).

    Thanks to you three for the inspiration! Watch that space guys. :)

    [Reply]

    J.B. Reply:

    Good stuff.

    I was actually curious about your position on nature vs nurture type of perspective with regards to da Pinoys mindsets.

    Mannypacquiao.ph was basically all out for Gordon except that members failed to comprehend the wide-gaping hole of lack of proper education among Filipinos, including proper upbringing of course. They seemed can’t get the severity of educational problem when Gordon proposed to tax 50 cents for every mobile text just to pay for 40k teachers’ monthly salary.

    I agree the 50 cents is too severe but that’s how every Filipino should chip in to pay in preventing the the continued rise of number of bonjings (mis-educated).

    [Reply]

    Jay Reply:

    They get outraged for taxing 50 cents for text? I propose they tax cigarettes more! No one stops smoking (even Noynoy) even if you raised cigarette prices to something like 5 pesos. If they want to get into vices, they might as well understand how it can somehow help the government as well.

    But good points with everyone here. The issue isn’t individually acceptable (not tolerated) but socially, as observed in a macro and micro level.

    Also unlike many of the AP regulars who already knows their role in society as a “social obligation”, noynoy supporters among others are still treating it like a moral obligation. They go about saying there is going to be change and now they will do their best to support the newly elect leaders, or the others who have posted here who are resigned to the knowledge that Noynoy won so they have to accept it and do their best as a citizen.

    benign0 Reply:

    All done now. I’ve posted an article were I make my attempt to explore these concepts we discussed above. Check it out here.

    [Reply]

    HalleluyahHymen Reply:

    Benign0

    Have read your article and thanks for the citations. I’ve wanted to comment but I’m too lazy today to register… but here’s my take on the “social contract” theory without going through the complications of how it was explained by Locke, Rousseau and Hobbes.

    A citizen will always have a “social obligation” to himself and his fellow citizen. He has multiple functions that is why he has multiple “social contracts”. As a parent it is his “social obligation” to nurture his child from the moment of conception and to form the child into another “good” citizen or useful labor unit. In a sociological theory called structural functionalism, a society functions within the framework of the structure. If a citizen fails to fit into the structure, he’s either booted out as an unemployed hobo or finds for himself another society where he can function within the structure (migration). OTOH, “social contract” should be able to put into the minds of every player within the structure of society their obligations. EG. The legislator in the legislative structure of the government is contractually bound to draft bills for enactment of laws. It is the “social obligation” of a legislator to review existing laws, draft new ones or revise existing ones. The contractual obligation of the state is to pay him for that function. (The president apparent knows his “social obligations” as a senator OTOH, he’s either dumb or lazy.)

    Remember how Peter Parker became a Spiderman along the context of “social contract”. Uncle Ben Parker drilled into his mental framework the saying “with great powers lies great responsibilities.” The education of spiderman on this “social contract” theory even came from “the school of hard knocks”. Point is that each of the citizens in a banana government has an obligation… a social obligation… not a moral obligation… and I agree on the context of the message of your post…. education… not just a Quiapo type education… but quality education.

    [Reply]

    benign0 Reply:

    Thanks, HH. That site, though equipped with comment features was never really meant to be a forum for comment-based discussion.

    I read that Bill Gates himself was also counseled by his mother at some point by reminding him that his great wealth puts him in a position of greater responsibility that extends beyond Microsoft (which by itself is a big enough responsibility relative to that which most of us face).

    Perhaps we take it for granted that we ourselves understand our respective social contracts thus predisposing us to expect as much from Philippine society — which in almost all cases leads to disappointment.

    [Reply]

    HalleluyahHymen Reply:

    @ Benigno

    Blaming the government will always be the usual rant of a disgruntled ignorant citizen. It is the stigma or sort of a left over from those individuals who’ve been blaming the government on their perceived societal hardships during the time of Marcos… Marcosian era is where one oligarch clan rules over government and markets… so Marcos = government and government = Marcos. Gasgas na yan. Ngayon… PI Government = collusion of ruling clans… the landed and moneyed class controls the government and the markets. The Aquinos, the MBC firm owners, Cojuangcos, Villars, Estradas, Lopezes, Ayalas… the 20 percent who owns 80 percent of the PI resources is the “collusion”… the collusion of oligarchs. These persons who’ve been elected and appointed to top positions of the structure of the State called government belongs to this “leisure class.”

    The government will only function properly if those persons elected or appointed into its three branches will know what their social contracts are. OTOH, if they are the “leisure class” like Noynoy their primary interest which is “for the best interest of the clan” will always be their priority. So what’s the solution… YOU EITHER KILL THEM… OR RE-EDUCATE THEM.

    Jon Abaca Reply:

    Thank you for the citation.

    I think the reason many people do not follow their social contract is because they never experience the consequences of their actions, or the consequences get “softened” , or they pass the buck.

    For example, many abusive husbands stay violent, because their battered wives stay passive. The neighbors, who, oddly enough, don’t consider peace and quiet as one of their interests, don’t do anything. There is no social stigma, and without a police report, the husband will escape the law. For that husband, he experiences no consequences.

    Here is another example. There are many poor people who have more children than they can take care of. They are mired in poverty, but enough people help them. They even use their children as to guilt-trip more people into helping them. For the family, the consequences of having too many children are “softened” by the misplaced charity of other people.

    Here is yet another example. An HR manager in a copy editing company told me that graduates from Ateneo or La Salle are better in English than graduates from smaller universities. Instead of using English more to get better at the language, many bitter graduates just complain about the “rich elites” who run the companies. They pass the buck.

    Social contracts have an accompanying social consequence. It is not necessarily the job of the government to enforce the consequence.

    It’s like the scarlet letter lost its meaning.

    HalleluyahHymen Reply:

    Jon…

    When education becomes a privilege than a right… there is a disequilibrium on the aggregate level. Policies are created to be implemented… and it should be implemented to the letter and its spirit. The problem of Pinas educational IMHO, lies on the behaviour of those persons who administer the government, the owners and administrators of academic institutions (public or private) and the parent-citizens.

    Let’s start with the parents…
    The mind setting as seen on game shows, tele novelas and tele pantasyas would be:
    1. “anak magaral kang mabuti para makakuha ka ng magandang trabaho at makatulong ka sa ating pamilya pag nakatapos ka.”
    2. “anak mag aral kang mabuti para makapag abroad ka.”

    two things… to get employed so that the student can help his/her family and to go abroad… BAD MOTIVATION…

    Academic institutions
    The curriculum of an institution is dependent on the motivation of the government…. since pinas has a long standing policy to send out its labor units to more developed countries to either solve the unemployment ratio, the curricula of academic institutions are based (indirectly) on this policy… this and academe’s perception of the international labor demand market creates an overflowing supply of nurses, computer technicians, and Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) grads… Who owns and administers a school… religious cults… such as the Jesuits, Benedictine monks and the La Salle brothers… INCs… and the oligarchs…

    Government agencies
    The Department of Education and Culture is divided into three segments that monitors different levels of education… the DECS for primary and secondary schools, Committee on Higher Education (CHED) for college, post-grad and doctoral levels and TESDA for technical courses. Each of these segments has its own policy… they approve textbooks… curricula… and accreditation… Unfortunately this executive government agency for the last decades will only look into infrastructure problems that is related to the population multiplier dilemma… such as classrooms and the ratio of teachers per students…. and… none or no prioritization of QUALITY on public education. Oftentimes it just concentrates on how to increase the salaries and bonuses of public school teachers.

    The elite studes do not have these problems… the cults and the oligarchs see to it that they have better modules than the public schools to make their graduates “competitive” and better english speakers.

    What do we need in Pinas as far as policy on education is concerned?
    I don’t know… hehehe…

    IMHO… the curricula should be working towards the development of student-citizens are willing to engage themselves in:
    1. Research and development…
    2. Entrepreneurship…

    … asian countries who are classified as MDCs have moved to this direction… so it is NOT CORRUPTION as ABNOY ranted during his campaign… it’s gaddamn EDUCATION as Benign0 pointed out.

    HalleluyahHymen Reply:

    … to either solve the unemployment ratio or benefit from the remittances…

  4. From what I see here, we’ve also become a nation of whiners.

    We’ve gotta start somewhere, right? I don’t see any viable (realistic) solutions being offered up by anyone here. Are there any proposals?

    [Reply]

    May Party Sa Dasma Wala Akong Wheels Reply:

    @thegreatest:

    What could be more viable/realistic than telling people “Don’t be your typical dysfunctional Filipino selves because it’s doing you a lot of harm despite all your fruitless Proud to be Pinoy attitude”?

    It’s simple, direct, it shames (some) guilty parties into some form of rethinking their behaviour, it gets straight shooters like many AP readers thinking they’re not entirely surrounded by a-holes because there are good Filipinos who want no part of the dysfunction, and knowing this we can be confident that we may still be able to fix this by sticking with the basics. Most Pinoys suck at the basics, not because they can’t, but they won’t.

    [Reply]

    ilda Reply:

    @thegreatest

    Solution for the cheating problem being discussed above:

    1. Stop/avoid cheating or
    2. Report cheaters.
    3. Charge and prosecute cheaters.
    4. Put cheaters in jail to deter copycats.

    I gather you equate an analysis of the problem to whining. Would you rather that cheaters get away with their unlawful behavior?

    [Reply]

    ChinoF Reply:

    I think the article has it down pat. You see bad behavior, it’s a big thing already to differ from that behavior. Kung baga, boycotting or disobeying culture is a solution. What solutions would you offer, Thegreatest?

    [Reply]

    Jay Reply:


    We’ve gotta start somewhere, right? I don’t see any viable (realistic) solutions being offered up by anyone here. Are there any proposals?

    Uh, starting somewhere seems not to be the problem since like any addiction, there are people who can’t ADMIT to their actions and take responsibility for them. The moment you finally do that, the moment you can pinpoint where those problems are, be committed to change things around and be on a road to recovery.

    Its simple really. No need for your tedious analysis, because it goes back to motivation. If you want it done, you will do it. If you don’t, you’l find an excuse. That is the pinoy way and it has been like that for so long. So if you want to defend that lifestyle from ‘whiners’, enjoy losing out with the rest of the country since the Spanish left.

    [Reply]

    Paolo Reply:

    Look at the mirror. There’s your answer.

    Can’t figure it out? Go figure.