Fare Increase

OMG! Another fare increase!!!
What's wrong with the world!?!? Prices are going up, spend is going up, but the supply remains the same.

The Philippine Inquirer today published the news about another fare increase that has been approved by local authorities and that will take effect within the week. I remember back during my elementary days (that's about 12 years ago) that the fare was only Php 1.50 per person (Php 1.25 if student). Now, the fare is at Php 8.00 and will be at Php 8.50 within the week. That's almost a 6-fold of its original cost! Wow!

If only the fares are directly proportional to our money-making.

Full story at the Philippine Daily Inquirer here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080708-147151/UPDATE-NEDA-approves-fare-hike

The Filipino Attitude

I always believed that Filipinos have this "opportunist" attitude. By "opportunist," I mean they always seem to be very aggressive in every circumstance that would probably be beneficial to them. Sometimes this is what I call the "this-may-be-good-for-me-therefore-I-should-grab-this-opportunity" attitude.Well anyway, who wouldn't? But what sets the Filipino apart from all the other races is the MEANS to get what they want. Some people break their moral and ethical standards, or even go as far as breaking the law just to grab that "wonderful" opportunity in front of them.

Let me give you an example. This morning on my way to work at the MRT station, there were only 2 ticket booths open. Because of the large number of people wanting to buy MRT passes, a long line started to form. Then suddenly, the third ticket booth opened. I was on my way to the third booth (tinawag ako nung babae, "Miss dito na po"), and I was about to give her my money, but there was this guy who just arrived at the station and who suddenly ran in front of me and gave his bills to the lady. What an ass. See the attitude there? He saw the small space between my bill and the ticket booth lady and grabbed the opportunity of buying first instead of me, even if it meant totally disregarding the people who have already been in line for a couple of minutes.

This morning, I finally realized why only Filipinos are like this. My answer is that, we are in a country where people are not given equal opportunities. And so with that, people find ways and means to grab every opportunity that comes their way, because they might not get that chance again. In other countries, everyone has equal opportunities. They don't have to be so aggressive and disregard their ethics because they know that they will have a fair share of what's there. When I was in the States and in Singapore, people calmly line up and wait for transportation to arrive, because they know that the next bus or the next train or the next taxi will be there in a few minutes. Here in Manila, you'd have to push your way to the swarm of people just to get in front of the line.

Hay Buhay.

On Rice Shortage

For the past few days, reading the news or watching late night news programs has been really frustrating. There are a lot of issues on rice shortage in the Philippines, and the government claims that this shortage is normal because of a global crisis. Add the fact that there is a population growth in the country, the basic law of supply and demand is definitely applied in the current rice shortage situation. The Arroyo administration is willing to "spend" Php32 billion for rice procurement and for ensuring that there is enough supply of rice for every hungry mouth in the Philippines. Wow, yay. Should we go out and rejoice then?

You gotta be kidding. What the hell has happened to our rice? Aren't we an agricultural country, and isn't the Philippines claimed to be one of the more abundant rice producers of the world? Why are we then importing rice from the US?? Of all countries, the US!?! The "rice crisis" should have been an opportunity for agricultural countries such as the Philippines. This is where other countries would demand rice, and prices should go high, and we should have been able to benefit from that. We could've been rich, or at least pay most of our debts. But instead we're spending a big PHP32 Billion for rice! How ironic is that!?

Sigh. If only we invested on technology to enhance agricultural productivity. What did we do? Well, maybe you should look at the bellies of the clowns sitting in our government offices.

Erap Found Guilty

Today marks another memorable date on the Philippine calendar: Erap's Judgment day. Earlier this morning, former President Joseph Estrada was found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of plunder, and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, his son Senator Jinggoy Estrada and his lawyer Eduardo Serapio were acquitted of their crimes. And though the six-year trial for the former leader has finally been decided, the perjury case against Erap was dismissed, thus allowing him to stay at his resthouse until further notice.

I fear we might expect some turmoil from the crowd, especially the masa who have embraced the ex-President with open arms despite the accusations. Will this spur another EDSA revolution? Or will the masses just accept the fact that their 'hero' is not who they thought he was?

I doubt it. There are a lot of die-hard Erap fans out there, people who admire him not for being a good leader, but for his past as an action star. Sometimes Filipinos can be so gullible, and sometimes they just don't think. Or it may be because they are so passionate that their emotions cloud their thoughts. And so I don't think we'll hear the end of this anytime soon. I'm sure there's more to come.

Photo courtesy of www.inquirer.net