I'm tired. So I will rant. Kthnxbai.

If there's anything that my friends have found unshakeable in the past almost-twenty years since I became a functioning citizen of the Republic (meaning that I have begun to vote, I began my stint as an income taxpayer, and I have involved myself in issues involving the public that I have felt an interest for), it's this deep-seated faith that Las Islas Filipinas will finally turn around.

Such is why I have not taken the easy route; that is, I have not left the country to become something other than Filipino (and with my portfolio of skills I'd have quite easily done so), nor have I acquiesced to the plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose attitude that I've found many of my elders and peers subscribe to in relation to life in this country.

It's tough.

With my thirty-first birthday coming up in just a few days (and therefore half of my clan's natural lifespan or thereabouts, as dictated by genetics), I have begun to wonder if this turn-around will happen in my lifetime.

I don't know.

Thus, here I go and pay my personal devil (she who whispers the doubts in my ear every so often) her due -- and slap her once more.

See, if we don't hold on to hope and work at it, we might as well jump off PSE Tower 1.

***
As usual, government's answer to the global financial crisis is to export more labor. Painful, yes, but lest we forget, there are so many things that are getting in the way of local job creation.

(Perhaps this is why the government would rather massage the unemployment statistics than create actual job opportunities? Bleh.)

Off the top of my head, here are some of the things I've heard that get in the way of investment opportunities and progress in the country:

Corruption. The cost of doing business in the Philippines is far too much to be financially viable for so many businesses. I know firsthand of a couple who are having a hard time getting their building permit for their house signed off because the city engineer's office wants 35% of the project cost as "SOP" -- standard operating procedure (imagine that the corruption is so blatant and so brazen in scale!). Had I had my way, I'd make corruption a capital crime -- death penalty starts at the first ten centavos skimmed off the top.

Legal instability. Forget government instability -- I have heard with my own two ears different sorts of people disappointed with the fact that the courts aren't consistent in ruling on different disputes involving business, despite the fact that legal precedents exist. See, I respect the courts, sure, but whatever happened to res judicata?

Terrorism. The New People's Army blowing up cellsites and construction equipment, the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping teachers, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front wreaking havoc and mayhem -- terrorists all. Had I had my way and the means to do it, I'd have them all obliterated with extreme prejudice. Kill them all. Seriously. We should by now have had enough of them... I believe in human rights, sure, but our country's been benighted for far too long because of their existence.

Religious fundamentalists and stupid unscientific idiots. Forget the militant zealots who write me hate mail because I support the Reproductive Health Bill (yup, I spend my Mondays reading my latest batch of hate mail) -- there are among these very same people who don't want nuclear power, geothermal power, mini-hydros, and other such clean power initiatives because of their unscientific biases. Imagine environmental advocates saying that we should oppose geothermal power because of the deforestation, or nuclear energy because of outdated arguments dating back to the seventies and are unsupported by good engineering practice (stupid stupid stupid). Had I had my way, I'd ship them off to Scarborough Shoal with nothing at all, not even clothes -- Survivor Kalayaan, I'd call it.

Incompetent government functionaries. If our official statistics and policy-making data were truly trustworthy, we'd know how to allocate our resources efficiently... but noooooo, the government would rather massage the data than go out and do their jobs because the numbers show that the numbers are really bad. Had I had my way, I'd likewise have such number-fudgers crucified.

Stupid politicians. What do you call senators and congressmen who pass laws that have far too many loopholes for the laws to truly work? Worse still, what of legislators who pass laws that have no basis in common sense? Such stupidity, especially when it's deliberate, ought to be a criminal offense.

Political dynasties. Instead of allowing governance to be run by the best we can find and those we trust, we instead have those who treat government as a family franchise. Perhaps we should have them all obliterated to the fifth degree of affinity and consanguinity so that we can start over? Include those who would rather coddle squatters because of the votes they can depend on, those who would encourage a culture of mendicancy instead of good old hard work (yep, like those of the Church and the Left).

And more.

When will these people finally die out so that ordinary hard-working folks can get on with the business of making things work?

***
This is not to say I've not any beefs with big business. Having been a wage slave for quite a long time, I've seen how labor gets screwed every so often.

(Of course, many of the militant leftist unions do get in the way of a true give-and-take relationship between labor and management, but that's another story for another time. Why else would some companies choose to close shop, if not for the unreasonable demands of these people? Eh kung di ba naman kayo tanga, at di kayo nag-iisip ng kung ano ang patas sa inyo pareho, eh di hindi sana kayo nawalan ng trabaho dahil nagsara ang mga kumpanya ninyo. Mga leche kayo.)

I know that the phrase "moderate the greed" has gained currency when talking about politicos and government functionaries, but if anything the phrase should apply to big business and labor unions as well. In this time of crisis, which if we weather successfully in the next decade or more we will doubtless undergo again, there's no way we can mitigate the impact unless every sector decides to act in consensus. Businesses do have their bottomline to consider, while labor unions do act to protect their members' rights -- but can there not be a point where the interests meet in a reasonable compromise?

This, yet again, is where all three sectors -- business, labor, and government -- have dropped the ball. Welcome to the proverbial seven lean years -- maybe even decades -- because of such lack of foresight and open-mindedness. Gutuman na 'to. Pati pansit canton mahal na din. Pasensyahan na lang, pare-pareho kayong tanga.

***
Elections are incoming in 2010 -- or so the people in power claim. Nonetheless, the possibility is there. Work for it.

Be part of the elections. Join the discussions, think long and hard about those you will support, get yourselves registered, and go out and vote on election day. How else will you start change for the better?

If you won't be part of it, well, PAKYU.

PAKYU TALAGA, GAGO. TANGINAMO, MAMATAY KA NA LANG SANA. WALA KANG KUWENTANG PILIPINO.

'Nuff said.

(Rant done. Now to look around for better stuff to write about. Later, all)



Email the jester-in-exile via jester_in_exile@yahoo.com or betajester@mysandbox.com.ph.