A little bit of Reflection

Now my time is winding down in the Philippines. I only have one more month and I am trying to make a conscious effort to save the money I have but am somehow not succeeding. I feel like I may not have been fair when I discussed the expat communities in my last blog. I thought about it and it really isn't fair to categorize a whole group of people. I have a lot of good French friends and friends from over European countries so it is not as if I really harbor a strong prejudice against them but I just lost my patience a while ago. It is also interesting that I am really European and most of my family is from or lives currently in France, England, and Switzerland. Unfortunately, I can't say I feel a lot of cultural solidarity among that part of my family. I love and respect them but at the end of the day I will usually relate to Americans first. My whole life I have been indoctrinated with American culture and the cheap watery beer. So I guess it really is true that beer is thicker than blood.

I believe animosity for a specific group of people whether it is a racial, cultural, or regional distinction does inevitably from an insecurity or frustration from within one's self. Probably, the reason that I get angry when I see young college students is because my time at college wasn't really so awesome and so this frustration translates itself into negative energy without me being aware. With the French the situation is different. I make arguments to French people about how I dislike Charles de Gaulle and his apparent lack of gratitude to American, Canadian, and English sacrifice to liberate France. I call French people hypocritical who call America imperialistic and maybe insinuate that the French are somewhat lazy for being so comfortable with a socialist government. At the end of the day, these aren't real reasons for disliking French people. Even if there is truth with some of these arguments, it isn't a justification to be judgmental. It is the same sort of irrational, emotionally charged rhetoric a racist uses to justify his racism. Probably the real reason why I seem to have tension with French people lies in my the fact I've been told I was French for my whole life but it never really resonated with me. In my home, my parents emphasized the European culture and at school I would tell kids that I was French and it made me feel special in a way. The end result was that I felt vaguely isolated. I was not really able to fully integrate myself with Americans because of this vague notion that I was different but eventually due to my inability to speak French, I didn't eat French food, and I never really related to French culture, this veil was removed to expose the void of a cultural identity. However I did and still do respect French poets and philosophers but anyone with taste would. This emptiness translated into a negative attitude towards French people. I would probably talk to a psychologist about this if I thought they would have anything intelligent to say or I believed in what they do. Basically, what I am trying to say is that when somebody makes negative generalizations about a group of people they are probably harboring some sort of psychological repression.

These considerations also help expand my lack of understanding of the Philippines and my experience here. I recently had lunch with an American guy running a renewable energy business here who is vaguely connected to my Dad. He's a nice guy and it was nice to meet an American guy here that I can relate to. Through our conversation there was one aspect that really resonated with me. We were discussing Filipino politics and how the over-bearing, institutionalized corruption here makes the whole conversation depressing and a bit futile. As administrations change, the same corruption lingers and continues to hamper the development of this country. I've written about this before but when I said it was kind of depressing how little hope there seem to be for a positive change here he replied:

“Yeah it is depressing but this isn't your reality. It's theirs. You live here now but you know you will leave after awhile. Filipinos live this reality for their whole lives. Imagine how depressing it is for them.”

This affected me because it struck a cord with arrogance that had been developing within myself. I do live modestly and am regularly exposed to the sufferings of the impoverished but can I really say I understand their situation? I can go to all of the slums in Manila. I can talk to thousands of people dying of malnourishment when there is ample food available but I will never really understand. For me to say that I have a more enlightened point of view than other people is the epitome of arrogance. I do care about this place and will continue to try and grasp the issues here but I can't have pretensions that I will walk away with real answers. Perhaps notions of answers, that really is all that I can expect. 

Expat Communities

I remember discussing with my sister when we were in Bali and she was telling me about some movie called Eat Pray Love. It sounded like a stupid movie but she mentioned that the lady in the movie meets some attractive Latino guy in Bali and that encompasses the “Love” aspect of the film. I thought it was kind of strange to meet a South American guy in Indonesia but she said something that stuck with me. She casually told me that there is a decently large and growing ex-patriot community of Americans, other Westerners all over the world; including Indonesia. It is an obvious observation but it made me reflect about the Philippines.

Recently I went out to two parties. One of which was at the house of some decently well-off French guys inside a very strictly guarded gated community in the heart of the opulence that is Makati. It was a farewell party for a French friend of mine so I went down there with some friends. I usually dislike going to Makati because it is so far but it's been awhile since I was at house party where I can get some free booze. I didn't know any of those people and honestly wasn't really in the mood to mingle with a bunch of Europeans. I am somewhere a racist in that I always have energy to flirt with Filipino or Japanese girls but sometimes interacting with Europeans is tiring. I also was not so interested in these people because they represent something I really dislike.

I looked around at the young professional French people who seem to be involved in some lucrative business here. Some of the richest people in the Philippines live in Makati. These French expats seem to only hang out with other French guys. They know French bars which are full of the French. They probably do not bother at all to learn the local language. They sometimes have very beautiful Filipina girlfriends, at least for the duration of their stay here. That party had quite a few very sexy Filipinas who were clearly trying to get the attention of the young rich Frenchmen. My Filipino friend told me that a lot of these girls won't even talk to other Filipinos. Their preference for foreigners is so strong that they will not even have the courtesy to entertain a conversation with a Filipino guy. He was understandably irritated by this.

I assume there is a community of American, British, German, etc expats also which are equally exclusive. This whole expat situation gives me a weird feeling. I mean I technically am also an expat and I had a Filipino girlfriend. I do try to learn Tagalog but I am too lazy to really work hard at it. The prevalence of English-speaking people here makes it hard for me to be motivated to really study Tagalog. I never tried to reach out to other Americans here and actually I am not good terms with most of the Americans that I've happened to come across. I don't know why but there is sometimes inexplicable tension between other American guys in the Philippines and myself. In light of all of this, when I look at this French expat community I have a strong animosity for them. Perhaps we have different mindsets. I came to the Philippines to understand the place and the people. Those guys probably came here to get drunk all the time, go to the beach, and buy cheap prostitutes. I am not really being fair but going to a lavish French party in the middle of the wealthiest part of the Philippines left me feeling disgusted. While they drink and complain about how dirty and uninteresting Manila is I can't help but get the feeling that they regard the Philippines as still a colony. The vulgarity is really too much. The disparity in wealth forces Filipinos to serve the Westerners in something akin to neocolonialism. I know I am making a lot of unfounded accusations but I have had too many conversations with obnoxious people from Western countries who clearly do not hold any respect for this country. We have these people in America also. In the States our attitude is: “If you don't like it here, just go home.” I want to tell this to those people all the time. Filipino people are already hurt enough by foreign exploitation. They don't need the perpetrators to also be complaining that their food has too much salt.

The next night I went to dinner with a group of Japanese expats. In a sense they are the same as the Europeans. They have tight groups of Japanese which I think is largely due to the fact that they don't want to learn English. Japanese people are generally more discreet and respectful of foreign cultures than Westerners. I like that but I still can't help but see the same attitude in them. They move around the city with the utmost caution; constantly worried about their safety and only confiding in other Japanese. I sort of understand the paranoia of the Japanese because Japan is so unnaturally safe. The crime rate is so low in Japan that the Japanese seem to always expect the worst when they come here. Manila is modestly dangerous but I don't think it is much more dangerous than most American cities.

Am I fair to criticize these people that come here and seek security among people similar to them? Can I really judge these people? I am not sure but I can tell you that it really makes my stomach turn when people come here and don't have an ounce of decency to show respect to the country that has welcomed with open arms.  

The Lack of Patriotism in the Philippines

I would like to offer my analysis to a perplexing aspect of the Philippines: the apparent lack of patriotism among Filipinos. I am writing as only an outside observer and even my understanding of what patriotism actually means may differ from other people. I wouldn't consider myself a patriot at least by the conventional American terminology. That doesn't mean I don't love America but I don't believe in American exceptionalism in any way. A lot of Americans think that to be a patriot you have to believe America really is the best country and the shining light of freedom in the world. You can't whitewash the entire history of the United States just to paint a nice national narrative. I hold my criticism and occasional disdain for aspects of the history of the United States but that does not change the fact that I love my country. Love is no a pros vs. cons calculation. Real love in unconditional but with realizations of the imperfections of the subject of your love. I feel the same way about Israel.

The Philippines is a completely different story. This is a country where before a movie is shown in a movie theater they play the national anthem. Actually almost every conference and seminar I've been to has begun with the national anthem and a prayer. Also, since I do live in the national capital there are of course Filipino flags regularly flying and for a visitor the Filipinos seem to demonstrate a strong pride in their country. I have met an array of different people from across this country and I can safely say that the outward display of patriotism is really an expression of an inner emptiness. Since students are usually politically active, what they say about the government or the state of the affairs of the country can be a good litmus test or at least a good place to start in order to understand. I have met a wide array of students here; from the obsessive political activists to the empty-headed sons and daughters of the rich and the honest ones in between. The politically minded seem to always have something to complain about; whether it's the corruption of government officials or the inability of the government to protect the rights of Filipinos working abroad or just the general inadequacy of the government and their servile mentality towards neo-liberal American economic pressure. Unfortunately I have spent considerable time with students from very wealthy families. It's hard for me to describe how much I dislike this aspect of my time here. It is as if they were trying to imitate Americans but they chose the worst people to imitate; it's like hanging with the people I always hated in high school. I didn't like that group of people in high school and chilling with people that apparently emulate them just drives me crazy. These people generally don't offer any sort of constructive opinions and generally talk about how much they paid for their sunglasses and how better the rest of the world is compared to the Philippines. I'm not really being fair but seriously god dammit, I can't stand these people. The majority of students fall in between these two categories. I have had a lot of meaningful conversations about Filipino history and politics with people of every part of the political spectrum. I have heard Filipinos describe Ferdinand Marcos as the best leader the Philippines has ever had and people call him the worst of the worst. I have head people sing praises of the Filipino democratic institutions and how the Philippines was the first Asian country to revolt against colonialism and create a representative government. I have heard people describe this country as America's stooge. A girl even explained to me that what the Philippines really needs is another strong dictator to take this country to the forefront of history. The basic point I am trying to make is that there are cacophony of opinions. This is a positive sign and a symptom of a thriving democracy.

The problem with taking opinions of students seriously is that they do not usually know what they're talking about and are deluded with idealism. How many seminars can you have about development? People complain about the ivory tower of American universities in the states but I feel like the problem is worse here. I have discussed politics with other older people and I have heard a similar amount of discordant opinions but lacking the optimism. Usually when a middle-aged person tells me their political opinion it is laced with cynicism or a “What do you expect?” attitude. I have a feeling that if one had avidly followed Philippine politics for last 30 years they would probably develop a large amount of cynicism also. Every administration has big promises and a populist message to get the impoverished voters on their side but the corruption and the stagnation of the effort to alleviate poverty maintain the same. In light of all of this, I will say that Filipinos are not politically minded. They sometimes remind of the general political apathy I sense among the Japanese. But are political apathy and patriotism tied together? I have very rarely found a Japanese person that wants to discuss politics or really has any interest in it at all. Filipinos I would say have a stronger interest and it is reflected in the political turmoil here. The Liberal Democratic Party was continually elected in Japan for around 50 years and as long as the economy is not in crisis they have stayed in power. It seems that as long as the economy is good the Japanese will elect the same party to maintain the status quo and they are not particularly interested in the foreign policy of a particular administration. It may seem that the Japanese are completely apathetic about their country but actually they are some of the most patriotic people in the world. The Japanese have a strong pride in their culture. They just don't care about politics.

The Philippines has a democratic and free government but they don't seem to hold that much respect for it and unlike the Japanese, the Filipinos don't have any transcendent national image such as the emperor. You could say that corruption turns people to dislike the government and push them to avoid having anything to do with it but if they really are so disgusted with the corruption why aren't there massive protest and rallies or public outcry. The press is free here and regularly criticizes government corruption but it seems as if it has become old news and people aren't really interested anymore. Aside from politics or respect for a government, I think a shared historical narrative is important for crafting a national identity. Colonialism, the fight against it, and it's vestigial presence is a vital aspect of the problem. I recently read a article that put the colonialism of the Philippines in three stages: Spanish, American, and then internal colonialism. According to this author ever since the Republic of the Philippines has been independent, the national government has “colonized” both culturally and physically the rest of the Philippines. This is an ambiguous and controversial topic and different segments of the population will react differently. In my eyes evidence in her defense would consist of the adoption of a national language: Filipino which is really just the regional language of Tagalog spoken around Manila and parts of Luzon, the government green light to land grabbing in Mindanao by northern Filipinos, the disproportionate appropriation of the nation's resources to Manila, and cultural arrogance of people from Manila. I have a feeling that using the term internal colonialism is a bit misleading and it is really only used by those unwillingly to move past a post-colonial view of the world. This is similar to those within American policy makers that can't seem to move past the Cold War era doctrines. I think the evidence that points to “internal colonialism” is actually just mismanagement of government resources akin to every national government in the world today. In her defense, people in Manila sometimes do have a arrogant attitude. I hear people here refer to everywhere else in the Philippines as “the province”. This attitude can be readily observed in New York as well. I think it's kind of funny when I meet Filipinos from outside Manila and when I ask where they're from they just say “the province”. They are probably just assuming that I don't know any province outside of Manila but there does seem to a cultural polarization where you are either from the city or you aren't. Personally, I don't think this distinction makes sense. I have been to Sablayan, Cebu, Puerto Princessa, Banaue, Batangas, Olongapo, Canabatuan, and some other ones, and I think they are pretty much as developed as Manila in terms of amenities. The size and scale of the skyscrapers of Makati only exist in Makati but in “the province” they have electricity, hospitals, supply of food, nightlife, good universities, and much nicer parks than Manila. Honestly, I think the standard of living of people in Manila is lower than a lot of cities in “the province”.

The Philippines is a culturally and linguistically diverse place and so this may contribute to the lack in patriotism. I think people outside of Manila seem a bit culturally detached from the modern aspects of big city life. America is no different. There has always been a cultural disconnect between those from the big city and those from the smaller towns or countryside. Actually America is very divided: North vs. South, East vs. West, etc. but America is a very patriotic country so although it may be a contributing factor, I do not believe the answer for the lack of patriotism lies in the cultural diversity of this country. Actually, I believe the answer to the question lies in that my understanding “patriotism” is subjective and skewed by my American perspective. Europeans and Americans seem to always compete and compare their countries based on national “achievements” like winning wars, cultural contributions, etc. But I feel like this is a childish way to view the world. The people of this world do not live a convenient fiction of “good vs. evil”. No one is keeping score. Reality has much more depth and room for interpretation. The Filipino is pragmatic when he looks at the world. They respect and admire the achievements of other countries; even their enemies of the past. I have not seen a stronger openness to foreigners than in the Philippines. They recognize the inadequacies of their country and are well-aware that the living standard outside can be much better. I think there is an unanimous appreciation for the Filipino heroes and famous writers, artists, actors, etc. (who the Filipinos all refer to as artistas). So why are Filipinos leaving the Philippines in droves to work abroad? Simply put, the money is better and they need to support their family. I believe cynicism towards the national government is a sign of intelligence and those that believe that the evolution of politics to what we see today as positive are delusional. Yeah, maybe Filipinos are not sitting around all day talking about how awesome the Philippines but again I think that is a sign of intelligence. From what I see the Filipino first cares for his family, than his love, then the livelihood of his community and then when he has time: the affairs of the government. My basic point is that I believe Filipinos are more evolved then myself and their counterparts in the developed world.

Feasibility of Risk

As everyone is aware Japan has been plagued with a terrible tragedy; earthquake, tsunami, and possible nuclear meltdown. If things had worked out differently I would be working in Japan right now; probably teaching English somewhere. Who knows, I could have been in Sendai or near Fukushima. But as fate would have it, I am in Manila which according to the statistics is far more dangerous than any Japanese city. Manila is well-known for its pick-pockets and muggings (which I think is kind of unfair since I feel much safer here than I do in a lot of American cities) but Manila is also of course on the edge of the Pacific plate. The eloquently named “Ring of Fire”. There are many earthquakes in the Philippines but not nearly as many as Japan and the Spanish in their infinite wisdom founded Manila on a massive fault line. There have been massive earthquakes here in the past but not since the development of this city into the sprawling mega-metropolitan area it has become. Not only has Manila expanded fast and furiously but its growth has not been hindered by any costly regulation. I have a feeling most of the skyscrapers here are built above their zoned capacity and without any earthquake prevention architecture. If you combine this complete lack of preparedness with the fact that the city of Manila itself is slightly below the sea. Not as drastic as New Orleans but Manila does dip into a bit of a basin. If Manila Bay surged with a tsunami comparable to what happened in Sendai the topography and antiquated drainage infrastructure would spell disaster for this city.

I am not just making inferences. The government of the Philippines commissioned a group of Japanese experts to assess the damage of a serious earthquake here and the result was grim. I can just imagine how those Japanese guys felt when they handed their report over to the government.

“Yeah, you guys are f*cked.”

That was several years ago and the still the report is largely classified. Some would consider keeping a report like that classified is sick and that the people have the right to know what could happen. I understand the government's decision. If they made an official admission to the severity of Manila's lack of preparedness they might actually have to do something. They might have to crack down on the corruption among building officials or, god forbid, administer and actually implement some building regulations. Maybe this is too much to ask. It is not as if they can tear down every building and rebuild anew. The Philippines is still a poor country and the government lacks the resources to completely reinvent the city. And anyway, although the geologists say a major earthquake is due here it might not happen for a long time. It could be tomorrow or five hundred years from now. This is the slow tyranny of geologic time. I don't think an earthquake here will be as bad as Port-Au-Prince but that city was almost completely destroyed. It depresses me because there is a good probability that a major earthquake will happen here within my lifetime. Maybe a lot of people will retreat from the city to the other growing cities of Cebu, Davao, Baguio, etc. and abandon Manila as too dangerous but that's not at all realistic. The cruel irony is that Manila is the symbol of opportunity for a large of Filipinos that come here but it has the possibility of developing into a serious humanitarian crisis in the near future.

But maybe it's not good to brood over a supposedly dim future. Maybe God will, for once, spare the Philippines from a tragedy. What really is the point to constantly reaching for security? The Japanese were as prepared as any country can be but still the outcome is tragic. Look at the suburbs of the United States. They are degenerating from a transitional field of the busy city life to the quiet countryside into a haven of paranoia. The truth is, the more you seek security the less secure you feel. Residents of Manila are daily subjected to the uncertainty and so I believe the people here are strong compared to their counterparts in other major cities. Some visitors might feel uncomfortable here but they should really wake up. There is no city on Earth that is completely safe. It is healthy instinct to confront and embrace danger. When I was young I secretly wanted to buy a massive boa constrictor to keep in my room. It would have been a massive snake; willing to kill me at any given moment. I still think today that is in important to keep the possibility of death close at hand because just as Japanese culture has so eloquently expressed itself through poetry that this life is inevitably transient, we should also not live in the delusion that we can preserve ourselves forever.


春の夜の浮橋とだえして峰に別るる横の空
藤原の定家

Political Failures of the Philippine Government

The Philippines has its shares of political problems and issues hindering it's economic development. Some blame corruption in the government, some blame the international financial institutions, some blame social unrest, but in light of all of these I would point my finger at government corruption for being the major obstacle to the growth of wealth in this country.

In a previous post I attacked the IMF and World Bank as being the bastions of neo-imperialism financed by Western countries and Japan. I think it is true that they utilize their tempting infrastructure loans as a way to open the economies of developing countries so that local firms will inevitably be outmatched by the comparative advantage of firms of the developed countries but that's not the whole story. Western governments and multinational corporations don't want to see the Philippines stay impoverished just for the sake of it. The Philippine government has set another obstacle in it's path to economic enrichment: rampant corruption. Of course my knowledge of the corruption of the Philippine government is only piecemeal and derived from articles and hearsay but I feel like I have a basic understanding of the problem.

The Philippines was under a colonial government under the Spanish and under a colonial government only Spanish administrators and Filipinos who intermingled with the Spanish had any power. The power was held by very few, while the vast majority of Filipinos lived in a state of serfdom. I have reason to believe under the American administration the Filipinos had a bit more representative government. They had elections and were more involved in policy making but of course with American government in the background. Only those that played ball with them stuck around. Following the independence of the Philippines after World War 2, the future looked bright. The Philippines was the only Asian country with a seemingly functional democracy and the economic prospects looked good. They were considered the outpost of American success in Asia but as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. began booming the Philippines fell into a state of economic stagnation. What happened?

My theory is that it was not solely Ferdinand Marcos who caused this but it was a continued complacency of corruption and poor management. The foreign debt began to accumulate before Marcos' time and he made a vow to reverse this pattern. These turned out to be empty words. Foreign debt however is not necessarily a bad thing. Like any debt, when handled responsibly it can cause great good but when handled irresponsibly, it can cause great damage. I believe there has always been a culture of corruption among the Filipino government and elite. These are vestiges of the colonial past, when what we define as corruption now was not only accepted but pretty much compulsory among government officials during the colonial period. There are two aspects of corruption which have severely hurt the Filipinos: bureaucratic corruption and crony capitalism.

As we all know, bureaucrats are a bane on society and the enemy of civilization. Whether they are printing you a new driver's license or renewing a visa, they seem never to miss an opportunity to be inefficient and irrational. In United States bureaucrats are obnoxious and add unnecessary friction to progress of the country but at least they are not corrupt (to my knowledge). Bureaucrats are bad enough but corrupt bureaucrats are exponentially worse. The problems with institutionalized bureaucratic corruption are too many to count. It is a system which natural self-perpetuates because any newcomer who demonstrates a sense of ethics will inevitably be pushed into obscurity. Institutional corruption only survives as long as everyone participates. With anti-corruption laws on the books, senior corrupt officials won't risk having a young idealistic guy in their department. This kind of corruption is extremely difficult to eliminate. Every dollar that gets sent through international donations or loans is split between the tiered institution until probably only a fraction of the money actually goes anywhere useful. I complain about the IMF but if the money was utilized well then it wouldn't be such a problem. Aside from what aid the Philippines receives from outside take a look at the Philippine government's tax-payer financed spending. Top one and two on the list are paying government employees and paying interest on their loans. Does that not point to gross mismanagement?

Crony capitalism is another major issue which I believe was not fully entrenched until Marcos. Government intervention in the markets is not always a bad thing but for the government to protect and enrich firms just because the CEO is a friend of the president is really the most vulgar form of politics. For those that believe in the free market, crony capitalism is a distortion and a parasite on the economy. Allowing monopolies to develop for those firms wealthy enough to pay off politicians will cause damage to the society as a whole. The only people who benefit from this unhealthy system are the few in the government and the business elite. They get rich off the backs of everyone else in society; just like Wall Street.

So then how is business done in the Philippine? You would think that since the Philippine government was forced fed the neo-liberal economic policies of opening up their markets and easing restrictions on trade that it would be relatively easy to do business here unlike the protectionist developed countries. In reality, the exact opposite is true. The Philippines is ranked one of the most difficult countries to do business in. I believe the reason for this lies in to the two aspects of corruption I just mentioned. When you need a business permit or a housing permit you have to work through the bureaucracy. My theory is that the chief problem with corrupt bureaucrats is that they are by nature obstructionist. They make the system complicated and hard to navigate by design so they can extract more money. It's a parasitic system that really saps this country of business opportunity. Crony capitalism is detrimental to the development of new industries for the reasons that should be obvious. There is an clear incentive for a firm that has a “government sponsored” monopoly to put the resources it can to prevent any competition. And as any economist will tell you, competition is what generates the most benefit for the economy as a whole.

The reason why I was thinking about this is that just last Saturday I visited Tondo and Smokey Mountain. For those that don't know, Tondo is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Manila and Smokey Mountain is a massive trash dump where about 3,000 people live. The basic means of survival there is scavenging through trash for things to sell or food to eat. I always enjoy my time in Tondo, it really fascinates me. That area used to be a reasonably nice fishing village before the government decided to turn it into a dump site. The pollution killed of all of the fish and the select few that didn't leave begun their new life as scavengers through garbage. It is really interesting to see how creative people can be with limited resources. Aside from garbage the people are always very dependent on NGOs and international organizations that offer some medical services or livelihood programs. According to some of the locals the only time the government showed an interest in the place was when they built a few subsidized apartment buildings in the area almost 20 years ago. With exception of that, the government is mainly involved with bulldozing peoples' houses down when they become too unsightly or interfere with a coastal development plan. Of course politicians campaign in this area. Every vote counts. But they don't have to promise anything substantial like medical services or clean water, they can just promise that these slums won't be torn down in the near future. Housing security is a big issue and I met a girl who explained how terrible it is when your homes are destroyed without notice, sometimes in the middle of the night. Unfortunately this is a common practice and happens quite regularly.

I went with a group of students who like all students would, question the status-quo. What is the government doing to help these people? If you ask this question to most locals I think they will shrug their shoulders. The only thing the government tried to do in 90s was cover up the problem by building some cheap apartment buildings but that's obviously not going to solve the problem. While citizens of the Philippines are completely dependent on foreign charity what does the government do? Does Mr. Noynoy Aquino have any ideas? His campaign slogan was “Kung walang corruption, walang mahirap” which means “If there is no corruption, there is no poor.” He has paid lip-service to the idea that fighting corruption might be in the nation's interests but has he made a major difference? I am not completely informed on this and I have heard mixed reviews about him but it's not completely his fault since he has only been in office for a couple years and it isn't as if these problems can be solved over night. But I wonder while he is driving from the presidential palace in his Porsche if he cares about the obscene number of Filipinos in poverty.

I asked my co-worker once why Filipino's don't care about politics. I told her that maybe if Filipinos were more involved they could improve the situation. She told me that politics is the dirtiest thing and Filipinos usually keep as much distant from it as possible. It's interesting because I share her cynicism about the Filipino government as well as in the United States but the Filipinos react differently than I would. I try to follow every political issue and am continually dismayed. Filipinos on the other hand seemed to have given up on national politics a long time ago and have adopted a bottom-up political identity. Local elections are huge events here for even something like baranguay captain (for those who don't know what a baranguay is, it is a small neighborhood and all Filipino cities are divided in to numerous baranguay). The philosophy follows, that at least the local politicians can be held accountable. You can literally walk and bang on his door if he screws up. Filipinos seem naturally imbued with a Rousseau-esque appreciation of democracy. In their minds they follow the Swiss approach which is a focus on the local government first and less of an interest to what the federal government does. The problem is that in Switzerland the national government is largely ineffectual and the local governments do receive the largest proportion of tax revenue. The Philippine tax model follows the same pattern as the United States, with the majority of the money going to the federal government. It's like the American political system was imposed on a people with a strong community orientation and lackluster interest in the federal government.

As those in the government continue to enrich themselves the average Filipino is overworked and underpaid and paying a disproportionate amount of tax. The system is not sustainable but I don't think Filipinos should look to the government for solutions. Of course if the government was less corrupt it would make a big difference but, as has been proved in history, economic development is not driven by the public sector. I have had this discussion many times with lots of different people. The government is important and international charity can help alleviate some problems (It can also be destructive such as the “Food for Peace” program when free US food was pumped into a poor African country and completely undermined the local agricultural business.), but at the end of the day development must come from within. The Filipinos have the cards stacked against them but that doesn't mean it is impossible. The Philippines is a perfect example of how phenomenon known as nationalism and a federal government is by nature a parasite on society. A necessary evil but evil nonetheless. If it wasn't for the natural good nature and superhuman tolerance of the Filipino people this country would be a failed-state by now. In light of all that I am optimistic about the Philippines. They are more evolved than Americans and Europeans who still believe in the myths propagated by history and politicians today. World politics must be looked at with a good dose of cynicism otherwise you will be delusional and unable to enjoy life.

My Take on the Situation in Mindanao

I would like to give my point of view on the situation in Mindanao. I cannot claim that my opinion is of much value because I have not thoroughly researched this issue or spent time in the area. For those that are unaware there has been an almost continuous civil war between the Muslim area of Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines. The organizations that represent and fight for the people in the area are known as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the infamous Abu Sayyaf. My knowledge of all these organizations is limited but I have an idea about them.

The people of that region have been fighting for autonomy ever since they were included in the Republic of the Philippines under the American occupation. During the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines the Spanish government never had significant control of Mindanao and the Sultanates that existed before the arrival of the Spanish continued to exist separate from the rest of the Philippines. They were culturally connected with other Muslims states originating from what is today Indonesia and Malaysia. After the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish were kicked out the United States government sought to impose itself as a the new “benevolent” colonizer of the Philippines. The Philippine-American war is one that is not well known by Americans today but it really is one of the tragedies of world history. The American military ventured into Mindanao to bring it also under the auspices of the Republic of the Philippines. There were numerous war crimes committed by American troops and after years of fighting they forced the communities of Mindanao into submission. This was the first time that the land area of what we know as the Philippines today was united. I am not sure of the extent of American control over that area but I am going to imagine that it was patchy at best. The focus was and has been on Manila which has been the seat of power since the beginning.

The next stage in the development was following the Second World War and the liberation of the Philippines. At that time, all the Filipinos shared a common enemy and thus were united but this quickly changed following the end of the war. The Moros have been fighting for the autonomy since the beginning of American colonialism. After the WW2 the the fighting started to pick up more and more. Following the war there was increased migration of Christian Filipinos to Mindanao and once homogenous Muslim population was becoming more diverse. As the fighting increased in the 60's and 70's order was hard to maintain and there numerous armed gangs taking advantage of the lack of authority. This caused a schism between the Christian and Muslim populations and increased social tension. The people of Moro resistance coalesced into the MNLF in the early 1970s and they used guerrilla tactics that were so successful that they finally held proper negotiations with the Filipino government. The first significant peace treaty known as the Tripoli Agreement was done under the Marcos government and this agreement drew some lines based on religious make-up of the population and they set up the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. They agreement was brokered by the recently popular ruler of Libya, Gaddafi. Interestingly the wife of Marcos, Imelda, was a friend of Colonel Gaddafi to the point that after this agreement Imelda had the Golden Mosque built in the Muslim area of Manila to honor the visit of Gaddafi to the Philippines. Except that he never came. Anyway, this agreement was short-lived and the government of this new autonomous region accused the Philippine government of only granted autonomy in name and not in practice. The fighting increased as there was simultaneously a growing communist insurgency in northern Philippines and Marcos used this as an excuse to call martial law and center the power to himself. There is a lot of controversy over this decision and I have heard varied opinions on the situation but in my opinion Marcos exploited this crisis to empower and enrich himself. Of course, martial law did nothing to assuage the grievances of the Moros living in Mindanao and the failure of the MNLF to broker a real concession from the national government caused the more radical MILF to splinter from the MNLF. The MILF represented a more radical uncompromising part of the movement. Before I go on anymore with this general history I would like to insert my analysis.

Some would look at this conflict as one grounded in religion. Perhaps an American or European would naturally assume that the Muslims of Mindanao could not possible co-exist with the majority Catholic Filipino population. They might imagine that what if the same thing occurred in the UK or the US. They would not tolerate that of course and would perhaps sympathize with the heavy handed government's approach to crush the rebellion militarily. Only neoconservatives should believe that kind of crap. In reality the problem is not the religious difference, it is a contributing factor, but the underlying causes lie in economic disparities and political mismanagement of the situation. The northern islands and especially Manila depend on Mindanao for the amount of fruits, rice, and other foodstuffs that it produces. Mindanao really is the bread-basket of the Philippines and with the expansion and development of the Philippine economy investors began to set their sights on Mindanao. The problem for the native people of Mindanao is that although they have been living in that land for centuries, they have no land deeds. It was not a priority for the Republic of the Philippines government to legitimize these people's claims to the land, in reality it was more of the opposite. Land grabbing in Mindanao was and still is common practice. It isn't only Filipino big business that is buying up large scores of land while simultaneously forcibly relocating the locals but foreign corporations as well; all with complacent nod by the Philippine government. It is very easy to demonize corporations and I think people can be too fast to blame everything wrong with the world on greedy multinationals. Business opportunities will attract investors regardless of the ethics involved and that's why you need some government protection. In the case of Mindanao I don't believe the government of the Philippines protected the rights of the people living there and they were systematically marginalized. They were treated as second-class citizens and their livelihood was a secondary concern at best. Allowing northern Filipinos with government connections to appropriate their lands, understandably, provoked resentment among the people. The Philippine treated other tribal people in northern Luzon in a similar way and so is it any wonder that the New People's Army (NPA), communist insurgency, appealed to a large number of them. I am not condoning terrorist activity against the state but I am just saying that there are going to inevitable consequences to political and economic repercussions.

This reminds of a Republican primary debate between Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani in which Ron Paul commented that American foreign intervention was a partial cause to 9/11. Giuliani was disgusted that Ron Paul could somehow imply that 9/11 was America's fault. I think the causes of 9/11 are complicated but I give Ron Paul credit to pointing out something that is politically dangerous but blatantly obvious: people around the world, particularly Muslims with there strong sense of identity, resent it when foreign militaries and spies intervene their countries. The term they use is blowback and I think it holds a lot of water.

In the context of Mindanao, when you combine a strong sense of an independent Muslim identity with political disenfranchisement, obscene and disproportional poverty compared to the rest of the Philippines, and heavy handed military presence, I see a pretty potent mix to inspire an insurgency. With the apparent failure of the MNLF deal and the increasingly radicalized and more militant MILF the situation became even more unstable. I do not know the inner workings of the MNLF and MILF leadership but from the outside it looks chaotic and those that suffer the most are the innocent people stuck in the middle. By the 1990's the MNLF and MILF seemed to finally make a deal to cooperate but that still seems tenuous at best and an even more ugly organization has appeared more recently: Abu Sayyaf. They apparently have connections to Al Qaeda but whether they do or they don't, their message is the same. These guys are honestly just a bunch of thugs. They kidnap and behead foreigners and Christian Filipinos alike. They represent the absolute worst side of this struggle. I believe they are exploiting the deteriorated security situation in Mindanao to profit from kidnapping foreigners and recruit more impoverished Muslims. What most Americans are probably not aware of is that since 2001 under the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and USA there are a few thousand US Special Forces fighting Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao.

The government ARMM seems to be a basket case and they don't seem to hold real authority or stymie the economic exploitation of the big business on the agricultural sector of Mindanao. The Philippine government is probably a bit reluctant to invest in big development projects in the volatile area and has instead chosen to boost its military budget and presence to solve the issue. The irresponsibility and stupidity of those in the upper echelon of the Philippine government is astounding. The two top priorities of the Republic of the Philippines lies in #1: government worker's salaries and #2: paying the interest on their massive foreign debt. I am pretty sure that the military follows that and that education and the scant resources paid for social services falls much lower on the list. As they increase the budget of the military, it only makes sense to increase the tuition of the biggest public run university in the country, University of the Philippines, by 300% making it largely unaffordable. UP is known for attracting the best students in the country from whatever economic background but probably won't be able to anymore. The bloated salaries of the bureaucrats in the government are ridiculous and the fact that university students should take the brunt of the budget offsetting is absurd.

So how does this connect to the people of Mindanao and what solutions could there be to this issue? First of all, allowing the American military to operate and do the Filipino military's dirty work is not acceptable. To be honest, I don't see any military solution that makes any sense. As long as there is such a large amount of poverty and a lack of educational infrastructure you cannot be surprised that some people will be attracted to radicalism. The arbitrary and sloppy carving of the ARMM doesn't make a lot of sense either. You cannot give the ARMM the right to practice Sharia law while at the same time bolstering the foreign control of their agricultural industry and expect that they will be satisfied. First and foremost, the government must fully convince the Muslim population of Mindanao that will be respected as Filipinos. They won't do this through rhetoric but actions on the ground. What is bolder? Sending battalions of young men to Mindanao to fight scattered guerrilla groups or sending construction teams to set up schools and other infrastructure for the locals. I believe that is the answer for winning them over. You cannot crush a rebellion like that with mere brute force. You might ask why should the Filipinos give any concessions to the Moros in Mindanao? The MNLF, MILF, and Abu Sayyaf are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks. Well if they don't want anything to do with the Muslim people then fine withdraw and leave the area but they must take respect the sovereignty of the ARMM and let that government have control of issuing land deeds. That government must have the authority to right the wrongs of land grabbing that has plagued that region. The status quo where the Moros have vague political freedom without any economic freedom is unacceptable. If the Philippine government wants to maintain their access to the fertile agriculture of the region they should accept the concessions that are in tune with basic human rights. Muslim Filipinos and Islam should be respected in the Philippines because they are integral part of this nation.

Vacation

I just finished a nice two week vacation with my mom and sister. My mom arrived in Manila and she gave me a very brief time frame to show her around the place. My dad was much more generous and gave me several days to show him around the massive city but my mom planned for us to go to Palawan to visit the picturesque beaches instead. That's totally understandable since Palawan is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and the tourism industry is not as developed as other beautiful spots in the world so it really is worth checking out now before the Minister of Tourism in Australia gets wind of the place.

The trip was overshadowed by a very unfortunate but perhaps inevitable event. My girlfriend and I broke up on the morning my mom arrived. It wasn't really good timing but I did my best to keep up a good face and not be too depressing. If she hadn't come I probably would have spent a couple nights drinking copious amounts of brandy on my porch but maybe relaxing on the beach for a week is a bit healthier.

After a brief one day tour of Manila my mother and I headed to Puerto Princessa on the island of Palawan. Puerto Princessa is a nice city but for tourists it is more of a jumping off point for more interesting places on different parts of the island. It's got its bar scene and a nice cathedral and locals are as warm and nice as in other parts of the Philippines. One aspect of Puerto that I noticed was the massive number of mixed couples with old/fat American guys and very young Filipino ladies. It's not that I have a problem with Americans dating Filipinos, Mary Joy is Filipina, but when I see a couple like that I can think of only two reasons for them being together. Either he is forking over tons of cash to keep her interested or he has (probably disingenuously) promised her that he's going to take her back to America. I'm not a fan. For those that are interested in the North-South dialogue than this phenomenon would be an interesting sociological topic to investigate but I'm not really in the mood right now.

My mother and I spent the night in Puerto and after some confusion met up with my sister at the airport. We all headed to fairly secluded and idyllic Sabang beach. I've complained before that I dislike beaches and while I lived in Hawaii I hardly ever went to the beach. It's not that I don't enjoy my time there but I'm just not crazy about beaches. As I sat on the beach of Sabang, trying to appreciate the beauty, I remembered the last time I had sat on a beach like this. It was in Mindoro when I first met Mary Joy and I couldn't help but be affected. My relationship seems to have begun and ended in what some would call paradise. I realized something at that time, I really don't care for beaches at all. It's not that I dislike the sand or salty water but what defines my vacations in my memory is not the places I visit but the people I am with. Pandan Island off the coast of Mindoro is a beautiful beach but the reason that I have such fond memories of it is not really because of the beach itself; it's where I first spent time with Mary Joy. My memory of Sabang is tainted with a bit of melancholy which adds the depth to the landscape but my memory is really of being able to see my mom and sister who I hadn't seen for so long. We had a good time: cruising an underground river, hiking to a waterfall, touring a mangrove, and even eating a woodworm from a dead log. It was all very enjoyable. Alexandra only stayed for the weekend and returned to do some work in Indonesia while my mom and I spent a little more time in Palawan before she eventually returned back to Pittsburgh. I was sad to see her go but I did have an enjoyable vacation and I was glad that we had the opportunity to check out Palawan together. Following her departure I headed to Jakarta to meet up with Alexandra and we headed up to Bali together.

My stay in Indonesia was way too short for me to formulate a decent opinion of the place. However, Bali is a fascinating place. It is the one island of the predominantly Muslim Indonesia that people practice Hinduism with some elements of Buddhism. It is an interesting mix of Southeast Asian, Indian, and East Asian culture. I only was able to see two towns of Bali: Kuta and Ubud. It's not a big island but you definitely need more than two days to explore the place. We were staying in Kuta because it is close to airport and so was convenient but I can't say Kuta is my favorite place. There are way too many Australians there. Just tons of hammered drunk Australian guys making fools of themselves. Before I went to Kuta I never took seriously when people complained about the negative effect of tourism on a place but now I understand. I am not blaming the Australians. I mean it is quite cheap to get drunk and the local people of Kuta don't seem to go to bars that Australians frequent anyway. There is however another sort of pernicious tourist that haunts the streets of Kuta.....hippies. When you first enter Indonesia there is a massive banner that reads: “Enjoy Indonesia without drugs, drug possession is punishable by death.” You would think that most people seeing that would be a bit deterred to buy any drugs there. Is smoking a joint in a country where you can get the death penalty for drugs really worth it? This uncompromising attitude of the Indonesian government does not seem to have made to Bali yet however. I was offered mushrooms or weed about almost every block in Kuta. I blame the hippies for this. I saw so many cheesy hippie couples apparently getting closer to their “inner spirit” in Bali. I shouldn't really judge. Politically I am probably not completely different than them but there is something disgusting about their attitude. Pittsburgh is not a hippie friendly city and I hope it stays this way. I have no problems if some people actually believe they are transporting themselves to a different spiritual realm with psychedelic drugs but just don't tell me about it because I know its bullshit. Drugs can change your point of view of things but they always wear off by some point and psychedelic drugs are only spiritually interesting the first few times you do them. The fact that people would come all the way to Indonesia, risk the death penalty, just so they can take some drugs and see a cool temple is beyond stupid. I have a lot of animosity for these people and also the Australians that think its cool to get hammered in a foreign country and denigrate the place and its people but at least the Australians are honest. They're just drinking and they don't have cheesy pretenses.

Now if I was to analyze the effect tourism has on Bali, it would be difficult since I was only there for two days but I can give a tentative answer. Bali has a fascinating culture and mix of religions. They weave beautiful cotton sarongs and if you can speak to one who is not trying to rip you off they seem friendly. The fact that there are so many people preying on tourists does not speak for the culture of the place but it speaks for the effect of tourism. It isn't really the Balinese people's fault that they are constantly ripping off tourists. It has become an imperative for survival and probably the island's major industry. The amount of tourists coming to Bali every year has pushed the Balinese to either find work in the service industry or a more informal way of cheating foreigners out of money. I don't really believe there is room for any other profitable activity. At the end of the day, I think that Palawan is much nicer to visit precisely because the tourist industry is not so developed.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining a lot but I did enjoy myself in Bali mainly because I was with my sister. It is very rare that I have a chance to hang out with her so I took this vacation as less an opportunity to go to a cool place but it was an opportunity to see my sister again.