Thursday, September 21, 2023

The Philippines Has Always Normalized Stealing

Katong officer sa NAIA nga nangawat og 300 dollars sa isa ka foreigner, unya gilamoy ang kwarta para dili masakpan -- that incident brings me back to a conversation I had with classmates back in my elementary days.

Nagstorya mi sa akong mga classmate unsa among ganahan kuhaon nga kurso inig college. Kadaghanan nitubag og Customs Administration, para makapangawat -- para madato. Seriously, dili ni binuang.

Kasagaran man gud kay naa sila'y kaila (pamilya, parente) nga taga Customs -- nga nangurakot, nangawat, unya nadato. What's troubling about all this is that every one of them answered like it's normal to steal, that to aspire to go into Customs means -- yes -- you MUST steal. If you don't, you're a fish out of water.

Mike Ehrmantraut, the bent cop turned "cleaner" and hitman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, lost his son Matty, an honest cop -- who, ironically, idolized his father -- because the kid didn't want to take dirty money. When Matty was being offered a cut by his corrupt colleagues, he asked his dad for advice. Mike told his son that if he declined the money, that if he took a moral stand, he might be seen as a liability -- after all, the entire precinct where both father and son worked was 100% corrupt. Matty took the money against his better judgment, but it was too late. Just the hint of reluctance on his part was enough for his fellow cops to worry about him becoming a whistleblower, and he was ambushed and killed.

Real talk: na-normalize na sa Pilipinas nga kung pwede ka mangawat, and you can get away with it, then go ahead. If you're in a position to steal and you don't, there's something wrong with you.

That fictional police precinct in Philadelphia where the Ehrmantrauts worked is a microcosm of the Philippines. Kung dili ka kawatan, ikaw ang abnormal.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

An Unpopular Opinion

 



Here's an unpopular opinion, but I don't give a fuck anyway.

The incident between Vice Ganda and his husband wasn't the problem. The MTRCB, even if it's useless and biased, isn't even the problem. The biggest problem we have -- and not just in the Philippines but worldwide -- are these fucking evangelical Christian churches that are a wellspring of hate and far-right rhetoric.
They're anti-diversity, anti-vaccines, anti-science, and basically anti-reason. They are anti-reproductive health, anti-immigrants, and anti-women. They're pro-guns, pro-violence, and pro-hate.
In a nutshell? These churches are purportedly following and preaching Jesus' teachings, but are actually blatantly flouting them with their anti-Christian beliefs.