Seeds of dissent
I just got back from renewing my driver's license at the local LTO. Saying it was tiring would be a gross understatement. I spent the better part of my day sweating and swearing at anyone who seems to be in a position of authority. The system was outdated and inefficient, typical government agency, which got me thinking; is there something wrong about expecting better service from government agencies? Most Filipinos have grown to expect, if not accept, lousy and slow service from agencies like these. They might not like it, but they are resigned to the fact that expecting fast and efficient service is like asking for Madame Auring to tell the media her true age.
Still not called. Dammit! I've been sitting here for more than an hour! How could these people around me stay so calm? Am I the only one with better things to do than sit, sweat and be angry? Maybe this was the high point of their day? With these thoughts running through my head, I began to harbor thoughts best voiced out over shots of lambanog with insurgents. Every single delay added a few more persons to my personal hit list. The thought of Madame Auring almost caused me to snap.
Thankfully, my name was called just before I lost it. Too bad... It would have been a blast to run around shouting "Kill Madame Auring, Kill! Kill!" while waving my hands over my head. The media hype would have been tremendous. I went over to the window and finally got my drivers license. I glanced at it and wasn't the bit surprised at the way I looked. My face reflected all the hassles I went through that day. I certainly looked like someone who would run around shouting "Kill Madame Auring, Kill! Kill!".
Still not called. Dammit! I've been sitting here for more than an hour! How could these people around me stay so calm? Am I the only one with better things to do than sit, sweat and be angry? Maybe this was the high point of their day? With these thoughts running through my head, I began to harbor thoughts best voiced out over shots of lambanog with insurgents. Every single delay added a few more persons to my personal hit list. The thought of Madame Auring almost caused me to snap.
Thankfully, my name was called just before I lost it. Too bad... It would have been a blast to run around shouting "Kill Madame Auring, Kill! Kill!" while waving my hands over my head. The media hype would have been tremendous. I went over to the window and finally got my drivers license. I glanced at it and wasn't the bit surprised at the way I looked. My face reflected all the hassles I went through that day. I certainly looked like someone who would run around shouting "Kill Madame Auring, Kill! Kill!".
A sudden jolt of enlightenment hit me...
This is the reason why nobody looks good in their drivers licenses...
On the way home I started thinking again. Maybe it was heatstroke or dehydration; but I had the feeling that seeds of dissent are planted not while discussing politics with somebody whose name starts with "Ka", but while caught in the bureaucratic web of red tape that threatens to strangle you each and every time you had to deal with the government. It is while waiting in line for a loan that comes out of your own pocket, it is while being treated like you had the IQ of a 5 year old by someone whose salary you pay for with taxes, it is the farmer going hungry when he is shortchanged by the agency whose job is to protect his interests, it is while caught in traffic caused by a grandstanding politician's program that these seeds of dissent are planted and take root in your heart and mind.
Ideals won't put food on your table. Machiavelli and Marx might as well be Pugo and Pugak to most Filipinos. It is not their ideas that push Filipinos to question the government. It is the frontliners of government agencies that give face to the inneficiency, the callousness, the total apathy of the government to it's constituents. The same constituents who exercised their right to suffrage to put these same people in power. Yet, the blame can not be put on these frontliners, they are also victims of the system. Grossly underpaid and overworked, they probably share the sentiments of the suffering majority. They are merely symptoms of the cancer that is crippling our nation.
On the way home I started thinking again. Maybe it was heatstroke or dehydration; but I had the feeling that seeds of dissent are planted not while discussing politics with somebody whose name starts with "Ka", but while caught in the bureaucratic web of red tape that threatens to strangle you each and every time you had to deal with the government. It is while waiting in line for a loan that comes out of your own pocket, it is while being treated like you had the IQ of a 5 year old by someone whose salary you pay for with taxes, it is the farmer going hungry when he is shortchanged by the agency whose job is to protect his interests, it is while caught in traffic caused by a grandstanding politician's program that these seeds of dissent are planted and take root in your heart and mind.
Ideals won't put food on your table. Machiavelli and Marx might as well be Pugo and Pugak to most Filipinos. It is not their ideas that push Filipinos to question the government. It is the frontliners of government agencies that give face to the inneficiency, the callousness, the total apathy of the government to it's constituents. The same constituents who exercised their right to suffrage to put these same people in power. Yet, the blame can not be put on these frontliners, they are also victims of the system. Grossly underpaid and overworked, they probably share the sentiments of the suffering majority. They are merely symptoms of the cancer that is crippling our nation.
I don't have a clear idea of how to remedy this situation. But, someone, please find a cure...
posted by myklvncnt @ 8:19 PM
1 Comments:
Greetings from Poland :)
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