Navarro, Christine Therese M.

BSA-1E

THE PLIGHT OF THE FILIPINO

The Philippines is messed up – as in messed up. Like, we are tearing into pieces. Yes, there, I said

it. We are burning down to the ground. We basically just dug our own grave. Yet, a lot of us are still

blinded by ideology. Our country is not new to facing a lot of issues; but this year, it has faced the worst of

the worst. Wait – No. It is still facing the worst of the worst. I’m not saying that the government is the one

responsible for this, but yes, they are. If I were to give two things that I can’t stand, the first one would be

this toxic society, and the second one would be the Philippine Government.

Now, before a lot of you judge me, saying that I’m a hater of the President because I’m a

“dilawan”, as the DDS would call them, it’s a no. Fortunately, I am neither a hater of the current

administration nor a supporter of the opposition. Whether a politician is under PDP Laban or the Liberal

Party, I don’t care. As long as they are in service of the Filipino, that’s good enough for me. But, as we

know, most of them are not. And that ladies and gentlemen, is the hardest slap we ever received from

reality.

On August 26, 2020, the number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the

Philippines breached the 200,000 mark. Yes, we are still experiencing the pandemic with more than

364,000 reported cases, and about 45,000 active cases. And yes, it is also hard to say that we are still in the

midst of a pandemic, yet most of our leaders, well, they leave me speechless – in a very negative way. If

someone were to ask me, “If the Government listened to the pleas of the people to enforce a travel ban

before March, and not lift it as early as September, would there have been a possibility that we could’ve

blocked the entry of the virus into our country and result to a limited number of COVID cases?” My

answer would be yes. Yes, I do believe that we could’ve only reached a minimum number of cases if only

they imposed the travel ban at an earlier date. But, as we all know, they didn’t, because they were more

worried about our tourism industry. What is up with politicians and their money? Money can be replaced.
Philippine tourism isn’t going to be gone forever; it’s going to come back. But I’ll tell you what’s not

going to come back and can never be replaced – all of those precious lives that were lost, brought about by

this invisible war.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, for the government, politics comes first. Not the people,

not the frontliners, not the farmers, not those in the marginalized sector; rather, they chose politics. They

chose politics over the welfare of their fellow countrymen. Yes, I agree with the statement that despite

what we are experiencing right now, work in the government offices should keep going and must not be

suspended. However, with those 52,000 active cases, we should’ve been cooperating with one another –

not dissing into each other’s faces over political affairs. Right now, there are a lot of Filipinos who are

jobless; there are a lot of Filipinos who are hungry; there are a lot of Filipinos who are dying. A lot of

Filipinos are shedding blood, sweat, and tears over this crisis. Could we say that our leaders are doing

enough to cover our needs? Can we say that our leaders are doing enough to live up to our expectations?

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, I didn’t know that we were watching a circus show. The

level of clownery is unreal. Our politicians are acting like a bunch of fools; blinded and silenced to the

very depths of society, all because of money – literally a shame to this country. And get this; other

countries have either doctors or epidemiologists to lead the country in the battle against eradicating this

“invisible” virus. Then, we have the Philippines. The almighty Philippines, where our leader to help us

fight this pandemic, is an ex-military officer. And when I also mean almighty, I mean the Php389 Million

dolomite fund. Yes, Php389 Million just for freaking dolomite sand to be put over the majestic black sand

of Manila Bay. And it’s not even the whole of Manila Bay. It was just put on the corner, stretching like a

135 degree angle. By the way, we need food, not sand. We need jobs, more facilities, more materials, a

proper healthcare system; and you’re going to give us white sand? Just so you know, the dolomite sand

that you put there is currently being washed out into the open sea, and possibly killing fishes and other

marine species. Then we have the audacity of this human right here, the current DENR spokesperson,

telling us that it is a lie, and that the dolomite sand is actually being “washed in” or covered back by the
black sand washing into the shoreline. So much for Php389 Million when it can be used for more

beneficial things.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, some politicians think that they are mightier than science

itself. And in the midst of a severe health crisis? The freaking audacity. Our wealthy politicians were

always given the upper hand. Even back then. Getting their way in and out of scandals, here and there,

with their money, nonetheless. Oh wait, hold on – I stand corrected; the people’s money. There they were,

flaunting their riches, living a happy life, breaking health protocols, rejecting safety measures, and getting

away with everything; compared to the ordinary citizens, who were being locked up in jail or in their

homes, those who were left to starve, those whose family members were worried sick, those who can’t

even visit their families, those who sadly passed away without even getting to say goodbye to their loved

ones. These politicians just roamed free – doing whatever they like. While some of us were heavily

guarded, hands cuffed, imprisoned in our own safety gear, suffocating under the criticisms of other people.

Discrimination was rampant. Justice was nowhere to be found. Money made them shut their mouths while

they drowned us in fear. They never listened on what the others had to say, they only thought about

themselves, of their own. Mass testing? As far as I know, those who got first and the most swab tests were

them. They prioritized themselves instead of prioritizing the people, who were, not to mention, dying.

When the University of the Philippines predicted that by the end of July, we would reach about 40,000

cases, what did they say? Stupid predictions! And when we didn’t reach 40,000, all of them rejoiced, as if

they didn’t think that there were still more than 30,000 active cases in the country. Now, tell me who’s

more stupid.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, most of those in the government have no heart. It’s like

they aren’t even humans. Many people lost their jobs and ended up on the streets – jeepney drivers,

farmers, the urban poor; all they ask from the government is for them to satisfy their needs. If they can’t

give them a job, at least provide them with their basic needs? But what did they get? So little. And now,

they also had the nerve to lower the price of rice for only Php13.00. Just think about the poor farmers, our
back-liners, painstakingly working amidst COVID-19, however, they too, are being denied to receive the

reward of their hardships. The jeepney drivers, another of our back-liners, who would wake up early every

single day, just to earn for a living, were also greatly affected when we were banned to go out of our

homes, out of fear that we would get in contact with those who had the virus. They were left on the streets,

begging those who passed by to give them either food or money. Still, the government continued to blame

us for being very hard-headed, stating that all we ever do was criticize the government – all we think about

were ourselves. Such irony. Well, what did you think they were supposed to do? Sit there and do nothing,

wait for financial assistance when only so little was given? No thank you. They also have families to take

care of; mouths to feed. How can the government, just sit there and do nothing, when we are doing

everything for them?

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, government officials want to silence our freedom of

expression – our freedom to speak since they know that they are being heavily criticized. They know that

they cannot stop the media from uncovering the truth and exposing all of their dirty lies. All they want is

for these journalists to shut up. This is why they only needed to do one thing: either target a specific media

network, or let’s be more brutal – let’s shoot them dead. And unfortunately, most of them succeeded in

doing that. Television and radio reporters were killed. ABS-CBN stripped off of their license to operate. In

my opinion, it wasn’t even ABS’s fault. The network may have been one of the largest and heaviest critics

of the current administration, but the government’s reasons for not renewing its license is pure rubbish. It

is foolish. Part of a journalist’s job is to let us know everything; part of their job is to deliver news and

current affairs. What part of news and current affairs do they not get? Was the government even ready to

cover the living expenses of those 11,000 workers who lost their job? Pure foolishness. Honestly, they act

like children wanting to get all of the attention to themselves. Jealousy, anger and hatred made them

murderers. They have killed Philippine journalism. They’ve broke the hearts of millions of Filipinos. They

stole everything from us. Our freedom, our rights, our will. We no longer have free speech. Every day, we

already feel like our lives are always at risk. What more for those innocent critics? The government got
their eyes set on each and every brave Filipino who’s ready to take them down. They’re everywhere! From

social media sites to the very front of your house, watching you like a freaking hawk. And if you’re not

smart and fast enough, they’ll just take their first move in making sure they take you down first. This is the

harsh reality faced by our people and our media. Yet, some of us don’t even care just because we’re not in

their shoes.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, yet, we all know that education can’t be sacrificed. The quest

for knowledge is just too important to be neglected for a shallow reason. Therefore, we are trying to extend

our maximum efforts just to continue learning. However, what was the end result? Students are crying;

they’re trying to burn the midnight oil – sacrificing themselves twice as much. And still, we say the youth

is our hope when they themselves, are giving up on their hopes of learning, in hopes of serving our country

in future. The Department of Education is not blind - that’s one thing for sure. They’re not blind, instead,

they are silenced. They know what’s going on, yet, they won’t speak up, knowing that we asked for a

concrete plan with regard to our education system during this pandemic, however, they have failed to give

us any. Online and modular classes aren’t the only options that we have. There are more ways – other

ways, for the students to pursue their studies, without them and their parents having the need to pressure

themselves just because they don’t have the money and the materials to provide for their education. If the

other countries, 1st world, 2nd world, or 3rd world, despite their growing number in COVID-19 cases, have

successfully done it – successfully re-opening their schools and academic institutions, why can’t we do the

same? We have the money, we have the manpower, we have the resources, but why can’t we?

We are in the middle of a pandemic, and all we ask from you is cooperation, teamwork, and a

concrete solution, because what we are doing right now is not going to work; it’s just going to worsen and

worsen. All we ask from you is your understanding, because in this battle, we are all equal – we are all

human. All we ask from you is to stop covering up your mistakes, acting all innocent, because the truth

will always unfold; and sooner or later, your trusted allies will eventually turn their backs against you. All

we ask from you is to stop pointing fingers; stop clawing each other’s faces, and start working together,
because you are our leaders – you are meant to serve us for the betterment of our country and of our

countrymen. All we ask from you is to stop blaming the people, because we only do what is asked of us –

we know what the Filipinos need; we know what it takes to make this country great again. If you can’t do

that, if you’re not willing listen on what we have to say, if you’re not willing to see what we want you to

see, then I’m sorry, but, you’re not worthy of being up there, in that position, sitting comfortably, and

taking all of our riches.