Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Mi Patria Adorada


Last week my siblings and I joined Mum on a 6 hour trip by car to Pangasinan, her birth place to sort out her land tax. We were glad to discover that Mum has some land we can inherit someday. Back when we were kids grandfather has shown us his lands. He said his land reaches beyond the coconut trees and the bamboos. Beyond the creek as far as the eyes could see. But now after almost forty years, and grandfather gone, the land he showed us back then is now a vast unfarmed land, the coconuts gone, the creek dried, and only few bamboos left.


I wish I could bring back grandfather's land to life. I want to build a big bamboo house in the middle of it and a big artesian well to water the sorroundings. I want to plant bananas, papayas, chico, mango and all kinds of vegetables. I think I will survive with just the bare necessities like soap and shampoo, dishwashing liquid and Xonrox. I'll have my pc of course and a broadband connection. I'm excited about my plans until I had a discussion with my cousin who lives there. He asked me if I'm brave enough to ward off robbers who might get interested in the fruit trees I'm going to plant, will I be willing to get sunburnt while tending my crops, will I be willing to sleep alone at night and see ghosts? Waaaah...!


There's really a problem with the way my country is managed and goverened. There's a rice crisis here now and no food for the 90 million strong population. And the news says we import rice from Thailand, Vietnam, India and most recently from the US. The rice we import from the US is on credit. We pay in installment. And there was talk that the better tasting rice from the US is genetically modified and is actually surplus rice the Americans don't really eat.


Our opinion is there should not be a rice shortage in a rice planting country like the Philippines. The problem is in the dysfunctional agricultural pogram of the country as in we have no rice because we dont want to plant. The Filipino youth and the best of its work force are abroad trying to earn dolllars to buy imported rice with. They have left the agricultural lands on an exodus to the cities. To Filipinos, to be a farmer and to be in a rural area is to be poor.


The Philippines' most crowded cities have fires everyday during the summer months. Ironically we even have March as our fire pevention month. Tomorow is May first, Labor day and militant labor groups will stage massive potests in the streets of Manila to demand increase in pay, and rollback in gas price and price regulation for prime commodities like rice. They demand the end to the present administration and US imperialism.


Tomorrow I will watch my passionate countrymen on tv. My heart will go out to them. I will be sad and will wonder, what shall we do, had Jesus not died on the cross and lived again to give hope to a dying world and to a country in despair, mi patria adorada.