a country screwed by a catholic god

I remember when my mom and I boarded the TWA jet at the airport in Manila back in the 70s, when I was on the threshold of leaving the Philippines forever as a citizen. I was just 7 years old. After Dad had saved up enough money to send for us (and eventually send for all my siblings), Nanay and I would be the first ones in the family to finally see America. We were going to Chicago, where Dad was. He was our ticket out of that part of the world where the story in the BBC documentary above is told.

I was a kid then. Before he set out and left for America my dad was a mechanical engineer working for the city of Manila and thus earned enough money to afford a townhouse on Taal Street. He was the first one and the only one in his family to go to university and get a degree. Our house had a concrete front yard. We even had a pet monkey but he never let anyone touch him, only Nanay. I had a pet rooster. We had a dog too, but I barely remember it. We used to "summer" at my grandparents' in the jungles of Sibuyan, which was a long trip by boat from city.

I remember my middle older sister B taking me to the markets in metro Manila to go shopping with her. Where we lived there were regular floods during the rainy season, and often times the garbage from the nearby dump would float by. There was nothing we could about it but stand on the furniture and wait til the water went down.

But thanks to Dad and his university degree we were better off than many, many other families in all of the Philippines. Those unfortunates were poverty stricken their entire lives. Even then they always relied on God for comfort, at least some tiny amount of buffer between what little scraps of happiness they could find and the decrepit infestation of a corrupt government, severely scant social programs, and lack of substantial education because of the perpetually poor economy.

That was back in the 70s.

> A typical squatter's neighbourhood in Manila today.

We went back in 2001 to celebrate our parents' 50th wedding anniversary. The party was at the luxurious Shangrila Hotel in Makati City. As we drove through Manila on our outings I stared out the window of the car, at many of the people, at the little kids wearing dirty clothes and sometimes running the streets barefoot. I knew there were so many mothers with five, six, nine, ten or more kids because they were never taught family planning and were never given free condoms or other kinds of contraceptives.

So all these poverty stricken Filipinos continue to breed like rabbits. And yet they also continue to go to church and pray. And the priests in their robes and their authority continue to tell them that using contraceptives is going against God. And I have to wonder, if God is supposed to be good and kind and loving, why hasn't He done anything to help these people? They've done nothing wrong. In fact, they pray to Him regularly. The mothers struggle every single day to try to feed her kids, even going hungry herself so that they can have more to eat.

A lot can happen between the 70s, when I left that world for good, and 2001 when I returned for a visit. And a lot did happen, to me, for me, around me. Good things happened for my family, in large part because we were in a place where it was possible.

It's now 2010. It's been decades since I left the Philippines. Once in a while I catch news of goings on there - an election, extremist activity from Muslim terrorists, a recent massacre by a desperate man who lost his job and picked up a gun. But other than those nothing has really changed in that country that I used to know as home.

From 1972 to 2010. Nothing has changed in the Philippines. Nothing. Even if I wanted to go back there to live, what would I go back to that praying to a Catholic God could offer?

Related:
audio blog: city of garbage | a space alien

an honour bittersweet

^ Celebration of the Signing of the US Economic Stimulus Bill. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Speech During the Celebration of the Signing of the US Economic Stimulus Bill including Filipino World war II Veterans Benefits.

Package includes money for Filipino war veterans | Times-Herald

The vets' quest for compensation stems from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision in July 1941 to draft 140,000 soldiers from the Philippines, then an American colony. A year later, Congress passed a law allowing Filipino soldiers to become U.S. citizens with full military benefits.

But in 1946, after Filipino soldiers fought and died side by side with U.S. troops, President Truman signed two bills denying them citizenship as well as most veterans' benefits. The bills were post-war cost-saving measures that Truman said he regretted.

The compensation was not in the House version of the stimulus bill. But it was inserted by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who lost an arm in combat in World War II.

The compensation provision has not been without controversy. CNN's Lou Dobbs is railing against it, and several senators -- including Arizona's John McCain -- objected to including the lump-sum payments in a bill whose purpose is to stimulate the U.S. economy.

Inouye said "the honor of the United States is what is involved.''

Of the 250,000 Filipino vets of World War II, about 12,000 live in the Philippines and 6,000 in the United States. About 30,000 came to the country in the early '90s after President George H.W. Bush signed a bill granting them instant citizenship. About 2,000 settled in the Bay Area. But all but a few hundred have either died or returned to the Philippines because life here was too hard.

Daddy (we pronounce it "DAH-dee" in my family) fought alongside U.S. troops in the jungles of the Philippines during WWII. From what Nanay ("Mom" in Tagalog) told me, a shell explosion nearly rendered Daddy impotent. The explosion killed some of his compatriots. Nanay joked that there was a difference of an inch or so between Daddy subsequently starting a family with her, and of none of us - kids, grandkids, great grandkids - ever existing at all.

Daddy died almost 4 years ago. Four years too late to receive the $15,000 the United States promises him now under President Obama's stimulus package ($9,000 had he not been a U.S. citizen), and almost 70 years too late after the U.S. promised some kind of honorary recompense. I don't yet know the details, but I'm doubtful any of that money can be still made available to Nanay, his widow. It may not extend that way.

I feel more sorrowful for those old veterans, Daddy's fellow soldiers, back in the Philippines. They had endured decades of poverty and inadequate health care. The money they never received from the U.S. all those years could've helped them immensely. Alas, many of them have already died. If the money were not extended to their spouses and family, then what good is it? It only magnifies the years of cruel insensitivity the U.S. has displayed toward them. Toward Daddy.

Stimulus To Repay Debt To WWII Filipino Veterans | NPR (audio story)

Morning Edition, February 23, 2009 · The economic stimulus bill signed by President Obama contains $198 million to pay a long-overdue debt to Philippine veterans of World War II. They were promised payments for fighting the Japanese but never were paid. Some of those war veterans in California desperately need the money.

I do know that if Daddy were still alive today and received the money, it would mean nothing to him. What did mean everything to him was the honour of defending his country against invading enemies, of fighting alongside the U.S., the country that to him deeply meant the light of the world in terms of possibilities, the country he eventually made home with Nanay and us, his kids. Being in the U.S. was all he wanted for us, meaning opportunities for us that many Filipinos back in the Philippines would never enjoy.

If Daddy had received that money today he would have divided it among his kids and grandkids, perhaps helping pay for some of my nieces' and nephews' college tuition, investing in bonds for my grand niece, and just endowing us with it and trusting us to do wise things with it.

Money to him only had meaning as a symbol. In this case it would have meant a certain honour, a "Thank You" from the country he had fought with, and in the end, the country he called home.


Postscript:

According to The Seattle Times:

"The U.S. Embassy in Manila said it will start accepting applications next week for lump-sum payments of $15,000 for veterans who have become U.S. citizens and $9,000 for non-U.S. citizens.

Applications must be submitted by Feb. 16, 2010, and claims by spouses, widows or children of veterans will not be accepted..."

Related:

audio blog: croissants & swindlers | a space alien

audio blog: city of garbage

^ Imagine living and playing here as an 8-year-old with little possibility of a better future. More in-depth videos (in 5 parts) about the "city of garbage", reported by a young Scandinavian man visiting Manila. Countries in Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, boast some of the world's very best health care systems (arguably better than the U.S.) and generally excellent quality of life for all its citizens.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Postscript:

The video above was presented by United Methodist Communications. I understand that there are many Christian organizations helping impoverished people in third world countries around the globe and I salute their noble efforts. However, I vehemently oppose some of them in their influencing governments (including the U.S. government under the Bush administration) to stop planned parenthood programs. This is because such programs advocate abortion, contraception, condom use, and education on safe sex practices, which many Christians oppose, especially the Vatican.

This is moronic, I say, and is completely at odds with the ugly reality these poor people deal with day to day. As a result of such Christian influences families keep growing under festering circumstances, thus more children are born into poverty and disease. People who are well educated about safe sex, contraception, and the burden of familial responsibilities while in poverty are more likely to think twice before having another child.

"why filipinos support obama"

^ Carolina G. Hernandez is currently Professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines and the holder of its Carlos P. Romulo Professorial Chair in International Relations. She is founder and President of the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, an independent, non-profit think tank on foreign policy, domestic politics, and security concerns and development issues.

The view from the promontory of the intellectual echelon in my country of origin seems to be a generally hopeful one despite all the governmental and bureaucratic depravity, the embarrassingly huge scope of poverty, and the day-to-day misery of so many of my fellow countrymen.

The cynical Filipino in me says, "Barack Obama can't possibly be qualified to run the Philippines. He's not corrupt enough!"