Expat in the Philippines - that loves it but does not understand it all

I do not understand, but I am only a guest in the Philippines – so who cares?

I moved to the Philippines over a decade ago. My reason for moving here was to do mission work. I was told EVERYONE spoke fluent conversational English. I also had responsible, loyal, dependable Filipino neighbors in the states. It sounded like a perfect place to work and retire in.

I think I have adjusted to the new culture, new traditions, third world living pretty well, but I cannot get use to the litter. There is a large vacant property across from my house that is owned by a Filipino doctor now living in California. My NEIGHBORS use his lot to dumb their garbage night after night. Not only is it unsightly it breeds RATS!

These neighbors are church going, family orientated people, own homes, children go to college, and some even own businesses. In fact one owns a large agricultural fertilizer business and he used to park his large trucks on the property at night for free without seeking permission. These people are not squatters.

The owner of the property on his visit in 2015 had a four foot block wall fence with four feet of wire on top installed trying to stop the problem. The neighbors just throw the garbage bags over his fence as if it was not there. One neighbor even commented, “I am glad he put up the fence the garbage does not blow in my yard now (and laughed).” It did stop the people from using his property for a parking lot. They now park on the NARROW streets in front of everyone else’s house blocking their gates when they actually have one car space at each house. You cannot address a problem with people that do not even realize it is a problem.

I do not sit on my front balcony any longer because I have to look at Davao’s version of “Smokey Mountain” (without the smoke) in Manila.

Filipinos are known to be disciplined abroad. Most OFWs tend to finish everything at work before the day ends; they are seen as courteous, refined, and well-mannered; and they carefully follow the rules of the company or community where they work and live. This observation is based on my personal experiences.

I do not understand why so many Filipinos lack discipline when in their own country.

Could it be that they demonstrated and won their freedom from martial law and now they take that freedom for granted and abuse it? It is as if they have forgotten others have rights to. The family next door live in a nice townhouse with two full bathrooms (CR’s). The men walk past the downstairs bathroom to go across the street and urinate on the neighbors fence – why? Do they understand that they are vandalizing PRIVATE property or do they just not care about others property? Democracy has limits! We now play a game when going from my home to downtown the one that catches the most men urinating on walls win a free coke when we arrive.

I have noticed since living in the Philippines a lot of Filipino children are growing up with less regard for rules and regulations. Is this because they are getting to be more Westernized? If it is I would not blame it on Western Nations I would blame it on Filipino parents for allowing it to happen.  ‘Po’ and ‘Opo’ were trademark words of Filipinos when it came to showing respect to people older than them. These are the words I seldom hear these days from the younger generation.

 This morning a six year old a few doors from me cried and screamed for over 1 and ½ hours. He beat on the fence gate with a hammer. Eventually the father started yelling at him and then the mother started yelling. Later in the day I ask the aunt what was the problem with the child – he wanted an ice cream from the Nestle peddler. His tantrums happen frequently.  When the tantrum is over the family members think it is funny – they call him “little macho man”. Does anyone think that this little monster will grow up to respect the rights of others – I do not think so. In the States I would have walked down to see if the kid was okay, but it is just a normal occurrence here.

Do some Filipinos not take discipline seriously because they do not see how serious it is? How would they when even their government officials do not follow the rules they have enacted? Under the table transactions; vote buying; VIP treatments in public activities and processes are just among some of the rampant forms of corruption in the government that remove the power of discipline in the society.

Some law enforcers are not being good role models either: Traffic enforcers getting bribed to let violators go and police officers are involved in crimes like kidnapping and drug trafficking. People do not see the need of following rules or even taking the initiative to take steps to improve things, because they know nothing would happen when the movement does not come from the top.

My neighbor was stopped when we were on our way to Mass. He was speeding and ran a traffic light. He bribed the law enforcer to let him go. He laughed and said, “I am glad I did not get stopped by the ONE honest law enforcer in the Philippines.”  I ask him did he realize his 15 and 13 year old boys were in the car and witness what he did. He said, “Father, they have to learn how to survive in the Philippines.”

No matter how good the regulations are if they are not implemented by the powers to be then what good are they? As long as the citizens do not see any danger of not following the laws, they will not obey them. I pray newly elected Duterte will address that issue.  From what I hear in the media he is a tough law enforcer, but we still have rape, drugs, murders, thief’s in Davao. Maybe not as bad as Manila or other places but we still have too much crime. 

I do not know why, but it seems many Filipinos are impatient or believe themselves to be privileged people. I think this is why shortcuts are popular here. Some people, who do not like getting into long lines when paying bills cut in line or go to the front of the line or even use their connections to avoid the line. This is common in the banks or waiting on a taxi. I use to say something until my Filipino friends kept getting on me because I was making the rude person ‘lose face’ – who should care if they ‘lose face’.  They need to ‘lose face’. But, I stopped saying anything because I always looked like the bad guy - the arrogant, ignorant, pushy person who was taking advantage of everyone else seem to be the victim to Filipinos.

Lack of respect indeed seems a problem that some people in the Philippines seem not to mind, although it poses a serious dilemma on peoples values and character. People should consider when we tolerate this disrespectful behavior, it can eventually lead to crime and violence. Clearly, society worldwide today lacks the clear perception about respect.

President Marcos had a lot of faults, but people were disciplined in his time. The economy was healthier than most in Asia. I hope someday politicians and citizens embrace the good of Marcos and avoid the bad. Learn from history do not ignore it and stop making the same mistakes over and over again.

P.S. – I know many Filipinos do not like foreigners making any comments about their country or their people – they are usually the same ones that bash the United States on a regular basis.  I like living in the Philippines better than in the U.S. or I would go home – that is common sense. I regularly point out problems with the U.S. on my blog – I just do not think it does anyone any good to bury our heads in the sand and pretend to the world we do not have problems.

Does a middle class still exist in the U.S.A.?

 After World War II the American middle class grew. The recession of 2008 struck America and the middle class started its decline. As the number of people in the middle class shrunk the number of people living in poverty grew. “Outsourcing” became the norm for corporate America.

I remember talking with a Southwestern Bell Telephone service man in my office one day. He was talking about the jobs that were being lost in the telephone company to outsourcing. He told me at one time there were information operators working in the Texas City area and now their jobs had been sent to India. I could not believe it. He picked up the phone and dial information and handed me the phone. He instructed me to ask for someone’s number and when they give it to you ask them where they are physically located.  At first the person did not want to tell me her location, but then she reluctantly said India. Out sourcing was a large factor that contributed to the decline of the middle class. Technology has made it cheaper and as fast to route a local call to India where labor is cheaper.

The nations economy grew, but the average Americans income shrank.  The rich stayed rich, the poor stayed poor and the middle class started to disappear. A man name Milton Friedman, an economist, was most responsible for this and he never held an elected office. Friedman believed corporations should have only one goal and that was make a profit for their shareholders. President Reagan bought in to his lower taxes and less regulation theory. Friedman was against the government controlling anything related to the economy.

Perhaps the problem originated by a man that had opposite views of Friedman and he was John Maynard Keynes. President Roosevelt bought into Keynes ideas and the “New Deal” was born. Keynes believed the government should borrow money and put people to work in public service building roads and bridges. His theory was put people to work earning money and they will be less cautious with their money and retail sales will increase and the economy as a whole will increase. Keynes supported the idea of lower interest rates so people who had money in savings accounts in banks would move them to more risky investment paying better dividends. Keynes ideas seem good following the depression, but the problem, which is common with government programs, the programs never end they just grow larger. Politicians seem to always take everything either not far enough or too far.

The “New Deal” in my opinion was a contributor to today's “Welfare State”.  Anytime a government program is not working politicians do not really seek solutions to the problems because it is easier for them to throw more tax payers money into the failed program. Other peoples money is always the politicians solution to problems.

I do not think their has ever been a government program where politicians looked at the long term effects before making it a policy or set dates to terminate programs once they no longer served a purpose. If they have it meant nothing because they will simply extent the program when it ends.  

I blame the government for the depression and the current recession.  Both involved the government limiting bank loans which reduced the supply of money, which reduced economic expansion. I have a problem with income inequality being what it is today, but the government made income inequality possible. Only the super rich had access to money.

I support government regulations to a point. But, as I said earlier politicians always carry everything too far or not far enough. They want to try and make everyone happy in order to win the next election. We need term limits.

Friedman opposed all government regulations when it came to the market place (I support some). He opposed the F.D.A. (their regulations have gone too far). He opposed farm subsidies (I do now). He opposed holding corporations responsible for any adverse effect they had on communities (they should be responsible for the damage they create). He opposed National Parks (I support National Parks, but concede the Federal Government owns too much land). He opposed the military draft (I support the draft). He opposed privatizing the postal service (I support privatizing the postal service). He opposed government monopoly on public education (I am not in favor of taxes paying for private education, but I do support parents choosing which public school to send their children to and I support the firing of unqualified teachers). He opposed Social Security and favored privatizing the retirement income system ( I am not in favor of that at this time). He opposed welfare (I oppose welfare which does not require people to do government work to earn it. I oppose free handouts, except for physical and mental problem which make working impossible). He opposed the ban on illegal recreation drugs (I support the ban). He opposed state-run companies (I agree with him). He opposed trade tariffs and quotas (I support trade tariffs and quotas).

I do not think the government is the solution to every problem. Unfortunately many Americans have come to believe the government is the solution to every problem. Unions and the government created inflation. What difference does it make how much your pay increases if the cost of living goes higher?  What have we gained? We have done nothing but price ourselves out of the International work force. Every time wages go up prices go up. Should the government fix prices on medicine and medial care – maybe! I do not really understand how I can buy the same medication in the Philippines for ½ or less of what it cost in America. I know inflation is why I pay $100 for a doctors visit in the U.S. and pay $6 in the Philippines. Do not tell me it has anything to do with the quality of care the doctor gives.  ALL my doctors got their degrees from the University of Texas Medical College or University of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. They all have licensed to practice medicine in Texas or Alabama and in Germany.

I am against corporation putting profit over everything else. If you investigate every corporate scandal it always leads back to executives putting profit above workers, communities or the country. Greed is celebrated in the corporate world today.

I am for limited government, but I am not for total unlimited government. Corporate greed comes when all restrictions are removed. Environmental destruction, income disparity all come when there are no restrictions. BALANCE is the key and politicians do not know when to stop or how far to go.

America land of plenty - REALLY!

 I know that is the view most of the world has of the United States, but if that is true please tell me why government food assistance is growing at such an alarming rate that one in four Americans is enrolled in one of the 15 federal feeding programs. There are 42 million Americans on food stamps and 30 million kids getting free breakfast and lunch at public schools. Fifty million Americans do not have enough food or they are uncertain of whether they can get enough food to feed their families. One in six Americans reported running out of food at least once a year. In many European countries, by contrast, the number is closer to one in 20.

The USDA researchers attributed the rise in use of federal food programs to the recession, and indicated that many of the food banks have reported serving people who never expected to require assistance to feed their families. The number of Americans using food programs will grow even more, before things get better.

In the United States more than half of hungry households are white, and two-thirds of those with children have at least one working adult—typically in a full-time job. In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where sometime during the previous year people did not have enough food to eat. I do not think using politically correct words make people who are not getting enough to eat feel better. Just like not saying the words ‘Muslim Terrorist” make Muslim Terrorist love us or respect us anymore.

I heard a U.S. politician ask if hunger is really a problem why are there so many overweight Americans. The answer is hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin, people making trade-offs between foods that’s are filling and foods that are nutritious may actually contribute to obesity. For many of the hungry in America, the extra pounds are the results of poor diet and are unintended side effect of hunger itself.

As the face of hunger has changed, so has its address. The town of Spring, Texas, is a suburb of Houston where I am from. There are curving streets and shade trees and privacy fences. The suburbs are the home of the American dream, but they are also a place where poverty is on the rise. As urban housing has gotten more expensive, the working poor have been pushed out. Today hunger in the suburbs is growing faster than in cities.

In the 90’s I vacationed in Hawaii and was shocked when a waitress told me that three families were living together and all the adults held down two jobs and were having a hard time surviving. I returned to Houston and shared the story with many. I decided then I would never want to live in Hawaii. But, today we have the same problem in Houston. There are families where all adults are working, but their income is not enough to keep the family consistently fed without assistance. The root problem is the lack of jobs that pay wages a family can live on, so food assistance has become the government’s—and society’s—way to supplement low wages.

We hear American people and American politicians talking about the 99% and the 1%, but what about the 16% who don’t have enough food to eat. President Obama recently described economic inequality as “the defining challenge of our time.” The Democratic Party has decided to make inequality the main theme of their political campaigns. And yet, despite the current vogue in Washington for talking about inequality, the same political leaders have paid little attention to the hunger crisis which is now ravaging America’s poor communities.

The Democrats criticize the Republicans for not caring about the poor, but it does not seem to me the Democrats are really willing to champions the poor. All I have seen from Obama and his administration is a lot of talk about the poor and little action. Democrats tend to frame inequality as either an abstract issue or a division between the rich and the middle class. It doesn’t surprise me that there’s this huge disconnect, because the people most affected by poverty aren’t part of the conversation.  The Democratic and Republican politicians are having a national conversation on poverty without poor people.

Thirty percent of households with seniors indicated that they have had to choose between food and medical care and 35 percent had to choose between food and paying for heat/utilities. Nearly 1 million seniors living alone do not have enough food to eat on a regular basis or rely on food banks and charities.

Veterans are more than twice as likely to need help with food – a disgrace.

With all the poverty the USDA recently found that about 96 billion pounds of food available for human consumption in the United States were thrown away by retailers, restaurants, farmers and households over the course of one year. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners accounted for 2/3 of these losses. This is not all the fault of retailers, restaurants and farmers the Federal government must take some of the blame because of Federal Laws that prohibit these products from being given to food pantries or directly to the poor because the government claims they fear food contamination.

The total cost of hunger - loss of work due to sickness, free clinics, etc. – is said to be about $90 billion a year. In contrast, it would only cost about $10 billion to $12 billion a year to virtually end hunger in the United States.

The world already produces more than 1 ½ times enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That's enough to feed 10 billion people, the population peak we expect by 2050. The major problem is people cannot afford to buy food.

Hunger must stop being a silent crisis in the United States! Hunger in America is something the American government seems to not want the world to know about. If they did they may realize they may not be able to depend on America too much longer for foreign aid.