Philippines: Passion, Powerlessness, and the Pity Trap
A. Lin Neumann of the Jakarta Globe on the execution of three convicted Filipino drug couriers in China last week.
AFP photo in the Jakarta Globe
On a human level, it is certainly hard not to be moved by the words of Villanueva, who asked that someone look after her children and said she would become an “angel” for her family.
On a national level, the Philippines reinforced its weak image. That these three and countless others who ferry drugs across borders for a fee, wittingly or unwittingly, did something stupid is beyond question. It is also beyond question that more will follow.?
With nearly 10 percent of the Philippines population of 99 million working overseas, it is inevitable that some will get into desperate trouble. In particular, as menial jobs vanish in the global recession and opportunities fail to materialize at home, more and more Filipino women are resorting to smuggling drugs as mules.
When it happens, Filipinos seem to always react in astonishment. The first assumption is that the offender is innocent – and if not innocent, worthy of forgiveness.
Read the complete article here.
May we add: As long as we keep throwing ourselves upon the mercy of others–Maawa na po kayo sa amin, kami’y maliliit na tao lamang, hikbi–no one is going to take us seriously. We are all obedient little Catholic girls and boys, trained to believe that our weakness will be rewarded and we will be saved by some higher power. So we relinquish responsibility for ourselves and hope someone will take pity on us.
Every time a movie about poverty in the Philippines wins an award abroad, every time a foreign comic cracks a joke about us (or an email goes around reporting it, even if it never happened), every time a Filipino character in a Hollywood movie is seen to promote a “negative image” of the Philippines, we protest loudly. We are over-sensitive, we care too much what other people think. Ano na lang ang sasabihin nila tungkol sa atin? Pinagtatawanan nila tayo.
You can relax. They don’t talk about us, they don’t laugh at us. They don’t know that we’re a nation.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
April 6th, 2011 at 13:17
we throw ourselves at the mercy of racists in foreign countries.
April 6th, 2011 at 15:01
This is a reminder that when you do illegal, do it in the confines of this country.
April 6th, 2011 at 15:36
“blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”
“love your enemies”
“turn the other cheek”
“simultaneously fear and love god”
“the idea of vicarious redemption”
“praying will solve everything or has an effect on the physical world”
“the idea of a just and merciful god”
… some of the most vile and obscene ideas that religion has ingrained on the Filipino psyche. Which clearly doesn’t represent reality nor helps us to cope/deal with the realities around us.
No! I cannot and will not love an enemy who wishes to harm me or those who are dear to me.
No! I will not allow myself to be oppressed or be indifferent in the face of oppression.
No! Terror and adoration cannot be one and the same. The closest that I’ve observed of would be the adoration/terror for Kim Jong-Il. And I don’t want to live in N.Korea
No! Sins cannot be taken away by any blood sacrifice, its Bronze Age scapegoating. I do not live in a vacuum, all of my actions has an effect on another individual and vice-versa. Take responsibility on your every action. Remember Newton’s Third Law.
No! Praying is an excuse just to say that you are doing “something” in cases where you are incapable of providing financial, physical or emotional support; be it tangible or intangible. Your praying “for” yourself so that you could “feel” better about yourself.
No! Mercy and Justice can’t go hand-in-hand, for the even the minutest application of Mercy would be an automatic suspension of Justice. Again Newton’s Third Law.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/142727/religiosity-highest-world-poorest-nations.aspx#2
Changing 96% of the population’s view may take decades/generations; like I said deeply ingrained.
But I am betting on the Information Age’s speed of information dissemination and access.
April 6th, 2011 at 15:39
kakapanood yan ng mga walang kwentang soap opera, kaya lahat na lang hinahaluan natin ng drama. at saka yung isa pang sobrang nakakainis na ugali natin yung mahilig magpabusabos sa ibang tao. kaya tuloy iniisip ng ibang lahi, lahat tayo busabos by nature.
btw, i cannot seem to post my entry for the LitWit Challenge because the comment box under that blog entry does not appear anymore. did you disable it because you’re not allowing entries anymore? if not, can i put my entry here instead?
April 6th, 2011 at 16:43
A couple of comments and observations about this recent situation.
I live in the city where two of the executions occurred. This city has at least 1000 Filipinos living and working amongst 2+million Chinese. Lots of Chinese Filipinos go back and forth between the two countries. I work here, I have a valid work visa and residence permit. Lots of Filipinos I know do, but there are a few who work illegally, and are probably testing the legality of their stay everyday. If all they do is overstay or are caught working illegally, the Chinese government slaps them with a fine (P35,000) and sends them home.
As part of the diaspora, part of the 10million OFWs who choose to leave the Philippines (for financial/personal reasons), I don’t feel sorry for the ones caught, I don’t feel any sentiment for the 70 Filipinos on death row for drug trafficking. I’m very careful and beyond cautious about getting packages, bringing packages to another country, especially ones with clearly written laws about bringing drugs.
There are enough of us around, we work to take care of our families and ourselves. Those who use these events to politicize the people who work overseas are deluded.
Will these rallies/calls to arms even be remembered at election time? I know they won’t.
April 6th, 2011 at 20:14
Hi Jessica,
You know that you have very strong opinions about Pangilinan’s plagiarism. I wonder what you’ll make of this:
http://firequinito.com/archives/554-Hall-of-Fame-writer-Krip-Yuson-plagiarizes-for-Rogue-Magazine-PBA-article.html
April 6th, 2011 at 21:27
Look up Collectivism and its ties with Religion and how it affects an entire people.
I would also suggest the movie Maria Full of Grace… for what it’s worth…
April 6th, 2011 at 22:15
pinoys are conditioned to be codependents http://www.cheezmiss.com/2011/02/f-sionil-jose-is-lazy-for-calling.html
April 6th, 2011 at 22:32
We always negotiate from a position of weakness and when we somehow get an advantage, we don’t know how to deal with it since we are accustomed to being at the losing end.
April 6th, 2011 at 23:04
Krip Yuson has already written to Jaemark Tordesillas taking responsibility for the plagiarism and admitting he was a stupid asshole to do it.
April 6th, 2011 at 23:28
Religion is not a bad thing, but we’ve used it to justify or forgive what, in the first place, most religions do not see right. We are a culture of justifications, excuses and reasons, and you’re right, unless we take full responsibility for whatever we do, we cannot be taken seriously. I wish i didn’t have to say this over and over, but we cannot even do apologies the right way. We use “pasensya na po” most of the time, which puts the burden of action on the other guy, instead of just owning up to it. I’m sure there’s a thread that ties this cultural defect to the presence of Willie Revillame on tv.
April 7th, 2011 at 03:58
The only thing I felt when they were executed is shame. What would they think about us Filipinos after that tragedy? They deserve it. I just wish we could also do the same thing here to our foreign drug lords. brrr…
April 7th, 2011 at 11:33
This is exactly the kind of third world reasoning that other nations have come to expect of our third world… particle. Cest la vie.
April 7th, 2011 at 12:21
I didn’t feel pity nor shame (for being a Pinoy) for the three Pinoys who were executed in China for being drug mules. I also didn’t feel embarassed that the Nation prayed collectively for a miracle to save them.
Texas, the state with the most executions in the U.S, and also referred to as the “Bible State,” always get people either riled, raged or repentant everytime the Judiciary/Governor sends someone to the death chamber.
If the Pinoy/s being sent to death were accused of drug or human trafficking, rape, murder, incest, or any heinous crime, I wish the Philippine government and its people would stop begging for mercy from the country which ordered their prosecution. However, if it were like the Balabagan case – murder because of rape, then the Phil. government has the obigation to help and save its citizen/s.
The Philippine government begs for forgiveness for its people. Our culture is “forgive and forget”; our judiciary cannot carry its own verdict or cannot even prosecute the guilty ones: Look at Ferdinand Marcos, the people found remiss in the Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking, Ping Lacson, Hubert Webb, etc. etc.
April 7th, 2011 at 18:59
it’s really ironic that the Filipino’s only solution was prayer, even though (and I keep on saying this) there is no religion in China, it being a communist state. People, WALANG DIYOS SA CHINA.
Ah, I highly appreciate comments here blaming religion on our abject mentality. I dream of the day (and my hopes grow thanks to ros’ idea on the growth of technology) that the Atheist population in the country grows. The signs seem very promising!
Which leads me to ask: Jessica, there are rumours that you’re an atheist. care to comment on that?
Oh, and comments on our forgive-and-forget justice system enlightened me on something. This would be the stages by which our justice can improve:
Stage 1: Forgive-and-Forget: “He killed 57 journalists!? Okay lang yan, God has His time…” (equal to no justice at all)
Stage 2: Retributive, aka rido-justice: “He killed 57 journalists, you say!? kill him and his family!” (has action, but is in danger of committing false accusation, waters down the rights of the accused)
Stage 3: Corrective, Rehabilitative Justice: “He killed 57 journalists you say!? put him in custody so we can cure him psychologically, and address the environmental causes that made him do so.” O di ba?
April 8th, 2011 at 00:04
Diba walang kamay ang snake? (Me macomment lang eh!)
April 8th, 2011 at 07:36
@ merrie_monocerot: oo, wala, but nasusukat ang handedness hindi lang sa kamay eh, mismong orientation siya ng body. But personally, I use it as a pseudonym to represent my polemics, particularly with a deconstructive take (bakit masama ang snake? bakit masama ang kaliwete?) I’m going to this year’s Iyas Creative Writing Workshop with that pseudonym, ya know!
but anyway, Jessica hasn’t commented yet now has she…
April 8th, 2011 at 09:25
Holy crap our unbelief is none of your goddamn business, point out one instance in which we advised you that the solution to your problem was prayer. We do not like being preached religion to and we do not preach about our lack of it. And we have absolutely no intention of being used to stir up some pointless slow-news-day controversy by people in search of attention.
April 9th, 2011 at 23:32
I used to believe that religion do us no harm but good. But no. But after seeing what’s happening in this country and a little research, I suddenly had a change of mind.
If we allow ourselves to be enslaved by it, we’ll end up looking like the rest who prays in the middle of situation that calls for immediate action. I hate it when people say “let’s pray” when the first you need to do is to get your ass off your chair and do real job. This is what religion has done to us Filipinos. It’s sickening.