Tuesday, August 09, 2005
As I Was Running....
While I was running my 6k in the treadmill yesterday, several thoughts entered my usually empty brain. I lost my ear phones so I couldn't hear the TVs. So I just set the treadmill and ran.
I started to remember the fellow that I was 20 years ago. 4 years out of college, working for a bank and the country was in troubled times. Marcos was still in power. I was working for a crony bank and I was privy to all the money being siphoned out of the country. I joined the daily lunch time Makati protest against the evil that was Marcos. I was idealistic, driven and out to change the world. Ninoy was my hero and Cory my sainted savior.
The only thing I did was to make sure the crony money was remitted abroad under tight security. I could not even make photo copies. Other than that, I was idle doing nothing and collecting a paycheck of P6,000/month. I was suppose to be a fast rising mid-level executive with a secretary and the ultimate status symbol at that time: a HP financial calculator and my very own direct line. PLDT lines were hard to come by. You had to wait for at least 10 years before PLDT gave you a line. Direct lines were selling a P3,000 a pop from PLDT linemen. I was bitching that the peso rate fell from P8=$1 to P11=$1. Brand new cars were in the P35,000 to 60,000 range. A meal with two viands, rice and dessert would cost me from P8 to P10. McDonalds had 2 branches and Jollibee was an ice cream joint in Cubao. Shakeys's, Tia Maria and Tibs were the in place to get a beer and a margarita. Louie Y at Hyatt Hotel was the place to be seen. You had to have a Louie Y Gold Card to designate you as a VIP. Drinks were P50 a shot. Credit Cards were very new in the country and you had to pay off your balance every month and that made it a status symbol. Preppy fashion was the in thing. Button down oxford shirts, Lacoste, Ralp Lauren collar t-shirts, jeans, khakis, top siders and Gucci loafers or Italian tasseled shoes. During the weekends, top siders and Gucci loafers were worn without socks. For the gay crowd and the straight crowd who wanted to be in, after a night out in Louie Y, everyone headed to Coco Banana to watch the drag show and had breakfast at Cafe Adriatico.
We hobnobbed with the Marcos elite and the very next day we participated in the rallies. We knew how to play the game. There was an ancitipation that the Marcos years was waning and that a new era and a bright future is just around the corner.
I wanted to fullfill my social responsibility by helping the poor. I developed an early principle for helping the poor. I've always believe that giving them skills, jobs and housing would uplift them. Back then, I did not believe in handouts.
Fast forward to today. Nothing has changed much in the political scene. We're still trying to figure out what democracy is or isn't. The politicians are just as corrupt and crooked. The government is still ineffective and we're still fighting the same insurgencies that we had during the Marcos era.
I'm less idealistic and more jaded. Things have changed. Yet there are some things that have never changed. There are more people leaving for jobs abroad. There is still the constant poverty, the corruption, the irresponsible media, the festering insurgencies, the crab mentality, the meddling of the Catholic Church in the politics of the country and the Marcoses are still around.
Definitely, the fashion has changed. Jeans are still in but more faded and wtih lower hips. Oxford shirts are still on but more fashionable casual shoes are in. Converse made a come back and the lowly "tsinelas" are now a fashion item called flipflops. Tight shirts made with better materials are so in. Pleated pants are so out. The cut now is narrower and the hips lower. People still wear shoes without socks but these are mainly casual shoes. Athletic socks just covers the feet. Sandals are so in. There is a proliferation of yummy guys in underwear fashion thanks to Bench. And people are more sexually liberated nowadays. Straight men can now finally have sex with girls. Lol.
But things have also changed. Thanks to President Ramos, a corrupt but economically enlightened President, it is now easier to get a phone and cell phones are all the rage. The businesses that thrive on connectivity is thriving (call centers, BPOs). Schools are improving their facilities albeit available to those that have the money. Mass transportation and traffice is a bit easier (LRT, MRT). Believe it or not our fuel prices are still the lowest in the region. Public companies are more transparent. People are more environmentally aware now. Middle class housing is picking up, so is mass housing. The financial sector is cleaning up house. Universities are investing in more research and in upgrading the quality of their education except for UP who has remained rooted to the past. Those left leaning professors should be changed. The only way for UP to survive is to develop its land so that the income can be used to improve the quality of education.
I still believe in providing skills, jobs and housing for the poor. I now have the money to put my ideas to work. I've also joined the organizations to launch my advocacy. FINEX takes care of the education and skills part while the Rotary through it partnership with Gawad Kalinga takes care of the housing side.
There is still hope for this country. I'm just scared that this present crop of youngsters are not as committed in building this country up. About half of these youngsters want to go abroad and find their destiny. Let them. Pretty soon, they will cease being Filipinos. In fact most of them don't consider themselves Filipinos. But for those that stay, BRAVO!
I was in the USA once with a green card. In two more years, I would have become a US citizen. But I came back and gave up my green card. I hated living there. I was always considered a foreigner. An alien. And I couldn't stand Pinoys aswering me in English when I spoke Filipino to them.
I'm glad I live in this country and proud of it too. I just wish more of us can be proud to call ourselves, Filipinos.
See what running without earphones does to your brain...... Lol.
I started to remember the fellow that I was 20 years ago. 4 years out of college, working for a bank and the country was in troubled times. Marcos was still in power. I was working for a crony bank and I was privy to all the money being siphoned out of the country. I joined the daily lunch time Makati protest against the evil that was Marcos. I was idealistic, driven and out to change the world. Ninoy was my hero and Cory my sainted savior.
The only thing I did was to make sure the crony money was remitted abroad under tight security. I could not even make photo copies. Other than that, I was idle doing nothing and collecting a paycheck of P6,000/month. I was suppose to be a fast rising mid-level executive with a secretary and the ultimate status symbol at that time: a HP financial calculator and my very own direct line. PLDT lines were hard to come by. You had to wait for at least 10 years before PLDT gave you a line. Direct lines were selling a P3,000 a pop from PLDT linemen. I was bitching that the peso rate fell from P8=$1 to P11=$1. Brand new cars were in the P35,000 to 60,000 range. A meal with two viands, rice and dessert would cost me from P8 to P10. McDonalds had 2 branches and Jollibee was an ice cream joint in Cubao. Shakeys's, Tia Maria and Tibs were the in place to get a beer and a margarita. Louie Y at Hyatt Hotel was the place to be seen. You had to have a Louie Y Gold Card to designate you as a VIP. Drinks were P50 a shot. Credit Cards were very new in the country and you had to pay off your balance every month and that made it a status symbol. Preppy fashion was the in thing. Button down oxford shirts, Lacoste, Ralp Lauren collar t-shirts, jeans, khakis, top siders and Gucci loafers or Italian tasseled shoes. During the weekends, top siders and Gucci loafers were worn without socks. For the gay crowd and the straight crowd who wanted to be in, after a night out in Louie Y, everyone headed to Coco Banana to watch the drag show and had breakfast at Cafe Adriatico.
We hobnobbed with the Marcos elite and the very next day we participated in the rallies. We knew how to play the game. There was an ancitipation that the Marcos years was waning and that a new era and a bright future is just around the corner.
I wanted to fullfill my social responsibility by helping the poor. I developed an early principle for helping the poor. I've always believe that giving them skills, jobs and housing would uplift them. Back then, I did not believe in handouts.
Fast forward to today. Nothing has changed much in the political scene. We're still trying to figure out what democracy is or isn't. The politicians are just as corrupt and crooked. The government is still ineffective and we're still fighting the same insurgencies that we had during the Marcos era.
I'm less idealistic and more jaded. Things have changed. Yet there are some things that have never changed. There are more people leaving for jobs abroad. There is still the constant poverty, the corruption, the irresponsible media, the festering insurgencies, the crab mentality, the meddling of the Catholic Church in the politics of the country and the Marcoses are still around.
Definitely, the fashion has changed. Jeans are still in but more faded and wtih lower hips. Oxford shirts are still on but more fashionable casual shoes are in. Converse made a come back and the lowly "tsinelas" are now a fashion item called flipflops. Tight shirts made with better materials are so in. Pleated pants are so out. The cut now is narrower and the hips lower. People still wear shoes without socks but these are mainly casual shoes. Athletic socks just covers the feet. Sandals are so in. There is a proliferation of yummy guys in underwear fashion thanks to Bench. And people are more sexually liberated nowadays. Straight men can now finally have sex with girls. Lol.
But things have also changed. Thanks to President Ramos, a corrupt but economically enlightened President, it is now easier to get a phone and cell phones are all the rage. The businesses that thrive on connectivity is thriving (call centers, BPOs). Schools are improving their facilities albeit available to those that have the money. Mass transportation and traffice is a bit easier (LRT, MRT). Believe it or not our fuel prices are still the lowest in the region. Public companies are more transparent. People are more environmentally aware now. Middle class housing is picking up, so is mass housing. The financial sector is cleaning up house. Universities are investing in more research and in upgrading the quality of their education except for UP who has remained rooted to the past. Those left leaning professors should be changed. The only way for UP to survive is to develop its land so that the income can be used to improve the quality of education.
I still believe in providing skills, jobs and housing for the poor. I now have the money to put my ideas to work. I've also joined the organizations to launch my advocacy. FINEX takes care of the education and skills part while the Rotary through it partnership with Gawad Kalinga takes care of the housing side.
There is still hope for this country. I'm just scared that this present crop of youngsters are not as committed in building this country up. About half of these youngsters want to go abroad and find their destiny. Let them. Pretty soon, they will cease being Filipinos. In fact most of them don't consider themselves Filipinos. But for those that stay, BRAVO!
I was in the USA once with a green card. In two more years, I would have become a US citizen. But I came back and gave up my green card. I hated living there. I was always considered a foreigner. An alien. And I couldn't stand Pinoys aswering me in English when I spoke Filipino to them.
I'm glad I live in this country and proud of it too. I just wish more of us can be proud to call ourselves, Filipinos.
See what running without earphones does to your brain...... Lol.
