A lament for the living

Perhaps lament is too strong a word for the living; it is for the dead after all as I offered in one of my columns last week - A lament for the dead. We grieve for the dearly departed, we lament the loss of a loved one.

To feel sad for the living, for this nation of 107 million is to exaggerate, others might say. This country, after all, is not a graveyard of empires like, say, Afghanistan; neither is it conflict-ridden Syria, where Russia and the US play their war games.

But I will offer this lament anyway,  triggered by that strip of fake white sand on Manila Bay.

No, this isn’t about the roughly P400 million in taxpayers’ money spent to create a fake beach; neither is it about whether the dolomite sand is cancerous or not. This is also not about how useful the white sand would be for ordinary Filipinos in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s so much more than that.

This is a lament for the living, my fellow Filipinos who often do not know they deserve so much more.

And this, really, is one of our greatest tragedies as a people.

In this time of COVID-19, we need so much more than band-aid solutions to our mental health and growing anxiety over the pandemic.

Seeing the happy faces in the throngs of people who lined up for hours to see the white sand for a good three minutes per visitor, one would think this experience is manna from the gods, just what we need in this time of COVID-19.

And for three minutes, it is indeed a slice of heaven.

Beautification isn’t bad at all, but I hope Filipinos don’t forget that we also need so much more, especially in these difficult times.

It takes so little to gladden the hearts of Filipinos, and politicians take advantage of this fact every election season. It’s a reflection of how low our public consciousness is.

The fake white sand is beautiful no doubt and it’s a respite from months of feeling we’re walking on dystopian land.

But it’s also an opium, with a nearly P400 million tab, a mere distraction, like barbiturates in our veins to make us forget what we really need. This isn’t an answer to our problems. And yet we don’t even know it.

Lucky are the ones who burn effigies and cry out in protest because they know we deserve so much more. But the masses don’t give a sh*t about any of these placards or these giant effigies that disappear in flames in just about every major rally.

Ignorance indeed is bliss, especially for the millions of Filipinos unknowingly settling for less.

More often than not Filipinos feel this is all we deserve, or this is all we can get.

Stories from the ground

Let me share with you stories from the ground. These are very real stories. One helper lined up for 12 hours to get P8,000 in cash assistance from the barangay. This isn’t how it should be. Why can’t we get what is due us in a more efficient and humane way? Why do Filipinos have to find the needle in the haystack just to survive, or to get what the government is mandated to give us?

Why are we, Filipinos, always content with what is given us? Just look at our public transportation system. We have an MRT, but the elevators hardly work.

We have local stimulus programs for small businesses, but you have to wait forever to get the financial assistance. We get ayudas of groceries, but inside these bags are cans of sardines of the same kind that we would have to eat for two weeks straight if we have no other choice.

A domestic helper goes to a public hospital for her medical needs. She gets it for free, but she has to wait for hours. Her son is getting free public education, but can’t avail of it anyway because she can’t afford a smartphone and the government won’t provide it.

And yet  – and yet  – we scramble to reach Manila Bay, brave the madding crowd, risk the possibility of catching the virus and then smile from ear to ear because there is a patch of white sand gifted to us by our government.

Time to sober up

It is time for Filipinos to realize we deserve so much more than what we are getting. If we are to be given beautiful parks and open spaces, let these not be at the expense of other essential things we also need. We need quality education and efficient health services. Instead, we have a state health insurance agency that is corrupted with impunity.

Every election season, we deserve more than kilos of rice and a few cans of sardines for our votes. We need to realize we deserve candidates who can deliver on their promises – mass housing, social protection, education, public health, employment.

We don’t need more opioids to make us forget our problems. Filipinos deserve solutions and answers. Filipinos deserve the real deal and, if our authorities really want to give the masses a chance to stroll on the beach and experience white sand between their toes, please, let’s not even fool them with a fake one.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com