Impulses
Sad truths
I have just bumped over a great bunch of trivia that is exclusive to Filipino readers only for reasons that will become clearer as you read this page. It is about the darker yet worthy-to-note side of the Philippine psycho-econo-political zarzuela. I may sound apocalyptic today, however, I just see it fit to print this out so the public may be reminded of our failures and from these rise and seize what is left of us as the new breed of Pinoys.
Here they the sad facts.
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In a survey, the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), which asked 1,000 foreign businessmen in 12 Asian countries, has ranked the Philippines as the fourth most corrupt country in Asia. The Pearl of the Orient Seas received a score of 8.0 in the survey, on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 the best possible score for a country with no corruption.
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In a separate survey, Transparency International (TI) ranked the Philippines 77th among 102 countries in terms of fighting graft and corruption. The Philippines got a score of 2.6 in corruption perception index, with 10 the highest possible score for the country that has no corruption. Of course, this is not a surprise to most of us. Just ask the nearest auxiliary police and he will explain to you in detail why.
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The Central Bank said that as of March 2005, total foreign debt of the Philippines amounted to US$65 billion. Public debt was placed at almost P3 trillion as of last year.
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The Filipino people were also dismayed. In a national survey conducted by the University of the Philippines (UP) Center for Leadership, Citizenry and Democracy, only one of three Filipino respondents or 34 percent claimed they were satisfied with the way democracy works in the country. In contrast, about 42 percent of the respondents said otherwise. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)
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There are two major insurgency movements in the Philippines, namely: the communist insurgency and the Muslim separatist movement. According to military estimates, there were 25,000 armed rebels as of the first quarter of 2002.
These included 11,930 communist guerillas, 12,500 active members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); hundreds of Magdalos, Guardians, RAMboys (and the new ‘RAMkids’), RHBs, RPA-ABBs, and other minor groups from the extreme left to the extreme right, from two lettered to multi-lettered armed organizations; and hundreds more belonging to Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf, Abu Sufia, al Queda, Jemaah Islamiyah, and Pentagon groups.
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According to the Interior and Local Government, the crime syndicates produce and trade P350-billion worth of illegal drugs in the country annually. The Dangerous Drugs Board also disclosed that some 1.8 million Filipinos are hooked on illegal drugs while 1.6 million others (mostly young ones) are casual users.
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Militant women's group Gabriela said at least 15 women and six children are beaten up daily. Just last year, Gabriela recorded about 6,000 cases of wife battering and 4,000 cases of maltreatment of children.
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A survey conducted by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) showed that 30 percent of the country's young workforce claimed to be sexually active, with 10 percent of the single male respondents claiming to have casual sex. The study titled "Issues Affecting Young Filipino Workers" also showed that 37 percent of young males have had sex with more than one partner - usually with prostitutes - prior to marriage while two-thirds of married female and male workers said they had premarital sex with the people they eventually married.
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In a separate report, a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute showed that 23 percent of 16.5 million Filipinos aged between 15 and 24 have engaged in premarital sex.
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Despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in the country, women's group Gabriela said that around 400,000 Filipinos were working as prostitutes as of 1998. Imagine the numbers seven years thereafter.
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According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), about 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino children were working as prostitutes as of 1997. Prostitution was present in 37 provinces then. The major child prostitution dens were found in Manila, Angeles City, Puerto Galera, Davao City and Cebu City. The Philippines has reportedly become a favorite destination of pedophiles from the US, Australia and Europe. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has documented 8,335 cases of child abuse from 1991 to 1996.
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A study released by the University of the Philippines Population Institute in February 2003 said that there were 400,000 cases of abortion in the country each year, despite the fact that abortion is illegal here.
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Liquor is said to be the most abused substance in the Philippines and the world. While there remains to be a concrete study on the effects of alcoholism, many index crimes such as homicides, physical injuries and sex-related offenses are often associated with alcohol. Adding to these are the numerous accidents caused by drunk driving. Many Filipino families were also ruined by alcoholism, with young children exposed to the evils of their drunken fathers. Sadly, the government does not do anything about it.Perhaps the BIR knows why.
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An NFO-Trends survey showed that Filipino youth had a "very shallow appreciation" of the country's history and cultural heritage. The survey showed that only 37 percent of the 1,420 respondents aged 7 to 21 years old, were able to sing the National Anthem and only 28 percent could recite "Panatang Makabayan". When asked to name Filipino heroes, the respondents could only name up to two heroes… and probably Manny Pacquiao or Efren "Bata" Reyes is one of them!
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Yes, it is depressing. Yet, we need to know, and verify, all these. Some might just be products of hasty generalizations and wrong statistical frameworks, but fact remains that we are indeed a problematic nation. As they say, the best first step to right a wrong is to correctly identify and accept the errors first. The next difficult step is to correct it.
(Engr. Herman Lagon may be reached through h_lagon@yahoo.com.)