Contribution
Squatters: Failed lives in the city
Looking at old photos of the city like Manila and Iloilo makes me stop and wonder what had happened to these places. The once beautiful and not crowded streets are now buried in heaps of junks and people. The once empty beautiful open lots and clean sidewalks are now littered with squatters and the sidewalks are now full of extensions of everything from banketas to people begging and squatting. It is a scary thought that once anybody can walk the sidewalks leisurely and without fear. But now it's the opposite, one must put their personal belongings in front of them fearing that they can be mugged or their belongings snatched from them. I wish the places that I see in old photos will be back again.
The obvious reason why the cities have turned into the rotten condition they are in now is our country's swelling population. Most people had false hopes and dreams about living in the city. The hopes and dreams these people had maybe true back then, when the population of the city like Iloilo was just enough that the economy of the city can sustain. Another reason is the fact that many of these people despise living in the towns and hate the life a small town can give them. Many wanted to be associated with the city or be called "taga siyudad" and not "taga banwa" or "taga barrio". Some, however, are just plain lazy and irresponsible who do not want to work.
Long time ago many families living in the barrios or towns have the idea that more children is good for the family because these children can help in the farms. That was then, with modernization many of these children now do not want to work in the farm, sometimes they even hide the fact that their parents are farmers. And this, I think, is where the problem all began.
Being a social psychologist, I have thought about some possible solutions to the current situation of squatters in the city. The first step I highly suggest is for these folks to look back in time before their painful and miserable lives in the city started. They need to point out their reasons why they came to the city in the first place. Most of the squatters now are offsprings of the first few who came and tried their luck in the city but failed. By knowing the reasons, the current squatters can now compare their current condition whether the original reasons were met or not. For example, if the reason that they have is the assumption that they will have a better life in the city, they can easily ask themselves if this reason had been materialized.
Second, for those who did not succeed in the city, all they need to do is acknowledge their failure, and simply go back home to the towns or barrios and continue their life's journey there. In the towns at least they are not crowded and they can start a new life. I just do not get it why they have to crowd the city while the towns are lacking of people. It boggles my mind to think about rice lands being converted to developmental areas while the city is overcrowding with squatters. The size of the land is not the issue here, the real issue is that the willingness of the people to go back to the towns and barangays and start a new life there. I think one reason that these agricultural lands are being converted is due to lack of people working to till them. Also they need to bear in mind that without farms the whole country will be suffering from hunger because of less agricultural products produced.
As long as these people will accept the facts of their life and accept what little help the government can give them and use them to start their life anew, it will be possible that they will have a much better life in towns or barrios than in the city squatting. It's not bad to dream high but by living within the reality helps a lot. Just take the cue from the parable of Jesus about the managers who were given the same amount of money, in which one of them used it all up and the other just kept it used it for good and managed to make it grow. I suggest do what the last one did. Also if they ever can think of the original reason, I think they will stop blaming the government for their miserable lives because the government did not force them to migrate to the cities. These people need to be responsible for themselves, their children and the country.