Government has no monopoly on abuse

I feel enraged when politicians are allowed to drive through red lights as though they are above the law. It’s even worse that not only the politicians’ vehicles that are allowed to go through — even those of their alalays and bodyguards get exempt from following traffic laws.

And these shit happens in the ordinary course of things. They defy the traffic laws not because they are on their way to attend to an emergency but simply because they are who they are. Some are even so thick skinned that they install vanity plates that spell “Mayor” or “Governor” and expect the plates to serve as free pass to every traffic light. Even the city and municipal councilors, literally at the bottom of the barrel of the political hierarchy in local governments, do it.

The sad truth is that even civilians do it. I’ve seen a lot of “Lawyer” plates on vehicles, as though daring traffic cops to flag them. I’ve seen “Doctor On Call” signs attached to windshields as though requiring doctors to follow traffic laws means preventing them from saving lives.

The photo was taken at Dampa Sa Libis a few nights ago. It’s a little blurred (low light); the sign prominently displayed on the windshield says: “EMERGENCY Orthopedic Surgeon ON CALL.” If a doctor is on his way to an emergency, putting up the sign is understandable. Saving lives is more important. But to place such signs on the windshield permanently, even when the darn doctor is just on his way to dinner, is something else.

This penchant for short cutting the laws is true for people from all walks of lives. It is true for the jeepney drivers who go on counterflow or who load and unload passengers in the middle of the street, justifying their actions by saying they need to earn. It is true for tricycle drivers who overload their vehicles and pass through streets and highways where they aren’t supposed to.

It’s a national pastime to engage in political gossip and rumor-mongering, passing them off as political and social commentary. But – BUT – what about the abuses that ordinary people commit? People blame government for wasting money but they refuse to see that they do the same thing with their town fiestas. People get angry over the high taxes but they don’t see anything wrong when they charge their customers, tenants or clients with exorbitant fees and prices that are a hundred per cent more than the real value of their products and services.

And I’m not just talking about big companies like Meralco and PLDT. I’m not just talking either about the blasted doctors and lawyers who charge an arm and a leg so they can buy their mansions and their SUVs where they can attach those “On Call” signs and “Lawyer” vanity plates. I am also talking about the landlords who lease out apartments, the fish vendor who overprices his fish, the real estate developers who build sub-standard houses and sell them at prices way beyond the real value of the property, the hair salon operators with their overpriced hair treatments, the sari-sari store owners with the 50% markup on goods…

Just about everyone, in fact. Yet, the so-called political activists don’t go around writing about things like that. It’s always about The Big People’s faults and abuses. I was able to do some bloghopping this morning and, honestly, political bloggers are beginning to sound more and more like Catholic priests — everyone’s a sinner except themselves. Everyone’s immoral except themselves.

Thing is, corruption is only part of a sick culture. To talk, especially to talk in a recurring manner, about the [alleged] corruption of particular people without relating that to the sick culture that we live with is not only myopic — it is presumptuous.

But then again, if every political writer delves into genuine socio-political analysis and ditches the sensationalism and propagandist lines (if they are capable of doing that at all), they would have much fewer readers. Most people are only able to discuss politics, or any issue in fact, on the level of personalities. Corruption and abuse are hardly comprehensible unless you mention Gloria Arroyo or Erap or Marcos, etcetera. Kailangan parating chismis ang dating. Kailangan parating may bintang. Kailangan parating may kontrobersiya. Truth is, corruption and abuse have always been there. But few talk about it unless there is a chance at pointing fingers albeit never at oneself.

The sad part is that while the political writers think they are helping people understand, the result is a “dumbing down” of the people. This personality-based style of political commentary hinders people from seeing any scenario in a holistic way.

Okay, so perhaps, it is not really the intention of most political bloggers to write genuine commentaries. Perhaps, the genuine and only intention is to be noticed by some TV producer so they can get invited to appear in a TV show or two.

Whatever.

In the archive

• The future (vice) president of the Philippines?
• Drunks don’t cook delicious meals?
• The girl worth marrying
• What is pikot?
• The less than perfect child
• Coffee, dear?
• Emergency
• The Cinderella mentality in a democracy
• Poor little rich girls
• The agenda of the prejudiced