More Poor in the Philippines

More poor Filipinos under PeNoy

I had a great time last night with FB friends, Fr. PennState, Sistah Cecille Ignacio, Kuya Nelson and MJ AR. Habang ang Kamaynilaan ay inuulan, we're comfortably seated in a Chinese restaurant feasting over fried frog legs, steamed lapu-lapu and mushroom and seafood soup. Masarap ang kwentuhan namin so niyaya ko sila sa aking favorite watering hole sa bay area.

So when I read the headlines of today's dailies, about the rise of poverty in the Philippines, I can't help but feel some kind of guilt.

Not that I am not expecting such news will hit the headlines, sooner or later. Itong si PeNoy na ata ang pinakatamad na naupo sa Malacanang. At isang katangahan ang umasa na may asensong magaganap under his do-nothing administration. Mas may possibility pa na makasalok tayo ng tubig sa Sun kesa umasang may milagrong kaunlaran habang ang mga dilawan ay nakaluklok.

Penoy and his economic managers have been employing all types of statistical manipulation to hide the fact na pabulusok ang bansa. Poverty in the Philippines has become more pronounced that even the yellow media has no other choice but report it. 

Yellow media is now unable to deodorize stinking Philippine poverty

Pro-PeNoy Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Social Weather Station survey revealed that the number of poor Filipinos sharply rose from 9.1 million last December 2011 to 11.1 million as of March 2012.

Even Philippine Star which is owned by House Speaker Sonny Belmonte, a staunch PeNoy supporter, carried the news that self-rated poverty surges by 2 million.

GMA News reported that more than half of the households in the country is now under poverty line, a big leap from 45% which was registered last December 2012. This is also what the yellowest media outfit, ABS-CBN, posted in its website.

Straight path to extreme and more widespread poverty?

Anti-Arroyo blogsite, Rappler said that self-rated poverty rose the highest in Mindanao.  Malaya reported that poverty rate in Mindanao reached 72%, while Visayas registered 61%.

"Kung walang kurap, walang mahirap."   This was PeNoy's slogan last 2010 elections.  Kung lumalabas na mas marami ang mahirap ngayon, it is now safe to conclude na mas lumala ang kurapsyon sa ilalim ng rehimen na ito.

Racism and Roque's Own Racism

Filipino lawyer Harry Roque

Atty. Harry Roque is probably one of the most well-known lawyers in the country. And this is partly due to his being chikadora. The legal eagle always has something to say on issues, especially political ones. One of my amigas (classmate ko sa cooking class), calls Atty. Roque as super eksenadora.

True enough, whenever there are controversial issues, expect to see Roque's chubby face na nakabalandra sa tv screen. Maguindanao massacre, MOA-AD, electoral fraud, Corona impeachment. Sometimes, nakakaumay na din ang pagmumukha ng hitad. hihihi

Chikadora kung chikadora siya. So I was surprised to read yesterday a news about his crying foul over what he considered as racism. He even twitted:

"Was a victim of racism in LA. Hard to think that whites still feel superior in a city that's already predominantly Asian!"

Curiously, for a chikadora like him, the specific circumstances were not given.

Even news reports were kinda vague about what really happened. As of posting time, GMA News Online wrote that "Further details on where, when, and how the incident happened were not immediately available."

I turned to his blog, nada.

Anyway, what surprised me was Roque's tweets. He claimed to be a victim of racism but the words he used in his tweets amount to racism. I dunno with you guys, but for me, referring to an ethnic group by the color of the skin is racism, itself!

Not content with his 'racist" tweet, Roque added that it was "awful" that he and his family were treated like a "pariah by a bigoted caucasian."

Can someone please tell me if Roque's tweets are not racist? Unconsciously, Roque himself committed racism.

And just what he meant by "a city that's already predominantly Asian?" Such statement is irresponsible. Does he mean that "whites" be subservient to Asians?

For Roque's information, below is the cultural of Los Angeles based on the 2010 United States Census:

Whites: 29.4%
Hispanics or Latinos: 48.5%
African-Americans: 9.8%
Native Americans: 0.5%
Asians: 10.7%
Pacific Islanders: 0.2%
Some other race: 25.2%
Two or more races: 2.8%

So nasaan diyan ang sinasabi niya na Asians comprise the majority in Los Angeles?

I would understand how Roque felt had he told the whole story. It is wrong to claim that he was a victim of racism when he did not gave details. It is typical of Filipino politicking - accusing someone of wrongdoing without substantiating the accusation. Case in point, that of CJ Corona.

Who knows baka napangitan lang sa kanya yung Amerikano. If this was the case, then it's not racial discrimination but facial discrimination, di ba? hihihi