Picture in my mind

By Sheila Mañalac

There is a picture that keeps flashing in my mind. It is that of an old man sleeping soundly on a busy sidewalk in Manila’s Quiapo district. His blanket is yesterday’s newspaper, his pillow an old sack full of trash.

I cannot get rid of this picture in my mind because of its bittersweet nature: the man looks so peaceful despite the dirt, the trash and the noise around him. Whenever I see this picture, I cannot help but wonder what other people think about when they see one of their own kind living off the streets and digging through trash while wearing nothing but filthy rags. Have we lost our compassion? Or do we choose to remain oblivious to such images of one of our own, a human being, looking so helpless and desperate?

It seems like we have learned to adapt to the chaos our government has created for us. One administration after another has come and gone, and each one only served to confirm how dirty our brand of politics can be. Thus after mounting two People Power revolutions, the Filipino people have grown tired of fighting those who misuse power and desperately hangs on to it.

I was listening to the news one morning when I heard ABS-CBN Broadcasting’s Ted Failon tell his radio audience: “Magtiis na lang muna tayo, bayan.” [Let us bear with our present condition, my countrymen.] That was after he had conducted an interview with Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes whose answers to issue on high prices of local gasoline was not much different from those of our politicians — vague, evasive, and difficult — leading one to suspect that they are covering up for their mistakes or lying outright.

We have become the laughing stock of other countries and no one seems to care. But then this is a country where no one cares about anything and everyone simply looks out for himself. Selfishness is an epidemic that afflicts almost everyone. To protect ourselves, we harden our hearts and try to ignore what is happening around us.

The old saying has never rung truer than today: “The rich become richer, and the poor poorer.” And our leaders have forgotten their responsibility to our people and our society. Every day, we hear about new corruption cases but no one gets punished for stealing from the people. The government buys fertilizers at P1,500 per bottle, and no one can explain how this happened. The President apologizes for telling an election official to preserve her one-million-vote margin in the elections, and that is all the punishment she gets. There are many issues that have never been satisfactorily answered by the government and our top officials.

And who pays for their mistakes and misconduct in office? It is the small boy who knocks on car windows when the traffic stops. It is the man pushing a cart with his wife and three kids in it. It is the “taho” [tofu] vendor, the fish vendor, and the 17-year-old girl who sells her body to earn a living.

Life is hard as it is, and without support from our government, it becomes hell for the poor and the disadvantaged. As for the rest of us, we have to struggle to survive one day at a time, while looking with envy at the rich folks living in their mansions, driving fancy sports cars, and having fun in the fanciest places. It seems like the only care they have in the world is to ensure that they maintain their high standard of living.

As a young woman living in this kind of society, I am terrified. I cannot imagine the kind of beliefs and values my child will learn if these are what he or she keeps witnessing. What we do now has a great influence on the future. And today love for oneself always comes before love for neighbor and for country. If looking out for oneself becomes the only way to live, I am afraid my child will either grow to be a selfish and corrupt individual or become another living example of the picture in my mind, driven to lie down on the sidewalk with a sack of trash for a pillow.

Sheila Mañalac, 23, is a second year nursing student at De los Santos-STI College of Nursing.