Random? Irony in the Philippines (Politics)

Namaste Readers,

With a Fil-Am status, speaking up is like being a Cassandra OR the boy who cried wolf for the 3rd time.  It's comforting to hear 10,000% Filipino nationalists speak of the ironies in the country. 

For example, Tutee B pointed out how English is more common than Tagalog ( part of this might deal with personal regional resentment ).  Tagalog is the main dialect of Luzon; however there are more Visayan-speaking Filipinos in both the Visaya and Mindanao regions.  But since the capital and center of the Philippines is in Luzon, then Tagalog became the default.  In a way, for spite, a foreign language may be more favorable than the dialect of the perceived nemesis.

Tutee B also highlighted how Filipinos are more suspicious of their fellow countrymen instead of foreigners.  Runner J added how Filipinos have selective hearing.  One would get a better response if one were to speak in English instead of Tagalog, especially in institutions in power.

According to Director N's husband, a majority of the Filipino people can easily forget public politics, such as the heinous crimes of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose lively lineage is fighting for his hero's burial.  Meanwhile, Filipino families will hold onto personal grudges for generations.

Being monopolized by a Filipino is better than being monopolized by a foreigner, such as the pervasive SM (Shoe Mart) corporation.  This multibillion Chinese company started out with a man's noble dream of ensuring that every Filipino men, women, and children can afford a pair of shoes ( says the current TV commercial ).

But knowledge of SM's development can show a different picture.  Runner J stated that SM's rise was aided by the Marcos Administration.  They were able to garner huge real estate for the cost of nothing with tax-free benefits to last at least 10 years.  SM has branched out into different services: supermarkets, residential buildings, loaning banks for small businesses etc.  Student A revealed that SM's current goal is to establish a SM Mall for every 1 hour's worth of distance.

To be fair, SM does develop the land, and they provide safety and convenience for shoppers ( c'est moi ).  On the other hand, the meteoric rise of SM mostly encourages consumerism instead of production: reliance on foreign goods ( expensive imports, such rice from Thailand and Vietnam ) instead of natural resources ( self-sustaining exports, such as rice when Philippines had mostly an agrarian economy ).  But if people aren't aware of abused of power and monopoly, and don't learn from history ( forgets history ), then history is bound to repeat itself, diba?