The Best…and Worst :)

The most destructive habit ..............................Worry
The greatest Joy................................................Giving
The greatest loss................................................Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work......................................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait...................................Selfishness
The most endangered species................................Dedicated leaders

Our greatest natural resource................................Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"...............................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome..........................Fear

The most effective sleeping pill..............................Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease...........................Excuses
The most powerful force in life...............................Love

The most dangerous pariah...................................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.....................The brain
The worst thing to be without.... ....................... ..Hope

The deadliest weapon..........................................The tongue
The two most power-filled words............................"I Can"
The greatest asset..............................................Faith

The most worthless emotion..................................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire......................................SMILE!
The most prized possession.................................. Integrity

The most powerful channel of communication............Prayer
The most contagious spirit.....................................Enthusiasm

Everyone needs this list to live by...pass it along!!!

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND...New Version

FOOTPRINTS...A New Version


Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace.


But your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures, and returns.


For much of the way, it seems to go like! this, b ut gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling His consistently.


You and Jesus are walking as true friends!


This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: Your footprints that once etched the sand next to Jesus' are now walking precisely in His steps.


Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are becoming one.


This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice another change. The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger.


Eventually they disappear altogether. There is only one set of footprints they have become one.

This goes on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time it seems even worse! Zigzags all over the place. Stops. Starts. Gashes in the sand. A variable mess of prints.


You are amazed and shocked.

Your dream ends. Now you pray:

"Lord, I understand the first scene, with zigzags and fits. I was a new Christian; I was just learning. But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with You."

"That is correct."


"And when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps , following You very closely."


"Very good.. You have understood everything so far."


When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way."


"Precisely."

!
"So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse than at first."


There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice.


"You didn't know? It was then that we danced!"

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,4.


It's not WHAT you have in your life, but WHO you have in your life that counts.... Think about that.

Top Women

Top 600 women?

Inquirer News Service

THE PAID advertisement, "Message to the Congressmen: From Over 600 Top Independent Women in Civil Society," which started appearing in the Inquirer last August, has caught the attention of our group, the Women of Partido ng Manggagawa.

The signatories of the ad clearly belong to a very small group of well-known and affluent women in Philippine society. It is to their best interest that the status quo remains. But not to the majority of poor and discriminated women whose situations have been getting worse each day President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains in Malacañang.

The continued rule of the elite in this country has made the lives of poor women an endless struggle with hardships, hunger, poverty and oppression. Their conditions in life will definitely be better off if the government makes significant changes in its economic policies -- like higher budget allocations for economic and social services, such as health care, childcare, livelihood programs, etc.

However, the Arroyo administration has stood its ground and has opted to pursue anti-poor policies -- implementation of the expanded value-added tax law, bigger budgetary allocation for debt servicing at the expense of social services, and the privatization of public utilities such as power and water, among others.

In addition, the political siege that has hounded the Arroyo administration for the past several months now has been left unresolved with the death of the impeachment complaint. The issues of cheating and betrayal of public trust are far superior to the issue of admissibility of evidence and all other technical and procedural issues. Thus, Ms Arroyo does not have any right and duty to serve out a term stolen from the Filipinos. For as long as she squats in Malacañang, the Philippines will never be given genuine respect by the community of nations.

But, indeed, Ms Arroyo has been a real blessing to the likes of the Osmeñas, Valencias, Cojuangcos, Montenegros, Yuchengcos, Pamintuans, Imperials, De Dioses and hundreds of others in "civil society." To the poor majority of women, however, the Arroyo administration has been a never-ending nightmare.

JUDY ANN CHAN-MIRANDA, secretary general, Labor Party-Philippines, 34 Road 3, Project 6, Quezon City

Breast-Feeding

Breast-feeding only way to go, says WHO

Inquirer News Service Agence France-Presse

FILIPINO FAMILIES TYPICALLY spend a quarter of their incomes on expensive infant formula substitutes instead of just breast-feeding their babies, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

"If you go by the cost of feeding your child with infant formula of about P2,000 per month, and when you compare that to the average income of a five-person family which is P7,000, it's a quarter of their income (that) goes to milk substitutes," said Dr. Jean Marc Olive, WHO representative in the country.

Milk substitutes are not only costly but also deadly, according to Olive, as he called attention to Philippine government data which showed that about 16,000 infants and toddlers die every year because they fail to get the proper nutrients from infant formula.

The babies die due to diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition, he said. The government spends as much as P450 million yearly to treat the diseases which could be avoided by exclusively breast-feeding babies within the first six months from birth, he said.

Breast-feeding "is the most cost-effective action in reducing child mortality," Olive said.

He urged the government to do more to spread awareness about the benefits of breast-feeding.

For a start, the WHO is providing seed money of P492,000 to the Liga ng mga Barangay (League of Villages) to fund a nationwide information campaign on breast-feeding under a memorandum of agreement the two agencies signed yesterday.

The MOA provides that the barangay league will promote breast-feeding initially in at least 1,000 barangays using the seed money from WHO.

In his speech, league president James Marty Lim described the campaign as a "David versus Goliath" effort, considering that it would eventually have to contend with multinational companies selling infant formula.

"It's no small battle," he said. But the WHO initiative could counter the companies' multimillion-peso campaigns by highlighting "success stories" of babies nurtured with breast milk, Lim said.

World Health Organization

Women's Suffrage

There's The Rub : Legacies

Conrado de Quiros dequiros@info.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

(This is a vastly abbreviated version of the talk I gave last Thursday on the 68th anniversary of the signing of the women's suffrage bill. You may find it has something to say to you, even if you are not a woman.)

I MUST CONFESS I DID NOT EXPECT THE topic you gave me. "If your wife and daughter were part of the fight for suffrage, would you have rallied around their cause? Why?" It sounds almost like a question that is asked of beauty contestants, to which group I am hard put to qualify.

I suppose the people who thought of that question naturally expected me to say yes, and make a case for the nobility of the cause. Quite honestly, however, my first instinct, in the light of the national crisis we've been facing lately, was to say I'd be damn glad if they would just fight for votes being counted, never mind if they came from man or woman. I'd be damn glad if they would just fight to have a Comelec that knew how to count.

But let me assume that having the right to vote means having one's vote counted by people who know how to count, and get back to the question. If my wife and daughter were fighting for suffrage, would I have rallied behind their cause?

Still, quite honestly, I don't know.

I'm not trying to be cute. Where I'm coming from today, that would be the easiest thing to answer. But that is the problem. I know where I'm coming from today. I don't know where I'd be coming from before Sept. 25, 1937, when the fight for women's suffrage would have been raging.

Today, the idea that women are not qualified to vote seems the most ludicrous thing in the world. I can imagine that 70 years from now, the thought of this country's privileged few keeping the wealth to themselves and depriving the teeming many of the bare necessities would seem like the most suicidal thing in the world, a French Revolution in the making. But as we can see, many people today find this a perfectly reasonable arrangement.

What can I say? Life is a paradox. The hardest things to grasp are the most commonsensical ones. The hardest things to see are the most obvious ones. The hardest enemy to fight is one's self.

I must tell you a bit about how I got to be where I am today. I did not live in the 1930s as a kid, I did so in the 1950s in Naga City. I grew up in a time and place where the concept of men and women being equal made as much sense as the concept of the parish not being the center of the universe. Boys did not naturally play with girls, or study with them. I don't know that it derived completely from distrust of raging hormones in juvenile bodies. I half-suspect it also derived from a distrust of girls adulterating boys' mental faculties with, well, lapses in judgment.

I recall that it was the kiss of death for husbands to be called "under the saya," literally under a woman's skirt. Ironically, most of them in my neighborhood were, except that they didn't know it. The wives did rule our neighborhood, except that not all of them did so by showing they were the boss of their homes. Many of them did so by making their husbands think they, the husbands, were. Then, as now, the wives understood the secret of effective rule, which was: Honesty is not the best policy, subtlety is.

How I clawed out of the Dark Ages into the second half of the 20th century is a story unto itself. I'll just mention a couple of things that helped me mightily to ascend the ladder of evolution.

The gratuitous part was that I came to Manila in a time of ferment. The city was afire with activism. The word "afire" is especially apt: The activists then spoke of revolution spreading like a prairie fire, and it did so particularly in the campuses. Each generation creates its gap between young and old, between past and present, but at no time did this gap yawn like a chasm or prove a collision of worlds than then. It broke conventional ways of thinking and doing things probably more thoroughly than the War itself did.

I don't know where I'd be right now if I had not gone through that historic watershed. It is not inconceivable that I would even now be working in America, worrying about the future only of my family.

Of course, not all, or even most, of those who became activists did so out of idealistic fervor or iconoclastic rebelliousness. Paradoxically many of us probably did so out of a deep-seated desire for acceptance, or to "be in," as we called it then. Being an activist, especially after the First Quarter Storm, was cool, as today's kids call it now. You might not always have gotten the girl-or the boy-in the final reel, but at least you got back at a finger-wagging patriarchal society by thrusting your middle finger at it. It isn't really that surprising from hindsight that activism fired the imagination of the scholars in my school, notwithstanding that they stood to lose the most, their parents counting on them to rescue them from poverty. Activism was the Revenge of the Nerds-or the Promdi. Suddenly, "elitista" was out, "masa" was in. Suddenly, to be the son of a tenant was to be lucky and that of a landlord to be cursed. Before this time was over, I would be psychologically as far away from my childhood as Nelson Mandela is ideologically from George W. Bush.

Would I be in a so different place today if that hadn't happened to me?

Well, I'd like to think probably not that different because of one other thing that helped me climb up the ladder of evolution. That is the faculty of self-examination, or the capacity for introspection. It's a truism, but it's true. I've had a lifetime of experience to vouch for it: The easiest thing to change is the world, the hardest thing to change is oneself. Maybe, that's why the world doesn't seem to change at all, or does so ever so slowly.

Women Power

The Long View : Women fought for their own rights

Manuel L. Quezon III
Inquirer News Service

TODAY marks 68 years since Manuel L. Quezon signed the law recognizing women's suffrage. He welcomed it, but hadn't always felt that way.

On Oct. 10, 1914, Quezon, then the resident commissioner, delivered some remarks in the US Congress, on a proposal to include a provision in the Jones Law extending the right of suffrage to women in the Philippines. He said, "Mr. Chairman, let me say right here that I believe in the political equality of men and women. I would not subscribe to the theory that the right to vote belongs exclusively to man because of his sex; therefore I would not withhold the franchise from women if they wanted to exercise it; but neither would I impose this duty upon them against their will. I say 'duty,' because, in my opinion, while the ballot is a right, once the right has been granted it thereby becomes one of the most important duties of citizenship. I am therefore opposed to the amendment ... because the women of my country -- practically all of them, so far as I know their will -- do not want to vote."

He went on to recount: "A few years ago, a woman suffrage movement was undertaken in Manila that ended in complete failure. A few meetings were held, but it has not been possible to create any interest in this movement either on the part of the men or on the part of the women, still less to find any number of advocates for it. In the provinces, nobody ever attempted to discuss the question, and our women there would be decidedly against it. I hope, therefore, Mr. Chairman, that the committee, in its wisdom, will not care to impose upon our women the duty of voting."

Still he made a spirited defense of Filipino women on the following grounds: "Since the establishment of public schools during the American regime, the benefit of free education has been equally enjoyed by our girls and our boys. Instances are not rare when in the classes the intellectual star shines from among the girls. In the University of the Philippines some of the graduating classes have been headed by girls. I venture to say, therefore, Mr. Chairman, that the character and intelligence of our women alone would justify our optimism as to the wonderful possibilities of our country. Now, let me give the committee a piece of information taken from volume 2, page 117, of the Philippine Census which is very interesting. It is as follows: The number of women who reported themselves as prostitutes was 476, nearly all of whom were in Manila. Of these, 75 were white, nearly all the countries of Europe being represented, besides the United States. Two hundred and sixty, or more than half, were yellow, practically all of whom were Japanese, and only 141, or 1 in 25,000 of the female population of the islands, were Filipinos. It is rather extraordinary that in this Malay Archipelago seven-tenths of all the prostitutes were from foreign lands, a fact which speaks volumes for the chastity of the Filipinos.... It is unnecessary to impose upon our women the burden of going to the polls because they are already interested in public questions. Their wholesome influence, exercised at home, tells on the public mind."

And yet, as Senate president, by 1919, Quezon came out categorically in favor of women's suffrage. What changed his mind? The women themselves-in particular their organizing themselves throughout the country, under the umbrella of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, and their determined lobbying for the right to vote. Thus, on Jan. 21, 1937, as President of the Philippines, he issued this press statement:

"To the Filipino People: On the eve of my departure abroad on a mission of far-reaching consequence to the nation, I desire to make an earnest appeal in favor of woman suffrage, which will be decided by the qualified women of the country in a plebiscite to be held on April 30, 1937.

"Almost every democratic country in the world today has woman suffrage; the Philippines cannot afford to be an exception.

"The common people, the farm laborers, the factory workers, and the small employees will be the first ones to be benefited by the extension of the vote to women, because the majority of these new electors, as is the case with the majority of male electors, belong to the class above mentioned, and, therefore, their influence in the Government will be greater and doubtless will be exerted in favor of measures and legislation that will promote their well-being. The women in the factories, in the barrios, and in the far-flung communities, who are qualified to vote, should all come out and vote for woman suffrage on the appointed day."

On April 4, 1937, by radio hook-up from Washington, D.C., he broadcast this appeal: "I am very happy to have this opportunity of addressing you today. It is a long way from Washington to the Philippines and I am beginning to feel homesick, but I am here in the performance of a most important duty that I hope will bring happiness to our people...

"I wish to reiterate my hope that the women of our country may at last use their right to vote. I hope all the women who possess the qualifications required by law will not only register but also vote favorably in the plebiscite upon this question. Filipino women are not as yet in full possession of all their rights, and unless they make an early decision on this question in the National Administration, it will take a long time before all their rights are secured. I hope all the men of the Philippines will be willing to seek the advice and collaboration of their mothers, wives, and daughters in public affairs just as they seek them in their private business. The Filipino woman is the equal of the best in the world and there is no reason why she should not enjoy all the rights and privileges of women in more progressive countries."

Women's rights have been the achievement of women alone; they have led, and forced the men to follow.

Tipping Point

Human Face : Why isn't it tipping?

Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Inquirer News Service

"THE tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire... The tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point ... It is the name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once.''

Those definitions are from the bestseller and page-turner "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'' by Malcolm Gladwell. (His latest is "Blink.'')

I think of the tipping point this way: Imagine holding a tray with a handful of marbles on one side. You tip the tray at an angle but the marbles seem unwilling to roll over to the other side. You tip some more. Then at a certain angle, the marbles suddenly all roll in unison to the other side.

At that tipping point, movement takes place. This example, similar to the seesaw, illustrates in a physical way the so-called tipping point phenomenon which political watchers-in barbershops and beauty salons, political circles, cockpits, churches, academe-are anticipating.

When would it happen? How would it happen? Why isn't it happening? "It'' is some kind of People Power III, reminiscent of the previous two that saw a long-staying dictator and a president, just two years in office, removed dramatically.

Just an aside: "The tipping point'' has found its way to the lips of politicians who love the phrases "at the end of the day'' and -- this one will make Einstein and editors cringe -- "at this point in time."

Since Day One of the political crisis engulfing the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, spawned by the so-called "Hello, Garci'' tapes, people have been anticipating, either with eagerness or with dread, President Arroyo's downfall. Many thought it would be in early July when a series of events happened in one day. There were bold moves, such as resignations from the Cabinet, protests in the streets and louder calls for President Arroyo to step down, with no less than former President Cory Aquino in the lead.

That day the clamor seemed to be peaking and the balance seemed to be tipping. And if you based your predictions on the way things appeared on TV, it was just a matter of hours or days, even as loyal local government officials from the provinces made the opposite move and came to the President's rescue.

President Arroyo didn't resign. The tide against her wasn't forceful enough to topple her.

The impeachment process in Congress took place. The much-watched process was nipped in the bud early on during the longest-in-history plenary session. More than 200 valedictories with immortal quotations -- from Mother Teresa, Saint Paul, Aristotle and Newton to Jaime Cardinal Sin -- yielded a 158-51-6 vote.

Again, street protests, led by Ms Aquino and a mix of ideologically and politically incompatible and divergent bedfellows linking arms, ensued. Still, the balance didn't tip. People Power III wasn't happening. Why?

Tired of waiting for it to happen? Relieved that it hasn't happened? Baffled and befuddled? Maybe we can learn a thing or two from Gladwell's explorations on how social epidemics spread, whether these are fashion trends, diseases, behavior patterns or crime. As journalist Deirdre Donahue said: "One of the most interesting aspects of Gladwell's book is the way it reaffirms that human beings are profoundly social beings influenced by and influencing other human beings, no matter how much technology we introduce into our lives.''

That seems to be telling us not to trust the text-messaging brigade too much, that we forget there are other more effective ways like, um, word of mouth and having the right people say the right things. The right people to cast the first stone.

Gladwell does not just propose answers from out of the blue. He explains by investigating true-to-life events that showed how the tipping point phenomena occurred. How did Hush Puppies regain its popularity in a spontaneous way? Why did the Baltimore syphilis epidemic peak? What was it about Paul Revere and his midnight ride across Boston in 1775 that resulted in the routing of the British and the start of the war known as the American Revolution? Why did Paul Revere's warning tip while another crier's did not?

Gladwell also expounds on the results of experiments conducted by social psychologists, such as the one by Stanley Milgram who wanted to find an answer to what is called the "small-world'' problem. How are human beings connected? Do we all belong to separate worlds or are we all bound together in an interlocking web? How does an idea, or a piece of news -- The British are coming! -- travel through a population?

The results were confounding.

Gladwell summarizes the rules of the Tipping Point into three: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.

The Law of the Few says that through social connections, energy, enthusiasm and personality, word spreads.

The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable; there are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.

The Power of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem.

So why is it not tipping? Or to use another situation, why is the cake not rising? Maybe the ingredients are old, stale and spoiled. Maybe the ingredients are incompatible.

"The Tipping Point'' is also about changing one's way of looking at the world. I did that two weeks ago by attending a seminar on the Quantum World under Dr. Ibarra "Nim'' Gonzales.

Glo-Erap Encounter

Arroyo and Erap in show biz wedding
Nini Valera Inquirer News Service
TAKING A BREAK FROM HER TROUBLES, President Macapagal-Arroyo recently played gracious dinner host in Malacañang for the families of former actor and Sen. Ramon Revilla and Rizal Gov. Casimiro Henares.
Her two friends had come to ask her to be the principal sponsor at their children’s nuptials in November.
The bride, Andrea Bautista, 30, is the senator’s daughter and sister of senator/actor Bong Revilla. The groom, Jun-Jun Henares, 32, is the governor’s son.
“It’s an honor and a pleasure,” Ms Arroyo said by way of accepting the invitation. And then, beaming at the engaged couple, she said, “Congratulations and best wishes to you.”
Dinner consisted of foie gras, squash and zucchini soup, lapu-lapu fillet in lemon-butter sauce and custard. But phone calls for the President constantly interrupted the intimate gathering.
She excused herself before the main course was served, saying she had to see other people who had dropped by. But she returned to the table for tea.
After dinner, Ms Arroyo obliged Andrea’s request that she be measured for a gown by couturier Paul Cabral.
Then she posed for Inquirer for what she called family pictures.
Paul said later, “She’s very slim. Her waist is so small.”
Over coffee at the Manila Hotel afterwards, the bride-to-be confided that they would also ask former President Joseph Estrada to be a wedding sponsor.
Jun-Jun explained that Estrada and his father, Governor Henares, were longtime friends. “Ever since I can remember, my dad has been really close to Erap,” he said. “Up to this day, he visits the former president in Tanay to bring him food.”
Jun-Jun said he has no intention of joining show biz. “I live a very simple and quiet life [although] I have three options—manage the family business and remain in the private sector, enter politics, or become a pastor. But ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a pastor.”
Jun-Jun was raised a Catholic and educated in Catholic schools—Assumption, Marist School and De La Salle University for pre-med and medicine proper.
“My father is a Catholic and my mother is a Protestant,” he said. “I occasionally go with my dad to hear mass and [I also] accompany my mother to Protestant service.”
But they are having Catholic wedding rites. “Sarado silang Katoliko,” Jun-Jun said, referring to the Revillas.
Jun-Jun holds three government jobs concurrently. He’s assistant secretary at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Laguna Lakes Development Authority, and executive director of the National Solid Waste Commission under the Office of the President.
“I’m also taking up Public Administration at the University of the Philippines,” he said. “Plus, I’m getting married. I wish I were only doing one thing.”
Aside from President Arroyo and former President Estrada, the other wedding sponsors are former President Fidel V. Ramos, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and actress Sharon Cuneta.
“Andrea has always been a big fan of Sharon,” said Jun-Jun.
The wedding is set at the Manila Cathedral on Nov. 19. Reception will be at the Shangri-la Hotel in Makati.
Andrea and Jun-Jun will spend their honeymoon in Italy and will be back in Manila in time for Andrea’s birthday on Dec. 10.

Pinoys Lazy & Stupid?

Youngblood : Corrupted

Joseph Dominic O. Romero
Inquirer News Service

I MARVEL at how our world has developed over the centuries and how mankind has progressed from his early beginnings as a cave dweller to become an urban yuppie. I marvel at how our world has been transformed by the evolution of language -- from simple hand signals and singular grunts that turned into words and became dialects and ultimately developed into national languages.

I marvel at how the spoken -- or written -- word has made and broken kingdoms and dynasties. I marvel at how mankind overcame ignorance to become informed and learned. I marvel at how we have harnessed the power of information to fuel our development economically, intellectually and spiritually.

And now I marvel at our generation's stupidity as we harness that same power not to develop but to destroy utterly that which our forefathers have long strived to build. In place of a free press, we have a puppet press that is controlled and dictated to by commercialism, politicians, and/or fear. So instead of the youth learning from the media, they are being brainwashed by the media. Instead of integrity, we have scandals. Instead of straight talk, we have cheap talk. Instead of real news and public affairs programs, we have a nightly showbiz patrol interrupted by a brief segment of news. Instead of real reporters, we have "TV personalities" who don't know the difference between getting facts before reporting the news and reporting first and then supplying the evidence to fit the news reported. Instead of a press to be trusted, we now have a press we must be wary of. For all they care about are ratings, profits and anything that brings in that confounding invention of man: money.

Greed has caused our generation's decay. I am afraid that the day will come that that same greed will bring about our destruction.

The mass media have already corrupted the minds of our youth. The broadcast media, in particular, have a big influence on the masa's mind, for as someone in the industry has boasted, even the poorest families strive to have three things: a radio, a television set and a karaoke. No wonder that whatever the media peddle, our people buy wholesale.

TV noontime shows don't help uplift our people's lives. Instead of teaching the value of hard work and pride in improving one's lot through honest labor, they promote laziness by making people line up for game shows in the hope of winning the jackpot.

I pity all those people skipping their jobs or wasting their day lining up for a shot at P1 million or a house and lot. Some of them candidly admit that they have been going through the routine for months.

"Sus Ginoo!" [My God!] If Filipinos showed the same tenacity in looking for jobs, the number of people mired in poverty would probably go down. But no, Filipinos proudly declare, "Masaya na po basta magkakasama" [So long as we are together, we are happy], or "Diyos na po ang bahala" [God will provide].

If only our people would be taught that poverty is not a gift of fate or of faith, but a consequence of our actions, and that laziness is never rewarded with a cool P1 million, this sorry country of ours would be a lot better.

Joseph Dominic O. Romero, 24, is a physical therapy graduate of Universidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City and works as a copy editor in an advertising company.

Are You Happy?

Pinoy Kasi : Happy Filipinos

Michael Tan opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

THE COVER reminded me of one of the Mainland Chinese propaganda magazines back in the 1970s. It showed a couple beaming, the woman with a bouquet of flowers and the man wearing heavy-duty gloves, presumably a worker.

But, it turns out, the photograph was of Filipinos. This was the Sept. 4 issue of the Chinese magazine Yazhou Zhoukan (Asiaweek). In large Chinese characters, the magazine announced its theme to go with the photograph: HAPPY FILIPINOS. Inside, there was an editorial, plus nine pages of articles about the Philippines, all more or less revolving around the theme of the happy Filipino.

Yes, it's that "happiness survey" again, conducted in the Philippines by the Social Weather Stations poll group as part of a World Values Survey coordinated by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

Yazhou Zhoukan had a table giving figures from that World Values Survey showing the Philippines on top of other Asian countries, supposedly because 93 percent of us are happy, with Japan following at 90 percent, Taiwan at 89 percent, China 84 percent, Pakistan 83 percent and Indonesia 77 percent.

To make sure the message of the happy Filipino got through, the article cited World Health Organization statistics for suicide, with the Philippines having the lowest rate in Asia.

Fairly happy

The Feb. 28, 2005 issue of Time (Asian edition) also had "happiness" as their theme, and mentioned the happy Filipino, together with an article by Alan Robles.

Should we be proud of the Yazhou Zhoukan and Time features? Are we about to dislodge the Dalai Lama with sound advice on keeping happy?

I'm not sure. Let me start by wearing my hat as a social researcher and give some caveats about the figures floating around, which all mention the World Values Survey as their source.

I checked the SWS website where they have a media release dated March 14, 2005, clearly stating we're not at the top of the global happiness league. The latest round they did for the World Values Survey was in April 2001, when 38 percent of Filipinos said they were "very happy" and 49 percent were "fairly happy" for a total of 88 percent (probably rounded off).

How did we fare in the global league? The Social Weather Stations (SWS) notes: "When using the Very Happy and Fairly Happy responses, Filipinos ranked 31st, slightly above the international average of happiest people. Among its Asian neighbors, the Philippines placed 7th, after Indonesia (95 percent), Singapore (95 percent), Vietnam (92 percent), Taiwan (91 percent), Japan (89 percent) and Republic of Korea (88 percent)."

When it comes to using the "very happy" responses, the Philippines ranked 19th globally. Even in Asia, we trailed behind Vietnam, where 49 percent said they were "very happy."

What then were Time and Yazhou Zhoukan using? It seems the World Values Survey people eventually came up with a "subjective well being" index that combines "happiness" and "life-satisfaction" scores. Now that's where we seem to fare better than our Asian neighbors, as the Yazhou Zhoukan table showed.

Global perceptions

How did this idea of the happiest people on earth get propagated? The SWS press release said that the World Values Survey results were "inaccurately reported by the Office of the Press Secretary in its February 23, 2005 media release 'Filipinos are among the world's happiest people -- Survey.'"

So, now we know. But I think there's more to this than zealous press secretaries. First, I don't remember newspapers picking up on the SWS' clarification; instead, I had friends calling me to agree with the rosier Malacañang version. Deep down, I think we truly want to believe we are the happiest people on this planet and maybe eventually that belief helps to generate even more happiness in our hearts.

I suspect, too, there is a global perception that we are indeed one of the happiest people in the world. I've mentioned that Time magazine featured the happy Filipino as well earlier this year.

The global perception is there because, well, Filipinos are now to be found everywhere in the world and wherever we're found, people will say we are a "happy" people. Whenever I'm abroad and people learn I'm Filipino, they'll go, "Oh, Filipino" and start naming traits they associate with us: always laughing, always cracking jokes, always singing and dancing.

So poor, so happy

I'm ambivalent about these compliments, and that ambivalence came back to me as I read the Yazhou Zhoukan articles, which paint a picture of a country buckling under the economic crisis, with widespread poverty (yes, they had pictures of Smoky Mountain) and serious political problems, referring to the clamor for Ms Arroyo to resign. One Chinese phrase used in the article summarized it all: "amid great suffering, happiness."

And to show that happiness, the lead article has a half-page photograph of several men drinking, one of them toasting with a bottle of what looks like brandy. The most startling part of the photograph is that they're drinking with floodwaters swirling around them, almost as if to say, "Let's drink to the floods!"

On the next page is another photograph, showing a band of musicians with a large crowd watching them. There, Filipinos are always singing and dancing ... and drinking.

The lead article's text has a bit of social analysis, referring to our values, especially to "bahala na," often wrongly translated as fatalism, but in the Yazhou Zhoukan article interpreted as a happy-go-lucky attitude. But the magazine's main thrust is clear in the focus of the other articles: they all deal with our massive deployment of overseas workers, with specific stories on Filipinos in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Yazhou Zhoukan's insights are therefore more pragmatic: we're surviving through overseas deployment and, abroad, our Filipinos are a happy lot. The magazine has photographs of Filipinas in Hong Kong playing the violin, competing in a singing contest, and congregating in one of Hong Kong's plazas. For Malaysia and Taiwan, the pictures are again of Filipinas, this time in churches.

I'd say I generally agree with Yazhou Zhoukan's thrust, which is to show that Filipino happiness is really part of our coping mechanisms, rather than being the product of a good life.

I started this article Monday, before the congressional hearings began. By coincidence, on Tuesday the Inquirer had one of my former students, Skilty Labastilla, contributing a Youngblood column with the title "Pessimistic but happy." Skilty's article got me thinking that I'd need two columns to dissect Filipino -- and Filipina -- happiness. (There's a difference, as you might have noticed from my description of the Yazhou Zhoukan photographs.)

On Friday, I'm going to write about that elusive term "masaya," which was used by the SWS in its surveys and deal, too, with this "subjective well being" concept. For now, let me ask you: Were you happy with the congressional proceedings?

Losing Hope

Youngblood : If only

Renee Margarita P.
Inquirer News Service

WHEN you're down, they say, you have nowhere to go but up. Yet I feel otherwise. Yesterday I went down and now I have sunk deeper and deeper, as if the pit I fell into wasn't deep enough to swallow me alive. I am 27, jobless and penniless, with nowhere to go.

At 20, I felt I had it all. Just days after graduating from college, I landed a job in one of the biggest multinational companies. A few months later, I owned a sleek black car with my name on the plate.

I was the daughter for whom all the other moms envied my Mom. I was smart. I never gave my Mom any problems when I was growing up. I had a few boyfriends but never did anything that would put our family to shame. The first boy I had a relationship with was very decent. I never broke my curfew and I never failed to give my parents a gold medal every recognition day or graduation day. Vacations were always spent with family. Even if we had maids, I always did my share in keeping our house in order.

I was the idol of my two siblings and I was a model to all my peers when almost every girl my age was getting pregnant. When I got my first paycheck, I took my Mom and my siblings shopping. Months later, I was proudly giving big gifts to my parents and paying the tuition of my siblings and giving them generous allowances. In short, I was everything a good daughter could be.

So how did I end up broke and unhappy? I met a guy when I was 24 and, for the first time in my life, I stopped thinking. Then I shamelessly put aside my family and thought only of myself.

When I got big incentive bonuses for marketing programs I had put together, I would buy tickets for my beau and me and we would fly off somewhere. I thought I didn't have to feel guilty because, for four years, I had given away my income to my family. It was time for me to enjoy.

There were years when I would go home only on Christmas Day with a pair of jeans or a shirt for my siblings just so I could say I had given them gifts -- a far cry from all the well thought-out gifts I had given them in the past. I used to spend a lot of time choosing their gifts, and they told me they always looked forward to getting them. I loved them so much and I wanted to see their happy faces every time they opened the packages. But when my boyfriend became the center of my life, I stopped being a good daughter or sister.

Now when I look back, I realize that during the years I was sharing all I had with them, I was not doing it for love. I showered them with generosity only so that they could be proud of me. When one gives out of love, one doesn't get tired doing it at all.

Two weeks ago, because of my wrong priorities and because of my selfishness, I lost everything. My boss and I had a fight, and I quit my job. The only thing I had left in the world was my job, and I threw it away.

Now I have nothing. My bank account is empty and the telecommunications company and the credit card companies are threatening to sue me. Without my glamorous job, without my car, I am nothing. I have alienated myself from my siblings. All I feel now is regret, regret that I didn't value the people who mattered: the members of my family. I also regret that I didn't save when I was earning a lot. I lived for the moment without thinking of the future.

Do I still have hope? I don't know. I feel so tired. I wish I were just imagining things. I wish that when I wake up tomorrow I would be 24 once more.

Renee Margarita P., 27, used to be a product planning manager of a leading pharmaceutical firm.