Pag Maganda Daw ang Puno, Maganda Rin daw ang Bunga

Over the radio you hear certain candidates declaiming their so-called note-worthy accomplishments. One in particular captured my attention, the one which said that "Pag Maganda ang Puna, Maganda rin ang Bunga" (If the tree is good, then the fruits will be good as well).

The official responsible for this PR campaign is the current Secretary of Interior and Local Government and he takes great pride in increasing the number of police personnel and law enforcement equipment for the Philippine National Police.

So now that the police have all the equipment, what happens next? Equipment and increased personnel alone are not the solution to crime prevention, much less for people to trust the police. In the Philippines, people seem to be more wary of the police than of suspicious looking individuals, now why is this? Well I'm sure those people have their reasons but for me, the one that stands out is this:

In other countries, such as the United States, when police officers pull you over, they courteously say: "excuse me and sir" to the citizen. In the Philippines, there tends to be a reversal of roles, its the police who seem to demand that they be called "sir". Now I'm not sure how many of the Philippine National Police have really been knighted by a monarch but I doubt so many of them deserve the title.

The addition of personnel and acquisition of equipment is all fine and good but what is needed is more than a PR campaign to improve the image of police force but actually tangible efforts at doing so. A change in the culture which has been marred by charges of corruption and abuse of power and out of shape officers who shoot/arrest first and ask questions later. By train the next generation of policemen to become models of courtesy and law enforcement, the government can return the long lost trust of the citizenship to this once glorious institution. Its not impossible really, just daunting.

I believe that once people begin to see the police as protectors rather than threats then law enforcement will become much easier with the support of the citizenship. I hope I live to see that day.

By the way, shouldn't we also be asking who paid for this advertisement?

Expressing gratitude to the Canadian Embassy

I'd like to express my gratitude to the Canadian Embassy for denying my request for a Visa based on my economic and marital status. Thank you for your honesty in stating that you believe that once I set foot on your wonderful wonderful developed country, I will no longer go back to my poorly developing, poverty invested homeland. Of course EVERYONE wants to go Canada and never come back to where they're from, why its wonderful over there!

Lets list the reasons why its awesome there: There are uh... steaks and uh... mounties... and uh... The long tradition of wrestlers and George St Pierre and... snow and ice, alot of ice... did I mention ice and cold weather?

It seems that discrimination happens in democratic countries as well, if you don't have enough personal finances then you are immediately treated as a risk of becoming an illegal immigrant. Well poor people do that, damn us ignorant masses from developing countries. My poverty disgusts me, it really does. We're all uneducated, ignorant people who view their country as the promised land.

But its a fair trade isn't it? We have the honor, nay, the privilege, of letting them enter our developing countries with ease, to enjoy the tropical climate, picturesque beaches, exotic prostitutes and the opportunity to watch how real poor people live, not like welfare-supported-soup-kitchen-fed poor people, but real third world poverty, the kind you see on United Nations Websites and other feeding programs complete with flies and grime. The visit also provides them a look of human ingenuity and how people can construct habitations with discarded scraps of wood, cardboard, tires and steel, must be like watching early man build his first dwellings except this is made of scrap.

It seems that they're under the impression that I dislike my country so much that I'd be more than willing to trade my dignity just to stay there as an illegal. Thank you for a glimpse in your perception of ordinary citizens in a developing country.