America vs Philippines: The Burdens of Women

What are the burdens unique to women, or considered traditional by social mores? Yes, these are generalizations, with lots of variations. The aim is to promote discussion, not prove anything.

The burdens and responsibilities of women:

1. Children: Bear children and nurture them through youth in good health, with good values, and with good education.

2. Kitchen: Cook and manage the kitchen. Keep the food stocks in good supply.

3. Cleaning: Clean up after the slob husband or messy kids end their thoughtless marauding about the house.

4. Clothing: Make sure the clothes are clean and in good order.

5. Values: Make sure the family has high moral values, like those taught and preached at church.

6. Recreation: Be fun in bed for the hubby and make sure social engagements, picnics, beach visits and other recreational activities bring entertainment and laughter to the family.

7. Health: Keep medicines available, whether prescription or herbal, and make sure everyone gets needed love and encouragement when sick.  Haul sick or injured family members to the doctor whether they want to go or not.

8. Presentment: Abide by the fashion standards of the time to represent the family as modern and stylish.

Did I miss anything material?

How do burdens in the Philippines differ from those in America ? I'll use the American grading mechanism and assign grades as follows to try to draw a distinction, where a high grade means that overall "delivery" on the attribute is good based on what we see around us:

• Excellent: A
• Good: B
• Fair or average: C
• Substandard: D
• Failing or really, really rotten: F

1. Children: Health care in the Philippines in outlying provinces is very weak, so kids are more susceptible to diseases, loss of teeth, and injuries. Education is not free, so is harder for the poor to get a good education. American schools are free, rigorous and attendance is mandatory. A high school degree in the Philippines is is not equivalent to a high school degree in the US.  Philippine kids don't compete well globally unless they get into private schools. Philippine values are conservative but laws are routinely ignored. Grades: America A, Philippines D

2. Kitchen: American kitchen work is often outsourced to fast food outlets, and obesity is a problem. In the Philippines, fatty foods are a problem. America has many foodstocks available, with much of it in boxes or cans or frozen, and cleanliness is closely monitored. The Philippines relies more on fresh food products because refrigeration is not a given. I personally find that I eat healthier in the Philippines than I did in America, and the flavors are more elegant and robust in the Philippines. Grades: America C, Philippines B

3. Cleaning: I discern little difference in the quality of cleaning, one nation to the other, except that waste disposal and sewerage is a problem in the Philippines. Bathrooms can be quite atrocious. Structures in the Philippines may be more rustic in outlying areas, but there is water water everywhere, so things get washed fine.  Grades: America A, Philippines C

4. Clothing: Poor Filipinos wear hand-me-downs and cheap clothing until they grow so tattered they fall off, so the condition is sometimes poor.  But clothes are generally cleaned regularly. Indeed, there is a pride taken in wearing clean clothes after a freshening shower or bath in the morning. Americans are consuming addicts and clothes are a part of the addiction; washing and drying is usually done by machine. Grades: America A, Philippines B

5. Values: The Philippines is anchored on Catholic, Christian or Muslim values with a strong cross-current of superstition. Americans believe in Christian values and hold to them with less widespread corruption and rule-breaking than is the case in the Philippines. A large cut of the American population is not engaged actively in church activities. Alas, it is deeds that count, not visits to church.  Grades: America B, Philippines C

6. Recreation: Americans live for their games, watching in the stadiums or on TV and participating in the backyard or neighborhood park. Women participate, too. And they are mad about music.  Filipino men play basketball and follow boxing, but women aren't into physical sports. Entertainment is their passion. Singers and actors rule. Karaoke is a sport in the Philippines, along with dancing. And of course, no matter where you are in the Philippines, the beach is right over there.  Grades: America A, Philippines A

7. Presentment: American women got knocked a little off the fashion stride by the women's movement of the late 20th century. It became uncool to watch beauty contests because they peddled women like packaged meat. Fashion lost its frills. Filipinas are very much into the starlet look, with the whitening creams and shampoos touted on television. Americans in public tend to dress sloppily. Filipinos are neat and tend toward a conservative look. Grades: America B, Philippines A.

So if you look at the sum of the grades, you see that women in the Philippines carry particularly heavy burdens in the raising of children and development of values. The social infrastructure and educational platform work against their kids. Sanitation is also a challenge, particularly in poor areas. So health is troublesome.

Face it, unless you are middle class or above, the Philippine infrastructure supporting the family is weak. The married woman's job is much harder in the Philippines than in America. Heath care, weak. Public education with 45 kids to a classroom, weak. Social acceptance of subsistence crime and rule-breaking, high. Sanitary infrastructure, weak.

As for single women, again the opportunities are limited unless you are connected, or can get a slot at an Americanized firm like a call center that has a career track. The horizon for the underclass woman is a lifetime of hard work for precious little pay. Making babies looks good in that light, married or not . . .

Where am I going with this?

I read a comment on a Rappler article that was very profound.  The article pertains to the level of foreign direct investment in the Philippines. Here's the comment and a link to the article:

• trevor.evans62

  The Current Constitution states that the Filipino family is the foundation of the Nation, so how does it justify breaking up the families of OFWs by sending the breadwinners abroad for jobs? ARTICLE XV THE FAMILY Section 1. The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.

It is a very good insight. And it applies as well to the INFRASTRUCTURE supporting families: health, education, good values, sanitation.

Infrastructure is not just roads and trains and airports and docks.

It is hospitals and doctors and schools and values (leading by example in the Philippines seems very weak to these Western-trained eyes) and utilities.

RH is infrastructure for the family. Investment in schools, new ways of teaching (internet) and new curriculums is infrastructure for the family. Sanitation is infrastructure for the family. Upgrading medical care is infrastructure for the family. These elements provide the platform that make a woman's burdens lighter, and achievement of good results more likely.

The Constitution is fundamentally a good document.

Implementing it is the challenge.

I can only offer my admiration for Filipinas who work with determination to overcome the challenges set before them, those who tend to the many needs of the family in good cheer and raise kids who are healthy, happy, bright and well-directed. These women are clearly very determined, strong and iron-willed of heart.

They are heroes in my book.

The Philippines: A Gem in Tattered Clothes

Well, I suppose "Gem in Tattered Clothes" is a mixed metaphor. Maybe it should be a "gem caked in mud", or "a hunka-hunka body in tattered clothes".  The point either way is that we should not let the problems and poverty of the Philippines mask the promise and progress that is here, too. For sure, we should look beneath the mud and tattered clothes and recognize what is really going on.

I've been beating around a lot of bushes for several months, examining this aspect and that of Philippine culture and politics, and maybe it's time to take a break and try to put some overall order to things. Lacking a paint-brush that is able to present accurately the overlapping complexities of the Philippine social/economic/political spectrum, I shall start with a few bullet points, then elaborate on a one or two of them.

This is the Philippines as I understand it, in no particular order other than how it came off the keyboard:

1. The Philippines has an excellent President. He has established a stability and focus on good, earnest government, not for his personal ambitions, but for the Nation. He looks for integrity and competency in his appointments. He has a lot going on. The Nation's new course, and its stability, is being internationally recognized as different, and good.

2. The forces against change are mighty and include the rich power-pushers who back politicians and manage the few big businesses in the Philippines; they are interested in themselves more than the national good. Also the Catholic Church which adheres like Mighty Bond to 15th century values, no matter the wisdom Man has compiled since then. One wonders as to oligarch and church understandings of patriotism. These are the same intransigent powers that Rizal wrote about, and died about.

3. The economy is sound but thin and comparatively poor. The Nation's poverty is a benefit (a competitive advantage) in the sense that it impels OFW's to go out and send back a lot of money, and it attracts businesses like call centers to the Philippines where they can operate at low cost. But poverty is also the biggest problem because so many Filipinos live in unhealthy or even dangerous conditions, and they have no future.

Oil Exploration Areas Out for Bid: Source DOE

4. The economy is developing some solid roots that are spinning off a bigger middle-class. Call centers, construction, agribusiness and fisheries, a sound and professional tourism push, and new casinos coming to town. Oil exploration. The Nation's finances are stable, stocks are roaring, debt ratings have been upgraded, and investors frequently mention the Philippines as a potential new star of Asia.

5. Certain foundational government institutions are in extraordinarily poor shape, suffering from too much demand or not enough funding, corruption, and incompetence. The most dramatic of these are the courts and the education system. Also in poor shape are agencies like DENR and Customs (both with deeply engrained corruption) and the police (fractionalized, poorly trained and corrupt). Newly appointed Chief Justice Sereno is a flash of hope for change in the courts.

6. The nation's defense capability is weak. It has no air force or navy to speak of, and the army is consumed with fighting Filipinos (NPA and Muslim extremists), not national enemies. The upper ranks of the Army are swelled by fat and happy generals who are more political animals than fighting machines.

7. International relations are dicey but overall strengthened from what they have been in the past. Frictions and jealousies about the United States have been set aside in favor of a needed backstopping alliance. China is the bully and the Philippines has not rolled over; nor has the Nation picked a fight. Alliances are being strengthened with Australia, Japan and South Korea, and Mr. Aquino has visited with leaders of other nations to open good lines of communication. China is the main fly in the international ointment as she behaves belligerently and unreasonably.

8. The nation's social values are not conducive to building a progressive, productive state. Poverty means that subsistence is more important than obeying laws (resulting in over-fishing, cheating, rudeness and a great deal of self-interest over community interest). Education teaches rudimentary and fairly useless things (memorization of irrelevant information) versus socially useful disciplines (obeying laws, competing fairly, responsibility, aspiration). Many parents don't exercise good discipline in nurturing kids. Patriotism is based on pride, not sacrificing for the community or nation.

9. Congressional leaders are not particularly productive, being influenced by social values of self-interest and excuse-making, the moneyed few, and the Catholic Church. There is a lot of pomp, as if they were royalty above the common man (e.g., Santiago rants and Sotto rationalization of plagiarism). Positive: some productive bills have at least gotten attention: RH, FOI, Party Development. Negative: the more meaningful, socially impactful bills struggle to get enacted. We . . . just . . . can't . . . get . . . un . . . stuck . . .

10. The Nation is rather like Manny Pacquiao, rolling from the punches thrown by typhoons and floods. Disaster resources have been built up. Most of the effort is still reactive, however, rather than long-lasting and founded on strong defenses (flood channels that work). It's like that when you are against the ropes every three weeks.

11.  There is a new aspiring sheriff in town. He is represented by a combination of mass media with social media and internet communicators. Although there are not a lot of players in this media arena, it is an amalgam of articulate opinion-makers that can come down heavy on those who would abuse the Philippines. Senator Sotto will unhappily bear witness. The people's voice, as an important check and balance in democratic governance, has never been stronger.

12. The broadly held reputation of a shoddy, shabby Philippines is wrong (a common view held in the United States). The Philippines has an amazing depth of first class people and facilities, from its financial managers to its executive officers under President Aquino, from its tourism sites to its call center and construction dynamos, from its agribusiness powerhouses (fruits and oils and fishies) to its gorgeous landscapes. This nation is emerging as first class, but it still dresses in rags.

I've been in the Philippines seven years now, and the future has never looked better.

The main reason is the flood of public passion that put President Aquino in charge. Many think this was a form of idol worship, but I think it was deeper than that. I think it represents an educated public largely tired of getting conned and ripped off. President Aquino was the beneficiary of this outpouring of frustration and hope, and he is striving to fulfill his mandate for good, non-corrupt, economically sound governance.

The forces against him are heady, namely those who resent, hate, detest change. The Catholic Church. Oligarchs. Corrupt people feeling the pinch of non-corrupt authorities watching what they do.

I think the President's true, deeper capabilities are largely masked by the "shine" he gets from arresting Arroyo and getting Corona tossed. Looking deeper, we can confirm he is focused on a vision of the future and works actively toward it, like a corporate executive would. He hires good, capable people to head important agencies, not slugs who suck off the public peso. He displays the determination to install new social disciplines: backing responsible parenthood in the face of Church condemnation, introducing performance bonuses to government workers for productive work, pressing for accountability for results (firing 31 DENR officials for failing to implement a Presidential Order). His government is a beehive of constructive activity.

The Legislature does not seem to be able to keep pace. It is bogged down in the partisan bickering that is particularly dense in the Philippines, where any imagined sick tree is reason enough not to plant a forest. So things get stuck easily.

The courts are in ICU. What a mess. There seems to be no understanding that speedy hearings are fair, or facts are fair. The grease that runs the courts is money. Judges are wasting time doing annulment hearings while legitimate damages to people are not addressed. And attorneys are in cahoots with the sloppy, negligent, unprofessional way things are done.

So one of three branches of government is up to the task.

The Political Party Development Bill may change the workings of the Legislature. But it will be after 2016 before that settles in. I think it falls to the media, social and internet, to hold the Legislature to higher and more productive standards. Legislators themselves seem to have little interest in raising the bar (witness the silence about Sotto transgressions).

The courts? If prayer would work, I'd pray for a good and powerful improvements from CJ Sereno. But I tend to think God gives us the free will to make our beds and the kind of justice system we get depends on how smart and hard we work. In this case, how smart and hard the Honorable Sereno works. Not how diligently she prays.

The Philippines needs a rallying cry.

"Remember the Alamo!" won't work. Nor "Remember Ninoy!". Not even "Remember Jesse!"

It ought to be something that means: "We're in! We accept the challenge! We're dedicated to competing globally as a first class and responsible Philippines!"

Can we get that into five or six powerful words?

Put Mr. Jimenez on it.

Maybe he can come up with something short and sweet.

Rating President Aquino: Part III

I've been working on a more rigorous way to evaluate President Aquino's job performance. In the first article, I identified seven areas of responsibility:

1. Presentation
2. Global engagement
3. Infrastructure
4. Health and security
5. Wealth building
6. Social cohesion
7. Timeline architecture

In the second article, I did a "quick and dirty" evaluation of the first two elements, and in this write-up, I'll examine "Infrastructure" and "Health and security" at a very broad level. None of this pretends to be a final and exhaustive evaluation at this stage. It is just moving stepwise toward that goal.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure as defined here means the framework that supports communication, transportation and commerce. These are the physical platforms and networks supporting government, business and private activities.

The island structure of the Philippines poses unique issues in moving people and goods. The structural framework is elaborate and complex. Trains, roads, phone service, internet service, gasoline, essential food services, ports, electricity, water, sanitary services, air transportation, ferry services, even mass media which are the framework for ideas and news. That's infrastructure. It is more than roads.

Some infrastructure work is done locally under distributed money controlled by the President's finance department. Some is done through loans provided by the World Bank or other nations (Japan, Korea). Construction contracts are huge and have been plagued with corruption in the past (kickbacks).

• The President restrained spending early during his term to seek to stabilize his budget and get a handle on expenditures. This sacrificed infrastructure spending and jobs for improved financial stability, resulting in a higher investment rating for Philippine debt. So that is a case where "failure" to develop infrastructure had positive results.

• Now, the President seeks to accelerate GDP growth by embarking on major construction projects. Upgrading airports and roads leading to airports. Improving access to tourist destinations. Improving the highway system in Manila. More train services. The Administration also has working to make bidding for contracts more transparent and less vulnerable to payoffs, a huge plus in terms of getting money to go where it provides the best return. Not into someone's pocket.

• The nation appears to have no internet policy or plan. It does not seek to ride herd on phone companies which build the internet networks. Mass media is self-regulated which means there is little regulation, leading to things like the televised bus massacre or massive numbers of commercials in popular shows.

• Electricity remains a huge problem. It is already expensive and supplies in Southern Mindanao have effectively run dry. Brown-outs from service failure or conservation are common across the Philippines. No comprehensive plan exists to build better electrical stability. The country is too poor. Or incapable of putting electricity over farm  to market roads as a priority?

• Gasoline prices are a huge problem. Government is stuck between two huge rocks: (1) "socialistic" price controls at the pump to protect small transportation companies and the critical services they provide to car-less Filipinos, and (2) the negative impact price controls have to discourage private energy companies from investing in the Philippines, to build refineries or gas stations. No comprehensive plan appears to exist that guides the nation between two critical, conflicting demands.

• Ports and ferry services remain dilapidated and are run at the very edge of safety. Airlines face the same problem and are banned from adding flights to the U.S. and Europe because maintenance programs do not measure up. The need to modernize is important. There is no money.

It is impossible to upgrade all infrastructure to modern standards in one president's term. However, it is possible to articulate long-range solutions. Budgets, priorities, rationale. If the plans existed, made sense, and progress along the stated path was steady, the score would be high. But as long as no plans exist and progress is patchwork, it is hard to score infrastructure work high. The Philippines still seems largely reactive. I'd love to be told otherwise.

The one place where a plan does exist orients around tourism and the need to upgrade airports and roads leading to airports and tourist destinations. But this was largely occasioned by the Philippines being ripped in international media for having the worst airports in the world. Not by a desire from within the Philippines to show people a better time.

Infrastructure Score 6.5. Assign 6.5 points to the President's overall score.

Health and security

How safe do you feel? Are you worried about health issues?

Threats to safety come from outside (China), inside (Muslim extremists and NPA rebels), illness and disease (from high blood pressure to bird flu), and high risk of injury (from dogs in the highway to flash floods).

• President Aquino's stance on China's claim to islands in the West Philippine Sea is firm and as sound as it can be considering the nation is dealing with an emotional powerhouse that is highly self serving. Approach: Adhere to UN boundary rules, keep the doors of dialogue with China open and continue to build commerce, firm up the alliance with the U.S., build sea patrol capabilities and possible quick air response. Strong approach, no matter what the outcome may be.

• The President (his staff) is talking, talking, talking with Muslims, trying to articulate rules for Muslim autonomy that do not violate the Constitution. Efforts are also being made to upgrade economic fundamentals in areas that are safe for investment. Radical elements are being chased on the ground, in part with U.S. assistance. Strong effort.

• The nation has a broad hospital network, but it is what one would expect when there is not sufficient money to obtain modern equipment and high-skill doctors throughout the nation. Too many Filipinos die too young. The rich avail themselves of first class treatment in Manila. The poor die young. The closing of the gap requires a long range plan that does not appear to exist. So improvement is slow and erratic.

• The Philippines is a risky country. Kids harvest coconuts without safety belts. Dogs are allowed to roam on the same highways where motorcyclists, without helmets, speed, without traffic enforcement. Equipment from overloaded trucks to ferries to jet planes are not properly maintained. Logs are clear-cut and flash floods wipe out cities. The Philippines HAS upgraded its systems for storm warnings and response to natural disasters.

What's the plan? What's the plan? What's the plan?

Health and Security Score: 7.0. Add 7.0 points to the President's total score.