Ay Philippines

We returned home after our last day in Manila. didn't expect to go but at the last minute, we decided to take the noon flight out of Bacolod and spend the day in Manila, My how things have changed. We spent almost six hours just walking around Greenbelt. . . 1 2 3 and Four. Last time I was there I think it was only Greenbelt 1. I had no idea how big that place has grown. We stayed near the fountain and Jovi's girlfriend spent several hours catching up as I wandered aimlessly through the various Greenbelts that have sprouted over the last 15 years. The place is really nice and well kept. There are guards at virtually every entrance to keep out the riff raff. We dined at a place called Recipes, which serves Filipino food. It was a really nice place. Clean and the food was good. We had lechon Kawali with I forget the vegetable, Generals Chicken, and another vegetable that was quite good. Service was really nice, and the folks were friendly. We then went to a place called Cafe Bretone, right next to the Cafe Havana, right next to the Starbucks for coffee and crepes. IMagine that, French, Cuban and American coffee houses right next to each other. Outside cafes are cool. Outside cafes in Greenbelt are even more interesting.

We checked out the shopping stores and I bought a book at the National Bookstore, (Hagedorn's The Gangster of Love) but for the most part we were all shopped out, so I just wandered aimlessly about trying real hard to remember the place as jovi and her girldfriend caught up on chismis. I ambled over to Greenbelt 1, which is now totally different than what it was 16 years ago. I don't remember any of the shops. I rented some time at the internet cafe there and cruised the net and just did next to nothing, Then I decided to people watch, so I sat on a bench for a while, checking out all the women walking by, texting on their cell phones and just looking like typical pretty Manila girls. One even smiled when I smiled at her. Ay how hard it is to smile in the States.

Then it was time to get back to the airport for our return flight home. The traffic was pretty incredible. Very busy and the air seemed a lot more dirty than I remember, but with a population growth of about 20 million in the last 15 years, you'd expect that sort of thing. I really feel sorry for those who live in Forbes park and Dasma village, because even though they can hide behind their secure 15 ft walls, they are still breathing that dirty dirty air. Really lucky for those who live in Ayala Alabang or BF Pque, but then again, I didn't visit those places this time so I don't know how it is there air quality wise. The pollution is absolutely insane in Makati. Totall unacceptable. At the airport we stayed in the Mabuhay Lounge, and got a full body massage, Jove went for a neck and shoulder massage and I went for the full body massage, which was quite refreshing considering the major haul we had to embark on for the next 12 hours. I really enjoyed that airport massage and only wish I could have one everyday.

The continued Oppression of the Filipino

The Pilipino is a prisoner in his/her own country. Not really knowing much about the stratification of a country, I really feel the Philippines is a classic example of how money and the color of your skin affects your chances in the country. Perhaps this is true in other countries but in the Philippines, I think it is more pronounced. In the Gaisano mall in Bacolod, I noticed that a lot of the mall patrons had lighter skin, either with spanish or chinese blood. I didn't see the brown skinned Filipinos at any of the malls I visited. Not in Bacolod, and especially not in Greenbelt. What I am talking about are the people that keep the economic wheels turning in the Philippines. The taxi drivers, the street vendors, the people you see taking the public transportation, you don't see those types at the malls. Perhaps they can't afford to shop at the fancy malls, or perhaps the security guards screen those who are allowed in, it was really rare to see any Filipinos in the malls. Maybe I was blind to it before or naive ( I was very naive back then, really dumb) but this trip, I saw a very different Philippines than 16 years ago.

But really that is how things go in the Philippines. I just wish somehow someone in power will have the guts to start making a change. As of yet nobody in politics is interested in making life better for Filipinos. They are still more interested in enriching themselves. Ninoy Aquino was killed more than 20 years ago. Who has the werewithal, the charisma to step up and lead the land of squatter camps out of its misery? I continue my depression.