An surprising conversation…
I recently got in touch with an old classmate of mine back in high school. She was doing ok; she had passed at the university of her choice, and she had a bright future ahead of her. Except for one minor glitch in her life, created by a “flurry of passion” as she called it. She was pregnant with her boyfriend’s child.
Not just any boyfriend. Not just anyone her age. Out of all the boyfriends she could choose, she chose to enter into a relationship with a teacher. It was nothing new to me that this friend of mine had a teacher for a boyfriend, and she had received many ear-deafening lectures from me back then, but the fact that they had numerous sexual encounters while we were still in high school surprised and disgusted me. Imagine a sixteen year-old giving up her body for a thirty year-old man who hadn’t had a love life until he met her. She had given up her future for just a few moments of taboo pleasure.
“Why the hell did you have sex without protection?” I nearly shouted in the phone, my eyes almost popping out while my mind flashed an automatic and repulsive short film of fictional child porn. A person standing next to the phone booth shot me a curious look.
“ ‘Wag ka nga magalit, nangyari na eh!” She snapped back.
“He’s a SCIENCE teacher for goodness sake and teaches sexual education! How the hell can he NOT know that having unprotected sex was dangerous? And the fact that you’ve done it more than once…you should have known better!”
She laughs nervously, and then responds with, “I don’t know. We weren’t expecting it at all eh, because we always have sex after my period…” I cringe. “But it just happened.”
“Are you happy…having that child?”
“Yes. I have no regrets.”
“How about your education? What about college? You wanted to become an accountant, right?”
“No problem. I decided I don’t need it. He’ll take care of us.”
“Has he asked you to marry him?”
“Ha? Marry? Well, life’s hard nowadays. I guess we’ll elope. We don’t have the money to get married.”
“But you never know. He just might leave you without a reason and leave you to take care of that child.”
“If we run into problems before I give birth, I’ll just…you know…have an abort—”
“Shut the hell up! You are not gonna go and kill that child! I thought you had no fucking regrets?”
“Ehhh…I don’t know, Astrid. I don’t KNOW…”
“Don’t make your child pay for your guilt.”
“Hayyyy…anyway, enough of this crap, I just want to believe I’ll have a wonderful life with him and our child. Don’t ruin that.”
She doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into. As I ended the conversation with a quick, “Take care of yourself,” my mind created a jumble of questions associated with what I just learned. As I delved deeper into Froilyn’s problem, I quickly came to realize what C.W. Mills was trying to point out in “The Promise”. He was trying to differentiate between a private trouble of an individual and the public issues of the society, and the relation between these two.
…Leads to Contemplation…
Micah, that friend of mine, was one of those thousands of minors who faced the same situation: an unwanted pregnancy. This small problem turned over and over in my head blossomed into a numerous questions: Why is there overpopulation? Is overpopulation the actual cause of poverty in the Philippines? With the continuous growth of the Philippine population, what effect could this have? Is overpopulation an effect of inadequate sex education? Does the influence of the Catholic Church in the lives of the Filipino people influence how the public sees sex or sex education? What of abortion? And beyond sex education, what of the Philippine system of education? Why are there incompetent teachers in the country, while the best Filipino teachers work outside the country?
Overpopulation? Where?
First of all, let me define “overpopulation”. In my dictionary, it means that a country has reached its carrying capacity and cannot house or accommodate more population. In the Philippines, we have been classified as an overpopulated country according to international standards. However, classifying it as an actual public issue has been debatable. Is it the root of all the problems in the country, or is it the effect of the problems in our country? Some people I’ve talked to have the perception that it isn’t the actual issue; it is unstable population density and the inability of the government to properly distribute natural resources and services due to location. On the other hand, some people believe that it is the root of all problems in the Philippines; overpopulation, which shrinks the country’s habitable and arable lands, causes underdevelopment, high crime rate, and illiteracy in the country.
In my opinion, population is NOT a problem. I believe there is no overpopulation whatsoever in the country. Why do I think that way? First of all, in pre-colonial Philippines there was the barangay system of owning land. Most Asian countries have this system. Clans claimed land without official declaration, and all members of that clan benefited from it. However, ever since the westerners came in and screwed our evolution and progress as a “nation”, the western belief of the land owning system was imposed. Land was divided and now we have the mentality that the Philippines has “shrinking land” because of population. Unfortunately, most of the lands are in the hands of the wealthy and rich. However, there is still a lot of habitable land available, and there is absolutely no need for Filipinos to rely on imported food when right in the backyard you could plant vegetables and rice and depend on the land’s resources for survival. It’s just that a majority of the people are too brainwashed to realize that.
On with another point. Population is a resource, and when utilized properly, it is be beneficial. It is the problem of the individual, and the solution also is also within us. Forget about the statistics and numbers, focus on each person. Let’s use Bangladesh as an example. Although Bangladesh has imposed population control measures, it is still considered a poor country. Another example: Singapore, Hongkong, and Japan have large population densities, but all of them are wealthy countries.
Another thing which makes me believe that population is not the problem; if we choose to solve the problem through the condom, we would see a decline in the population growth in the country. This will be a big problem in the future, when senior citizens begin outnumbering the work force of the country. Again, I stress that the real problem lies in the people, and it’s not a matter of numbers but a matter of perception.
What does poverty have to do with it?
With the topic of “overpopulation”, another social issue surfaces: poverty. In my opinion, a lot of factors cause this. One of those factors is the Catholic Church. I do not mean to go against my own religion, yet the influence of the Catholic Church in the government and the people somewhat bothers me. At least when it comes to sex education and family planning. There is absolutely nothing wrong in telling people to use abstinence. However, if you don’t provide alternatives or explanations why abstinence prevents harmful consequences of sex, then what people know about sex is limited. It is perfectly natural for humans to want to have sex, because of course, it’s in our drives to mate and produce offspring. However, with what I see, the church’s conservative views of sex have hindered the knowledge of reproducing from spreading. For example, this view has the average Filipino shy away from most talks about sex. Or this does the exact opposite; because of the hunger for that knowledge, some rely on pornography. This results in a clueless population with inadequate sex education.
Me, a heretic?
Some may disagree with me, and immediately attack me for going against the conservative view of the church. However, it is too conservative. With what I know, the Catholic church doesn’t promote any method of family planning, even if it’s natural family planning. Instead, the message that they send out is that a couple should have as many children as God wants to have. That’s perfectly fine with me. However, most of the Catholic population (most of them, poor), take this another way. They believe that having five children is fine. Seven children is fine. Heck, add three more and it’s fine. Besides, it’s the way God wanted it, right? Who cares if we can barely feed ourselves, as long as we can still create children because He said so.
Children are a gift from God, I certainly believe that. But would the ordinary poor think think that once they have eight thin children all cramped up in one room? Also, with the inadequate sex education they had, would it really be a wonder if they tried to stop conceiving through prayer? What I am trying to say is that having children is a choice, not pre-destined fate. First of all, the point of having children is to pass on genes and characteristics. Each child has the right to have a wonderful and carefree life. But with more children than common sense, can that wonderful and carefree life be given to many Filipino children?
I admit I am not a devout Catholic. But I have, unlike most of the population, been taught sex education. It certainly would not hurt the public if they were taught this important education. Sex shouldn’t be viewed as a hidden and taboo topic, but should be given more attention. I had sat in one of the health classes in high school with the topic of sex and reproduction. Only the anatomy of the reproductive organ was discussed, and contraceptives were mentioned but not discussed in detail. Also, the act of sex (perhaps too vulgar and liberal for the teacher to discuss) was not brought up; it is not as if these high school students would immediately go and test out what they just learned. However, the knowledge of intercourse (they say, the younger the better) can make students aware of how the biology works, recognize the consequences of such acts and therefore make wise decisions concerning these topics in the future.
Just look at Micah. She had no clue of whatever danger she was putting herself in when she thought, “Oh who cares it’s not like I’m gonna get pregnant when I screw around with my boyfriend.” She put herself at risk for HIV and an unwanted pregnancy. And her clueless boyfriend, despite his “expertise” in science and health, didn’t think of both of their safety when he decided to have unprotected sex. That’s only the tip of the iceberg for all those nasty icky consequences they forgot to think about. Her pregnancy could practically kill her.
In my opinion, lessening the influence of the Catholic Church on such matters will motivate the people into thinking for what will be best for their family. Modern contraceptives weren’t created to oppose religion, but was created for practical uses. Also, providing quality sex education to the public will help slow the population growth and prevent unwanted pregnancies and abortion. Lastly, making contraceptives available and accessible to the Filipino people should be one of the jobs of the government.
Inadequate sex education + conservative view = ???
Sex education is not the only issue. Abortion is another hot topic. It is evident that it is yet another public issue which plagues the moral standing of the Philippines. It states in Wikepedia.org: “The act is criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 but remains in effect to day. Articles 256, 258 and 259 of the Code mandate imprisonment for the woman who undergoes the abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the procedure, even if they be the woman’s parents, a physician or midwife.” However, if we are to review the whole issue, we can see that illegal abortion in the Philippines is recognized but take for granted. Wait. Abortion is illegal. But why the hell are Filipino women risking their lives to kill unborn children? And despite the heavy penalty of this crime, abortion is still practiced up until today. This goes to show how a failure the government is to implement laws and provide quality health care service to the public. The increase of the number of illegal abortions in the country from the year 2000 to the present is a sign that women have no or little access to modern contraceptives due to social and political factors. Also, there is the irony that although the Catholic Church opposes abortion, the Philippines has a high abortion rate for a Catholic nation. Also, because of the conservative views of the Church, abortion is rarely discussed and is an important public issue that needs to be brought to attention.
If Micah was to (God forbid) terminate her baby, she would be one of the half-million Filipinas who have abortions each year. And she could also be one of the fifty thousand women who develop complications after abortion or die. At least eight hundred Filipino women die annually because of these complications.
Quality Education? In the Philippines?
And along with all these issues, yet another one arises! The Philippine Education system. I was told that it was excellent during it’s early stages. However, factors such as the loans from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and corruption of the Philippine government has downgraded education. Arroyo’s government says that education has a large budget. Yeah right. The budget, on the whole, focuses on debts and other shit the government wanted the people to pay. The younger generation of today was born with the “in debt” stamp on the forehead. Even at the time of conception, Filipino parents passed on the genes of being an “in debt” citizen.
So who would expect that with a low budget the government could provide its people with quality education? Our education now is commercialized, colonial, and fascist. An example of commercialized education can be found right at our doorstep, at the University of the Philippines. Even though the government claims it is a National State University, what use is it if the tuition is not affordable for the average Filipino? What good does it do when a public university becomes a private institution? Also, students are forced to pay for ridiculous fees in my opinion. What the hell are cultural fees? And when did use was laboratory fees if a student did not have any activities or classes concerning lab?
This just goes to show that even in education provided by the government, capitalism and corruption rules. It’s not enough to serve the people; they have to ROB the people of their right to have an education, something which all the Filipino people should be subject to. But that’s not the case. Now the chance for a better future for the youth who come from poor families is gone.
Another thing is that education is a privilege, not a right. Only the wealthy can get quality education. The poor can just sit down in the bowels of society and no one would give a damn about them.
Now, our education is also colonial. Way back when the Americans started screwing up the Filipino mind, they thought up of a way to tie this colony to western values. “Let’s educate the people, and finally introduce them to the correct way of doing things: democracy,” they said. Yeah right. Their intention, motivated by the stupid western belief of “The White Man’s Burden”, was to brainwash the Filipino generations into thinking more like westerners, and therefore adopt western values.
That’s some clever thinking. Up till now this colonial education still extends it influence. Look around the average Filipino and see that most of our values ARE western. Philippine society had adapted to a foreign culture that’s not supposed to be ours. Look. We like imported products more than we like our own handmade crafts. We appreciate western food and tradition.
Lastly, our education is fascist. Fascist, meaning it is forced upon the people and do not offer any other choices. Education doesn’t have to be forced. As what was said in sociology class, learning is not only in the classroom. It’s a lifelong process which doesn’t need four walls to initiate. We don’t need to sit in wooden chairs and act like sponges (absorbent or not). Education is learning. Also, learning is not supposed to be torture and imposed. Students should be able to choose a vocation and not be teased and criticized for it, just because it won’t give you a high-paying job.
Education in our classrooms
Which brings us to the topic of how students learn. I studied abroad in during my elementary levels and studied in the country during first year high school to second year high school. I was shocked at what Philippine students learned. Instead of actual learning taking place, it was just memorization. No application of learning whatsoever. Also, students were “required” to memorize or else they would be a failure at school. Topics are imposed on the average Filipino student, and instead of trying to make education a fun learning process, teachers rely only on the auditory style of teaching.
Bam. Confronted with a different public issue all together. Incompetent teachers in the country. Oh, I don’t mean ALL of the teachers who work in the country are incompetent. I think it’s most of the teachers who teach in public schools and not-so-quality-private-schools have a problem. Who cares about the elite and exclusive schools…they make up of only a small portion of the schools in the Philippines. It’s understood that these schools provide the best education because of money.
In the school I graduated in, the quality of education was so-and-so. It was very lax, and although most of the students were in the middle class category, the salary for the teachers were low. The campus was quite large, but it’s facilities weren’t taken care of because of lack of funding. Also, with a low student population, who would expect the salary for teachers to be high? The fact that teachers have a low salary in the country has an indirect effect on the teachers who actually teach. Now, if a teacher at my school had a meager salary, I would not like to imagine what the salary would be for public school teachers. And here’s the short effect of low salaries: poor quality of education and student favoritism. Of course, if you aren’t being paid what you deserve, why would you be motivated to do your best for society? What’s the use of putting in all your effort if you only end up with a small paycheck at the end of the month, which is barely able to cover the expenses at home?
I visited a public school last year in Antipolo, Rizal. My mother, who attended a public school, said that public schools in the past were excellent. Perhaps because Marcos wasn’t president and the Philippines was not in debt at that time; I was even told that the Philippines was, back then, considered a First World country. Huh? Pretty hard to believe as I observed eighty one students crammed into one room. And only one teacher standing at the front, trying her best to teach all those students who sat on the cold cemented floor. Unfortunately, as my eyes wandered across the room, only the students at the front were given attention. I suppose they were top students, students who were eager to learn. At the back, less serious students chit-chatted and spent the whole class fiddling with their cellphones and talking with their classmates. Some, perhaps due to boredom, left the room during the middle of class. Talk about the education sector the government forgot to take care of.
So we see poor education as yet another serious public issue. No wonder it leads to the formation of other public issues, such as high unemployment. Also, this, paired with low salary, results in the “brain drain” phenomenon. Instead of our own country benefiting from its own professionals, other countries benefit from them. Therefore, what does that leave? Teachers who aren’t as professional as they can be are left inside the country. Those in the public and middle class schools. As some Filipino writers say, we may be breeding a generation of morons. Generation because around eighty percent of Filipinos are on or below the poverty line. What a nice way to predict our future.
Wandering thoughts…
So what we see here are a lot of issues plaguing the Philippine society. What a brain-racking thought. Here we are in a society full of issues that need to be solved. Some have stemmed from broader issues, such as government incompetence, or are offspring of different issues mashed together. Yet another question I have to ask: why are Filipinos too lazy to stand up for what they believe in? Why are most of the population aware of what is going on with society and country but are too hesitant to make a move?
As I’ve mentioned earlier about our education being colonial, even if you don’t finish school it’s pretty obvious that the average Filipino has adopted western values. Just watching TV can help you get an idea of what a Filipino is trained to do: be a consumer of another country. I just got an idea about how and why Filipinos were shaped to be that way.
So the Americans started education the western way, education which the Spaniards denied the Filipinos. Most of us were under the notion that this was a way of becoming more civilized and democratic. Ahem. American education does have a few positives, but if you see the overall concept of the education that was imposed on us. It was meant to shape us into consumers. It was meant to tie the country to America, not by means of territory, but through “globalization”, in which America could reign over Philippine economy. Also, it crushed any chance of nationalism to develop among Filipinos.
Globalization is the new type of imperialism in the world. For a country labeled as a “Third World” nation, globalization doesn’t solve problems. It creates them. Number one, we see unemployment grow because of local industries going out of business because of foreign industries going in and invading the market. Two, the cheap labor policy of the government is labeling the Filipino workforce as some type of slaves for foreign industries. And our government takes so much pride in saying that foreign investors are coming into the country. I’d like to see those government officials work their ass off in some factory and get paid P500 pesos a week; and then I’d like to know if they’d want to implement all those shit taxes that are “meant” for the services and whatever imaginative project they think up of for the Filipino. Three, because foreign industries are free to come into the country, not only do they take advantage of the cheap labor, but they also take advantage of the natural resources here in the Philippines. Because of this we are stripped of natural resources. Four, western culture is exposed and Filipinos have unknowingly adapted.
Woah. It would take a lot of headaches for us to figure this one out. Well, let’s see. First, because we were shaped to BE a colony, we were trained to be followers and serve outside the country. Most of the Filipinos were trained to be this way. When the Filipino people came together to oppose our colonizers, there was actual nationalism. The feeling of anger, hostility, and hatred had united the Filipino people. Our differences in language dialects and traditions were set aside. However, after all the fighting and peace came about, what did we see? The differences which were put aside surfaced, and created division among the many groups of people who lived in the Philippines.
Is is possible to change Philippine society? If we look at the broader aspect, the Filipino cannot be described in just one term only. Appearances, color, hair, language, tradition, and religion differ among the Philippines. Maybe this is one reason why it is very difficult to unite a group of societies who considered themselves Filipino under one stable nation. Another, industrialization is spreading across the country because of globalization. With this comes urban migration, which will, in time, overpopulate urban cities and leave towns in the provinces with lesser populations.
Therefore, is it possible to change Philippine society through all those ideas and concepts of psychoanalysis experts such as Freud? I think not. His concepts were tested and applied to an already stable nation. Also, even though America was a mixing pot of many races and cultures, it was a landlocked country and the nation was able to pull itself together as one by nationalism, both economical and social. The Philippines, on the other hand, is an archipelago and is scattered. Therefore, the development of different cultures and traditions in different parts of the country is no surprise.
So from what I’ve learned so far (and this is my interpretation), society is composed of structures. These structures are made BY the individuals FOR the individuals of society. Wait. Wasn’t the Filipino society structured by foreign individuals? Therefore, society today is structured not for the Filipino. Or our society is structured for the benefit of another nation.
So how to free ourselves of this? I mean, how to free ourselves from the grip of our colonizers in the economy and have an independent Not necessarily eradicating the whole system and starting from scratch, but by tackling social issues first before social reform. Keep the society as it is, who cares about structures of society, as long as the individual Filipino realizes his or her worth in this society.
M.M, in sociology class said, “Doesn’t the society influence the individual more than the individual influences the society?” I think it’s a matter of which way you’re looking at it. It’s not that one is MORE than the other. Both are correct. You can look at it from the top of the structure, and agree that it’s the society which makes the person. Or you can look at it from the bottom, and say, “No, it’s the individual that influences the society.” I agree with the statement that the past creates the identity of an individual, therefore society influences the individual On the other hand, individuals influence the society. This is more in the present and future tense. What makes up a society? A group of individuals. Who said that all these individuals would conform to the social norms set up in the past?
For me, I believe in the statement that “one makes a difference”. Individuals have the capacity to influence the people around them inside their milieu. This, I believe, will create a chain reaction which will spread among different milieus and in time, spread across the whole society. However, I do realize it’s limits; we cannot say that the influence of one individual will immediately become successful at manifesting itself, yet think on the positive side. Since the individual or the self is the basic part of society, it is up to every individual to analyze their situation in society and therefore deal with issues regarding their situation. If every individual realized what an important role they played in society and what they can contribute as an individual, our society would change very much.
It’s like a family. If one does not realize his or her importance in that family than social issues would not be resolved. I think the problem with the Filipino people is the unawareness that as one unit, and individual can change history, no matter how minute they are. Filipinos don’t recognize that society progresses when all individuals have realized their relation with the self and the society. Most of all, Filipinos are ignorant of the fact that we are products of the history of our society, and although we cannot change our labels and names, we can, working from within ourself, change the present and future. With the combination of other “selves” of course.
Solution?
Ok so call me such an old-fashioned person, but I really do believe that education is the solution to all this problem. Oh, the wonders of an education! Imagine all the economical and social problems we can all solve if our education is accessible to all! A nationalistic education is the key to a better future. Right now, the majority of the Filipinos can’t afford an education, so how is our society going to progress? Also, if the average Filipino is inspired to serve the country because he or she has realized his or her importance in society, I doubt if many would be willing to leave this country.
Conclusion
Thanks to Micah I was able to twist and turn my mind in many ways as possible concerning society and self. There are so many public issues plaguing the nation, such as “overpopulation”, “poverty”, “unwanted pregnancies”, “abortion”, and the list goes on and on. I see that the Philippine society, a product of its colonial history along with the biographies of the Filipino people (or experiences), needs drastic improvement. First, the Filipino individual needs to realize their purpose and worth as Filipino citizens. From that, Filipinos can tend to other problems and have the willingness to be an active part in society, not laid back, just waiting for luck to arrive. No. The society will be influenced by the individual if he acknowledges his rightful place in society. Differences don’t matter, as long as you’re Filipino. And what better way to spread that knowledge than through education that’s not constricted by four walls and chairs? societal
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