Trapped

Overwhelmed and clobbered, our entire nation, not only the government, is saddled with the same issues that have confronted us for decades.

- ARIEL NEPOMUCENO

Corruption, inefficiencies, fragmented society, political backwardness and poverty. And we are trapped in a consumerist and import-dependent economy with a stagnant manufacturing sector.

Our economic structure cannot create enough inclusive wealth that would benefit the majority of our people. Fortunately, blessed with the hard-earned remittances of our more than 2.5 million overseas Filipino workers who periodically infuse at least $18 billion to $20 billion annually, our economy is constantly saved by the bell. We survive, but definitely not thrive, by adopting a national expenditure program funded by heavy deficits which, having no immediate alternative, depends on loans that now total to more than P17 trillion. Not everyone knows how many zeroes there are in this staggering amount.

Meanwhile, the nation is outraged by the massive financial losses incurred in the ghost and substandard infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The said financial losses is only one side of this tragedy. Much worse are the hardships and danger that our communities face during the regular inundations that heavy rains bring, especially during an average of 26 typhoons yearly. The floods and landslides that now happen everywhere continue to stoke the flame that is definitely in everyone's chest. Somehow, as many pundits express, the social unrest and collective frustration of Filipinos want to explode while we are all humiliated as a nation.