A balikbayan’s plaint

Dear Ms. Orosa:

I avidly follow your column, and though my letter is neither on the arts nor on cultural maters which you normally feature, I do not know who else to send this to.

Having lived in the US for over 20 years I have come to realize the basic difference between the lifestyle there and the lifestyle I am adjusting to now. My arrival was a rude awakening to the "facilitation fees" at the airport. Everyone who helped me get my passport stamped or even so much as "touched" my baggage expected not a tip but a tong.

The "facilitation fees" became astronomical beyond the confines of the airport because Customs asked for "facilitation fees" likewise. It was an ambush! I now believe anything is possible in Manila with the right amount of "facilitation fees". But what happens to people who can’t afford them?

The exasperating traffic greeted me next. A two-lane street turned into a five-lane tangled web of cars going every which way. No one wanted to give an inch, thinking he had the right to get ahead in the knot-tied traffic. The police had virtually no control (or exercised none) while every driver insisted on forging ahead regardless of who really had the right of way or regardless of what the traffic light indicated.

PUV’s were the worst offenders. The jeepneys loaded and unloaded their passengers anywhere they pleased, even in the middle of the road! Whatever happened to stopping at the curb side as a common courtesy? The taxis for their part, raced to prospective passengers who were waving at them, regardless of who they might hit. The speeding and racing buses and trucks used both the middle and left lanes, bullying the smaller vehicles and driving them off the road. Aren’t PUV’s supposed to stay only on the right lane? That’s the law in America and it is strictly followed. Drivers of PUVs, including those of unregistered tricycles and pedicabs, must think they own the roads, driving as they please with reckless abandon, not even bothering to turn on their headlights. Why? To save on batteries?

The nightmarish traffic situation, made worse by inadequate traffic signs, will never improve unless the police start issuing violation tickets and stop taking tong. Try offering any US law enforcement agent P100 ($2) and you’ll end up in jail for trying to bribe him.

It is shocking to see a "Post No Bill" sign with graffiti all around it. Or the sign Bawal Magtapon ng Basura (Do Not Throw Garbage) with a mountain of trash beside it. Or the sign Bawal Umihi Dito while right below the sign two men are violating it. Why post such signs a all? Nobody pays attention to them, anyway. When will common sense, the honor system and integrity prevail?

Has trash burning been legalized? Our air is already so polluted that roadside and backyard trash-burning can only make it more life-threatening.

To be sure, America is far from perfect. But the presence of Law and Order is very tangible; systems work on their own. And because most Americans are law-abiding, the Honor System exists. I can’t imagine a newspaper stand operating in Manila. After dropping your 25 cents, the newsstand lock opens and you get your paper. Here, an opportunist will not only get one newspaper but also the rest of the entire supply, walk around the corner and sell the stolen newspapers!

Here, small people, if caught red-handed, are immediately hauled off to jail from the police precinct. By contrast, big people with long-pending criminal cases against them, are elected into office!

Where are the counterparts of yesterday’s nationalists and leaders?

Sincerely yours,

(Name withheld upon request)