The view from Sai Kung

SAI KUNG — From the window of my bedroom in my daughter’s home in this second biggest town in Hong Kong of the New Territories, the view is an expanse of sea on the right side and blue mountains in the distance. This is not the Hong Kong I knew from past trips — the Star ferry in Kowloon Harbour and Central’s posh main street with the HSBC building as a point of reference.

Here in Sai Kung it was provincial Hong Kong.  There were both tall buildings that were described by my son as public housing for the poor and middle class and there were private, gated villas with huge gardens.

The sight to an outsider seeing it for the first time was a mix of the wealthy and the poor living side by side in a well-governed town. There were no unsightly squatter areas here.

The house where my daughter’s family lived was in a gated driveway called “violet gardens,” but when I asked to see the violet gardens she said it was only a name. There might have been one before but now it was just a winding road at end of which there were several houses in a compound.

 First on the list of things to do was a walk on the promenade where reviews describe some of the best fish and seafood restaurants that can be found in Hong Kong.

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If you have not watched the movie Bonifacio ang Unang Pangulo,  take time to see it. It has been praised by those who have viewed it. In my case, it was a startling revelation because I had not known of Bonifacio as the first president of the Philippines in the many years of history lessons as a student.

Cesar Umali in FB said Bonifacio, ang Unang Pangulo gave him “insights why Philippine governance set up on the wrong foot.”

“Many cynics again will shut off this post, but before doing so, please give me some time for some consideration to listen to me, and think deeply,“ he begins, “because for centuries, Filipinos (majority of them except the elite who are reaping the bounty of the Philippines) have suffered misery, want, exploitation and poverty. Yours truly after being educated in the top schools here and around the world could not stomach what has been going on for centuries, because majority of Filipinos have for a long time dreamed of a “Masaganang Taon” year after year, and this yearning just remains an impossible dream.

Bonifacio was a dreamer, but he lacked education and the proper tools to launch his Katipunan to free his countrymen from slavery from Spanish tyranny, sacrificing his life and in the end met his tragic death at the hands, not of their enemies the Spanish friars but their own countrymen..

The movie at long last exposed the truth about Bonifacio, and as my history teacher told us in college, he should be on the pantheon of heroes, not Jose Rizal who did not launch the revolution, not Emilio Aguinaldo who had the power to stop his murder but did not do anything, not Manuel Luis Quezon who said he preferred a government run like hell by Filipinos rather than government run like heaven by the Americans.

This is what we have, and had for many years since independence in 1946 from the Americans – a government run like hell, because majority of Filipinos could not avail of a government that is free of corruption, free of mismanagement, free of efficient social and public services like education, efficient transportation services, social overhead facilities like hospitals, high level education, infrastructure and communication, and if these are available, these are only within the reach of the elite. Around 70 million people could not avail of health services, enough food, education and a decent life.

Bonifacio and the rest of the leaders who followed him set up on the wrong foot – the lack of a solid foundation that would launch the revolution against slavery and set Filipinos free. This foundation comes from the Word of God. Now I am sure all of you will scream in disgust with laughter. But listen up. If we look at all the other strong nations like Great Britain, America, Japan, Germany, and even our neighboring countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea , and Indonesia, these countries somehow hurdled the loop from a third world to the present progressive status, mainly because of good governance.

This governance was founded on a strong united political will to survive and hurdle that loop, which the Philippines does not have because of the lack of a solid foundation like a political will and united energy that will catapult our country to first world status, our political will is corrupt , coming from the root of selfish individual interests of the elite, and the lack of unison and unity among our leaders. When selfish interests set in, disunity and chaos follow like what happened to the Philippines. Singaporeans have a strong government based on law and a strong leader, Lee Kuan Yew, Malaysia, the same thing, Thailand has a king and also a strong government based on law, the same with Indonesia and all our neighboring countries, while the Philippines has a democracy ruled by the elite with selfish interests.

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On the other hand, there seems to be no end in sight for the corruption and misgovernment of the Philippines. Today, according to COA’s findings, there are unliquidated amounts by officials of the P-Noy government running into billions. All the P-Noy government can do to answer COA is that the audit office is mistaken. No need for any further explanation.

According to an August 2014 study by Global Security Organization headed by John Pike, 25 percent of the Philippine national budget was lost to graft and corruption. If you take the 2015 national budget of P2.6 trillion, that translates to P650 billion or the equivalent of $15 billion.

Jose Alejandrino of Bayanko says, “this merely confirms my analysis of the budget in a previous posting last year. It also shows that corruption has reached a level that surpassed the Marcos years, or for that matter any previous administration.”

President Aquino has clearly lost control. Many in his government are robbing the national treasury openly. Part of the reason is because Filipinos have stopped to care. They will have to pay the price by not caring. When the next government takes over it will have no option but to impose big taxes on the middle class to sanitize once again Philippine finances and service its huge debt. And the cycle of corruption, debt and poverty will continue until the people decide to break it. The oligarchy and political dynasties are not worried. They have already made more than enough money to live in luxury abroad. It will be those who cannot flee abroad left to suffer the consequences.

“Now, who is the g_g_?” Bayanko asks.