Manila, the Unloved

Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing -- say Pimlico. If we think what is really best for Pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mystic and the arbitrary. It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico: for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable.

- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

As a visitor in Thailand, one remarkable thing that I noticed in the capital City of Bangkok is its cleanliness. I'm not saying that Bangkok is squeaky clean but this city is cleaner than my  nation's capital City of Manila.

Bangkok and Manila are relatively similar. Both cities have a big river passing through their centers. Bangkok have pick-ups converted into public utility vehicles while Manila have jeepneys. Bangkok have the tuktuk while Manila have the kuliglig. I can mention plenty of similarities between these cities but what doesn't match is the the way their citizens deal with trash.

I never saw any heap of garbage during my short visits in Bangkok. I passed through their main highway, I checked less luxurious parts of the city, I rode trains at several train stations but there was no garbage heap. In Manila, these disgusting heaps are everywhere. On the highway, near the church, beside the LRT stations, and in front of the palengkes (markets). Plastic bags, cartons, diapers, dog poop, human poop, and many more litter the sidewalks.

The government should be blamed for misnamagement but the much greater blame should be with the residents (and the people who go to Manila to work, study, and shop) because they don't love their city.

A man in-love gives the most precious stones and the most beautiful roses that he can afford to his beloved. His goal is to please her and make her a better, more beautiful person.

The same is true with Manila. If Manileños really love their city, then they will do their best to make their place truly beautiful.

Hatred of Spanish Heritage is Manila's Demise

We are taught to look at the three-century Spanish rule of the Philippines as the Dark Age. We are told, not only by historians but by the media, that our ancestors we're all slaves by the Spaniards. That all friars are harsh and they rape pious women.

Never mind the fact that it is the Spaniards who unified the warring tribes of the archipelago and brought stability. That these colonists gave us the laws, justice system, medical knowledge, engineering expertise, and many more things that improved the lives of many people. That missionaries defended the natives from pirates but also from the evil people of the colonial government.

The continued tirade against our Spanish past affects our identity as Filipinos. We cannot love our identity, and our nation, because we hate a part of ourselves. This lack of love translates on the way we treat the heritage we received our ancestors. It is not surprising, then, that Filipinos simply don't care about Manila or any other towns in the country.

As our Lord said, the truth shall set us free. Let us then face the truth and from there we can learn how to love good part of our identity, and improving the bad parts. Hopefully, from there Manila will rise as the queen that she really is.

Happy 443rd Year Manila, my Manila.

Contraceptive Irony: When "Safe" Means "Unsafe"

We are now in the era where decadent things are not just tolerated but even promoted. Take, for example, the case of lying. In theory, lying is still wrong and some people may even be sent to prison because of this sin. However, in practice, lying is promoted, particularity, in the advertising world.

Do you want to increase your sales? Just tell the consumers partial truth or even the total untruth. Show them a burger that looks so yummy and big and then give them the total opposite. Promise them a fast Internet and then make them pay for a pathetic service (and yes I'm speaking from experience).

Manufacturers of modern contraceptive tools lead the way in lying to consumers. To reap multimillion profits, they promote plenty of lies, the worst of which are about the adverse effects of their products to women's health.

I found an empty box of Trust Pill in a trash bin in front of a Mercury Drug branch. As expected, the pill's information sheet was left in the box. What I read in that sheet of paper somewhat amusing, particularly this part:

Spot the contradiction.

It said that “oral contraceptive is the most researched product in the history of modern medicine, and its safety has long been established”. It then narrated the adverse effects of oral contraceptive pills to “some women”, such as headaches, gastric upsets, nausea, vomiting, impaired appetite, breast tenderness, slight changes in body weight, slight changes in libido, depressive moods, and impaired liver functions.

The contradiction is very obvious and that it revealed the manufacturer's great lie.

The mere fact that there are adverse effects makes Trust Pill, and other contraceptive pills, truly unsafe not only for women's health but also to their relationships. Depressive episodes caused by pills may cause a rift between the user of this pill and her husband. Slight change libido, which was not mentioned how slight, may prevent women to have satisfting sex (which was declared by Senator Pia Cayetano as a “right” of Filipinas).

Their defense, of course, is that these adverse effects are only experienced by “some women” only. The problem is that they didn't quantify it. “Some women” may range from two women to one million or more.

There are other precautions for Trust Pill like its contraindications for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and those who have liver disorders, clotting disorders, breast and cervical cancer, sickle-cell anemia, hormone active tumors, hyperlipidemia, severe cardiovascular diseases, previous or existing thromboembolic diseases, and idiopathic jaundice.

Another adverse effect that the Trust Pill manufacturer conveniently ignored is the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (IARC-WHO) considered contraceptive pills, particularly estrogen - progestogen, as Level 1 carcinogens.

According to the IARC monograph for their research on Combined Estrogen–Progestogen Contraceptives:

There is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of combined estrogen–progestogen oral contraceptives. Combined estrogen–progestogen oral contraceptives cause cancer of the breast, in-situ and invasive cancer of the uterine cervix, and cancer of the liver.

Ethinyl Estradiol is considered as estrogen and Levonorgestrel as, which are the ingredients of Trust Pill, are considered as estrogen & progestin. (see these Wikipedia entries for Ethinyl Estradiol and Levonorgestrel for details) This means that this Trust Pill may cause cancer in the breast, uterine cervix and liver. Even ex-DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral accidentally admitted in a radio interview that birth control pills cause breast cancer.

I agree that oral contraceptive pill is the most researched medical product. The glaring lie is the claim that this pill's “safety” was established.

Birth control pills are not safe. It is dangerous to women's health. Those who promote its government-funded distribution is bringing plenty of Filipinas in danger.

Dressing Them Up into Little Women

There is something that many Filipinos consider to be cute but which I find disconcerting. That something may be summarized by this:

(Source: Safety Web)

It seems like more and more parents are dressing their little girls with grown-up clothes. I've seen little girls dressed in spaghetti straps, or in mini-skirts, or in small shirts that show their belly button. I've even seen some little girls wearing make-up!

Making little girls wear the Sex Bomb outfits is not inherently evil but it shows how their parents think. It shows how modern mothers and fathers value the innocence of their children.

I believe that children should act like children as long as their age allows it. Being a little child is a one time event and it can never be regained once its gone. Thus, it is the duty of parents to protect their children's innocence and keep them away from influences that can poison their minds.

It is hard to keep children away from the poisons of the modern world. The corruption wrought by Sexual Revolution was already ingrained in our society. Thus we have the showbusiness that cheapens love into sexual affairs. Thus we have advertisers who use sexual innuendos to sell products. And on and on and on.

Modesty is the first thing that was thrown away at the onset of Sexual Revolution. The long skirts gave way to ultra-mini skirts. The neckline that is actually set on the neck is now plunging just above the breasts. Even some of the clothes today are made of see-through cloths.

Generation after generation of women were made to believe that wearing clothes that appeal to men's eyes are fashionable – ah yes, SEXy. Generation after generation of women were made to believe that it is good to be fantasized by men and many ladies placed their happines on being desired sexually by men.

The current generation of mothers and fathers already swallowed the corrupt fruits of Sexual Revolution. That's why it is not surprising that they are the first ones to dress their daughters as strippers.

This immodest fashion trend for children's clothing is just the tip of the iceberg. I can still recall my online “fistfight” on Facebook regarding a McDonalds ad that featured two little children in a courting scene. And yes, many people also find the ad very cute.

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This post is an entry for Filipinos for Life July 2013 Blogging Event.

 

Burn All the Chairs!

There is one thing that a kid throwing tantrums will not receive and that is praise. He may get the toys that he demands but he will not be praised by his parents. He may even receive a spanking for his misbehavior.

Apparently, some adults didn't outgrew their habit  of throwing tantrums. Some of them even mixed it with popular ideologies to make it appealing and, in the process, acceptable. I'm referring to the leftist activists who have the habit of throwing tantrums just to send their points across.

I was attacked on Facebook this week because I criticized the “burning of the chairs” done by student activists of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). The activists burned the chairs to protest the alleged “2,000% tuition fee hike”.

The person who attacked me argued that the burning of the chairs is justifiable because they are fighting for a lofty reason, and that is to keep PUP education accessible to the poor. In short, she argued that the “end justifies the means”. 

(Source: Library of Most Controversial File FB page)

My opponent also argued that they (the student activists) have the right to burn the chairs because “they are taxpayers too”.

My reply to her two arguments is “wrong and wrong”.

Burning chairs and destroying public property is wrong because they're owned by the Filipino people as a whole. Each Filipino, including the student activists, has a right for that chair because he paid for it by his taxes. The claim that the activists have the right to burn the chairs because they are taxpayers too is foolish because they trampled upon the right of other taxpayers who don't want the chairs to be destroyed. They unjustly gave themselves sole authority to decide on the fate of those chairs.

The student activists argued that the chairs were already dilapidated and unusable thus suitable for burning. This argument is still baloney. Ownership is not determined by the condition of the property. My shirt is still my shirt even if it is already faded and full of holes. Those chairs that were fed to the fire is still owned by the public even if they are rickety or missing a leg.

Fighting for an ideal doesn't give idealists the license to do everything they want. Our actions are limited by the boundaries set by rights of other people. In the case of public property, my right to use it is limited by the right of other people to use it. I can say that I own the chair (I'm a taxpayer too) but I'm not allowed to carry it home. In the similar sense, I can say that I own the chair but I'm not allowed to burn it. My right to the publicly-owned chair is limited because my actions (carrying it home and burning it) prevented other people to exercise their right to use that publicly-owned chair!

Claiming that the “burning of the chairs” benefited PUP students because it stopped the tuition hike is worrisome not because their claim is questionable (PUP president said that the activists were misinformed because there's no tuition increase for undergraduate courses) but because their act is like that of a kid throwing tantrums. Their “victory” will surely embolden them to use the similar act whenever they demand something. And just like a kid throwing tantrum, their  acts will go wilder and wilder if their elders don't give in to their demands. Perhaps they'll burn a building of PUP when the university admin stopped being threatened by the “burning of the chairs”.