On embroidered shirts, angry cyber-readers, and enviable urban wonders
Vitriol has been coming out of this column for several weeks now. To borrow loosely from the poet Emerson, we seem to be getting angry every minute and losing 60 seconds of happiness in the process. Yet anger for a reason is good and must remain. A momentary lapse of indifference or sustained bouts of merriment may not be good for a nation that still has lessons to learn from environmental carelessness, and forbearance with leaders who are too corrupt to care about sourcing life-saving rubber boats, among other things.
The drive to make our country better and have more honorable leaders rages on in cyberspace. Ms.Com has gone online, and it’s interesting how a lot of readers feel about my own lifetime preoccupation: to point out that the “emperor has no clothes,” when he really is butt-naked.
Here’s one letter I got from a “JC” who loves the Philippines, and hopes for a brighter tomorrow.
“It seems like an insignificant retail revolution. But I think it points to a shift in the Pinoy mindset. You see a lot of men and women wearing the Philippine archipelago embroidered on their shirts. Our map has gone iconic. I heard the ‘map’ shirt is now one of the most sought-after pasalubongs among Pinoys based abroad, other than Choc-Nut and Lapid’s chicharon. Politicians wear the shirts on TV. Pacquiao has the map on his jackets and training wear.
“That shirt’s popularity is proof of national pride, rekindled. Wearing locally made products and proclaiming one’s self as Pinoy is an encouraging sign. The love for the Philippines and fellow Filipinos was also evident in the aftermath of Ondoy, when everyone lent a hand. The uproar over Jackie Bermejo’s anti-Filipino Facebook postings also proved how united this social networking-crazy nation is.
“Nationalism. It’s a first step to making the Philippines great again. We must relentlessly believe in ourselves. We must collectively not put up with forces that would destroy the country we love. We deserve a better Philippines. We are hardworking, talented, creative, and fun. And we are beautiful, especially in those shirts.
“At the same time, there are things to hate about the Philippines. We must hold on to the anger, keep heckling an inutile bureaucracy, and inspire an apathetic citizenry to get their act together.
“Urban planning, for one. Is it a national priority? Boston has been described as having been planned with a cow meandering about. Bostonians must visit Manila. We used a carabao high on speed.
“Palafox and other urban planning champions have decried government inaction on studies that would have made our cities prepared for major disasters. Will real urban planning happen in my lifetime? I’m not even counting on anything close to Amsterdam, which has canals built purposely for defense and water management. It’d be too much to ask for our version of New York City’s Central Park, where half a million trees were planted to take in much rainfall and provide a sanctuary of fresh air for the weary city folk. I just want a city that works.
“It’s been three weeks since Ondoy and I have yet to see some bureaucratic action on urban decay. There’s been a lot of finger-pointing but less problem-solving. Urban developers, for one, could learn a thing or two from Rockwell, of which I’m a resident. Rockwell has had a 100-year flood plan, long before Ondoy. Any waterfront developer should have the same.
“There’s Manhattan, Paris, Washington, DC, Toronto, Sydney, Osaka, plus other great urban wonders. Our great small leader has been to all these places in her painfully long term as president, right? If only she were as envious and indignant, something good could’ve come out of all that sightseeing.”
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