Most patriotic thing to do: Move out of Manila

MANILA, Philippines - As we approach Independence Day, an old article online resurfaces more than a year and a half after it was first published. It quotes President Noynoy saying that we should be thankful for the heavy traffic because it is an indication of the improving economy. To quote the Yahoo! article, entitled “Aquino: Traffic Sign of Booming Economy”, Aquino said “Dahil marami ang nasa kalsada, buhay na buhay ang ating economiya kaysa naman walang trapik sa EDSA dahil wala ng makabili ng gasolina na patakbuhin ang kanyang sasakyan.”

The article has found its way back into the mad world of social media for two reasons: First of all, it remains relevant because heavy traffic is still something we face every day. In fact, traffic has worsened with the MRT becoming more and more unreliable with every loosening screw, jammed nut, and packed coach. Secondly, the article was raised from the dead because it illustrated a classic case of nut head logic, immortalized in cyberspace where netizens — a small community of middle class citizens and “intellectuals” who forge no allegiance with the masses or the elite—are always on the lookout for cheap laughs over the poor or the powerful. Of course, all these, they do online where they can only make less noise than dogs barking up on the wrong trees.

But the President’s remark was, indeed, priceless. It showed how mindless he can be of how market forces work both in theory and in real life; of how bad traffic can only mean difficult and costlier transport of people and trade goods; of how his administration’s continuous jacking up of gasoline prices can only mean the continuous jacking up of the price of other basic goods as well; or, even, of how easy it is to acquire a car loan these days (and how easy it is for our banks to crash because of aggressive lending and unscrupulous grants). If his logic was to be accepted as is, then cities like New York and Tokyo would’ve been jammed in traffic 24/7. But to cut him some slack, how should he know about the difficulties of commuting when all his life he has lived as an Aquino?

In a strange way, though, the President’s statement makes a lot of sense. The heavy traffic we face can be an indication of economic growth—but it’s not because people are on the move and at work, as the President’s flawed logic says it is. The heavy traffic can be an indication of economic growth because it means that Metro Manila’s population, a population largely composed of middle class to upper class citizens, is getting richer, at least rich enough to afford cars and the many liters of gas needed every day. But this also means that “the trickle-down effect” that the Aquino administration banks so much on is as fictional as his claims of a corruption-free government.

Metro Manila traffic is indicative of poor planning and the lack of decongestion and decentralization efforts. While our lives may be improving with the city enjoying hot money from the stock market, triggered by positive ratings and an upbeat atmosphere in trade, these are not felt in the provinces at all. Save for the relatively small earnings our country gains from tourism, our provinces are barely as utilized as they should.

My fearless gamble: While we are young, live and work in the province. There are too many untapped talents and resources outside Manila. And in some cases where talents are developed, they are made to serve foreign masters or profit-centered conglomerates as in Boracay, Baguio, and La Union. They coerce and create a new hegemony instead of blending in and synthesizing with local industry.

We need the young to move out because we need new blood in the deadened countryside. For the young who, all their lives, lived in the city, there is plenty that the countryside can teach them. But while there is a need for the young to be elsewhere, it is important that they shake the dust of their feet first and leave the Manila-superiority out the door. We need the young to move out precisely because they can still re-mold themselves; something we can no longer expect adults to do. In a bigger sense, this completes the narrative of changing oneself to change the world.

Too often we see yuppies trying to find themselves in the city, working in jobs they don’t like, never knowing exactly how to get where they want to be. But whenever they find themselves at ease and enjoying the calm of the sea or the quiet in the mountains, all they wish is never to return to their desk jobs. But of course, they still return to the city, no less frustrated, with only an Instagram post for a souvenir. And in an act to convince themselves to stay, they concoct a list of reasons out of thin air. But they have to realize that it’s easy to make a move once they just begin.

You’ll be missed but you won’t be dead. You can probably even invite your friends to come over.

As we celebrate Independence Day, I wish to put forward the late great Nelson Mandela’s words, “The purpose of freedom is to create freedom for others.” Free yourself of that notion of getting strapped to a desk job and think beyond your cubicle’s corners. Perhaps, then, we can start with freedom in a physical sense, and free others of the congestion your car adds to the age-old story of Manila traffic.