To whine, or not to whine: That is the question

It's finally happening, I thought to myself. Newspapers and tv news shows were filled with reports about the ASEAN Summit. After its postponement last December, I had doubts about whether or not the summit would really be taking place in Cebu.

The preparations for the ASEAN Summit have been described as "Imeldific" and "anti-poor." I have become wary (and weary) of the use of these words by cause-oriented groups. In college, I was an applicant for an organization that was a student arm of one of these groups. As a naïve 17-year-old, I applied thinking that we would have serious discussions about what was ailing the country and what we could do. I was sorely disappointed.

As an applicant, I attended several discussion groups. The group's leaders mouthed the usual things - down with imperialism, payment of foreign debt is immoral, down with feudalism, etc., etc. Nobody had an answer when I asked what exactly it was that they were complaining about and what their basis was for saying so. No data was presented at all. We just had the usual posters depicting caricatures of Uncle Sam and President Fidel Ramos. It was not very convincing, even to a 17-year-old promdi. In grade school, it was easy to understand why we had to rally against Marcos. In college in the nineties, things were not that clear. Probably because I had nothing better to do then, I still did all that was required of me as an applicant save for the final initiation (this meant staying overnight in a Bulacan resort during the sem break and I wanted to go back to Cebu early). I never went back to the organization's tambayan again.

When I see the protesters in the news, I wonder how many of them actually thought about what they are protesting about and why they are doing so. The placards show the usual epithets against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Governor Gwen Garcia, and the "US-Arroyo regime". The only one I saw mentioning freeing Aung San Suu Kyi was a banner outside UP Cebu.

I am just happy that Cebu now has the CICC as a venue for future exhibits, that the roads and traffic lights were fixed, that the center islands and sidewalks were decorated with plants (I think that the color of the urns along Archbishop Reyes is weird though), that our streets are brighter at night, and that cab drivers were given seminars on how to be better at their jobs. I'm also glad that pictures of various churches in Cebu were displayed along the route for the Spouses' Tour. Even if only four spouses (the last time I checked, anyway) confirmed their attendance of the tour, the rest of Cebu saw examples of Cebu's built heritage. Awareness is the first step and I'm hopeful that seeing those pictures will make more people value and preserve Cebuano cultural heritage.

I wonder though whether these changes will be permanent. Certainly, we deserve a world-class convention center for exhibiting Cebu's products, good roads, well-maintained traffic lights and street lamps, landscaped center islands and sidewalks, and courteous cab drivers every day of the year. "Pwede ra man di-ay, nganong wala man ni sa una?" my uncle thought aloud when we passed by the CICC and the controversial street lamps last week. Those were my thoughts too.

I am aware of the scarcity of government resources and the pressing need to provide the populace with better health care, decent housing, and more effective public education. It could be because I'm an optimist (as well as Imeldific and naïve) but I don't see why we can't have a world-class convention center, a more beautiful city, and all these too. Those who claim it is not possible should stop whining and start doing something so that these goals could be reached.

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