Barefoot peroxide blondes

Britain’s Prince Charles must be dying of envy.

In a decade marked by the abdication of Pope Benedict and then the abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands 2 months later, the poor chap remains in limbo “waiting” for his turn to become King of England. It’s tragic to consider that in order for him to become King, tradition and fact requires that the Queen must first die in order for Charles to hear the chant “ the Queen is dead. Long Live the King!”

The two successive abdications of Pope Benedict and Queen Beatrix are not only of significant historical importance they also serve as modern day suggestions for families and corporations to consider. As our country and people begin to slowly experience actual progress, the abdications serve as valid examples for elderly leaders as well as parents to realize that gracefully surrendering positions and leadership gives them the privilege to do so with dignity and wisdom.

In the examples of Pope Benedict and Queen Beatrix, the abdications became acts of selflessness, practicality and wisdom. On top of that, the subsequent turn over from living leaders became occasions for joy-filled ceremonies that re-energized dormant traditions.

I guess the question is: would you want your children or the next generation of leaders puttering about or waiting in the next room filled with grief until your last breath? Or would you rather orchestrate and witness your triumphant turn over and be able to do the hundred other “Fun” things you’ve wanted to do but couldn’t because you were “responsible”.

In the worst case, abdication can be tragically romantic. In the best case they can be full of pomp and glory. Study the lesson well.

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Marilyn Monroe may have popularized the notion that “Blondes have more fun” but in the Philippines we have bands of “Peroxide Blondes” who walk barefoot, but not on powder white sandy beaches. They walk barefoot over blistering hot asphalt and concrete roads. The guys don’t fall all over themselves to be near them. Instead, people back away with hands over noses to cover the unpleasant scent of sweat and grime.

No, they are not white silky smooth skinned Caucasians or mestizas; they are dark, sunburned young women and children who look very unwashed, with matted hair that serves as colonies for lice. They are outcasts who make a living begging in whatever city or town they find themselves pushed to or driven to.

The general notion is that they are “Badjaos” representing a once proud tribe of Filipino sea gypsies from Mindanao. The urban myth is that war, urbanization and the attraction of “easy money” that comes from begging has spread them all over Luzon if not all the major cities in the Philippines. If that is the case who can blame the landless and the unrepresented sea gypsies for seeking a more reliable source of income, food as well as better chances of survival?

As people encounter them, one can observe the unrehearsed reaction representing reluctant curiosity, pity, disdain, and perhaps the angry frustration of citizens who know only too well that our government has not done anything official and professional about the problem of displaced communities particularly from the hinterlands or coastal Mindanao.

One can almost guess that people find themselves in an uncomfortable contradiction: whether to give alms and encourage mendicancy in the streets, or to try to magically wave them away from our reality. The undeniable conclusion is that where government has totally failed, the problem ends up at the foot of every citizen.

After seeing them almost on a daily basis in Lipa City, Batangas I wonder under whose responsibility they were. Was it the City of Lipa and the local DSWD? Or the DSWD under Secretary Dinky Soliman? Should we call on some chairman or chairperson of some Commission on Mindanao tribal affairs etc.? It seems that the problem is everybody’s problem but currently no one’s concern.

I once wrote that if you want to see the kind of leadership and management skills local officials have, just observe how they manage traffic in their localities. Observing how local governments round up beggars and wandering mental patients and dump them in the next town or province, I think it would be safe to say how our national and local leaders have excelled in passing the buck, ignoring the problem and especially during this election season, campaigned so hard to cover up their hypocrisy, insensitivity and incompetence.

Is poverty and mental illness on the part of “strangers” a condition that absolves political leaders from doing something? Before you make your choice on whom to vote for local and national office, go around your neighborhood, your town or city especially at night. If you go home bothered and disturbed at the very public and open presence of poverty and homeless people, you can safely assume that your local leaders and politicians have not even bothered to do something about the problem.

It is pointless and stupid to talk about “economic trickle down effect” if we cannot even get the poorest of the poor kids, the destitute children off the streets, out of jeepneys and buses. When our government, the President and his entire cabinet can’t even work on creating a fully dedicated and fully funded agency to build world-class children’s facilities for street kids, runaways, juvenile offenders and those “barefoot peroxide blondes”, they should simply put up or shut up.

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I am often asked for my opinion about the coming elections and the candidates, and I have consistently replied: “ I can’t be bothered”. I recently had a thought about it and here goes: “ If a candidate needs the vocal and personal endorsement of a President or a sexy celebrity in order to qualify for my vote, then that candidate is an automatic non-entity who has failed to establish his competence, presence and worth prior to the campaign and the elections. In other words he is nothing, professionally and politically.

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