The Pinoy Dream

Let me start by asking--what is your dream for our society?

Is it ideologically-driven? Are you asking for transformation of Filipino society, from a capitalist form into a socialist one?

Is it politically-inspired? From a democratically formed government into something more akin to an interventionist one?

Is it something sublime, like a society where everyone enjoys equal rights, when everyone enjoys eating three square meals a day and where every single one goes to work and sees his kids off to school?

Let us talk amongst ourselves and try to really determine what the Pinoy dream is.

When my grandmother was still alive, she told me three (3) simple things every single Filipino aspires for: to have his own house and lot, to drive a car and to finish his education and carve a career. 

Simple, is'nt it?

All these dreams however, as time goes by, becomes more and more distant to reality. Fact is, millions of Filipinos are starting to see these simple aspirations turn into simple frustrations each and every single day.

A house and lot nowadays, cost between a million to 3 million each. One decent and new car costs 800,000 while it will take you close to 5 million pesos to finish a 4-year course.

You need close to 10 million pesos to achieve all these things in your lifetime. Is it possible, even if you are being paid 12,000 pesos a month?

If your salary is 12,000 a month (let's just put it as is, sans the taxes), you get 144,000 a year. You'll reach a million only after 10 years, or worst, not at all.

If you're being paid 12,000 pesos a month, how would you buy your dream house? You'll probably settle for a low-cost housing program which are actually sited outside Metro Manila. You'll either choose to live in Cavite or in far-away Bulacan.

You'll probably go to Pag-Ibig and get a housing loan. But with a 12,000 peso salary, how would you afford to pay that monthly amortization which ranges between 4,000 to 10,000 a month?

And the simple truth is---that salary of yours will not really get you that dream house, even if you work for 10 years.

Go to the National Statistics Coordination Board website and you'll find that most of your salary goes to paying food stuffs, then house rent and utilities. Food stuffs amount to 45% of your monthly pay, while house rent comes close to 30%. Yet, with Meralco jacking up their electricity rates, you'll be surprised that payment of utilities will really come as close as what you pay for food. That's reality.

6,000 pesos will go to food, 4,000 to rent and the rest to Meralco. You'll probably be left with 1-2,000 pesos, and usually, that amount goes to SMART and Globe. That's reality.

Ordinary Filipinos, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has about 1-5,000 pesos in their savings account. That money only earns roughly a fraction of 1%.

Okey, granting that, every month, you save up to 1,000 pesos. You will need to do just that for at least 60 years before you can even come as close as buying a brand new car. By that time, car prices would have shoot to more than a million. And a house and lot would easily fetch two million or more.

So, the more you age, the more unlikely you'll get your dream house and your dream car. And even if you work as doubly or thrice or even 10x your supervisor or your manager does, you'll simply achieve a fraction of what they get.

And, really, this is not your fault. You are not to be blamed for this.

If only you get what is due to you, meaning, the correct prices of foodstuffs, the correct electricity rate and the correct and equitable call rates and gas rates, this dream of yours would not really be as distant as a nightmare as it is right now.

If a truly just and humane society exists, where each Filipino is given his just due, then, everything is within reach even by ordinary Pinoys like us.

And, I repeat, this is simply, not your fault.

If Pinoy owners of companies just give you the right wages and food manufacturers equally price their products, then, you can save enough for that dream house and lot.

If Pinoy owners of companies will just give you free text like other foreign telecomms do, you'll save enough 50 pesos for the allowance of your kid to school.

If Pinoy owners of companies will just lower electricity rates and give you the right rate, the same rate, other Asians enjoy, then, you'll save more and be able to say that, yes, you can get your dream house in as little as five years.

I say, these dreams, for us to make it a reality, must simply be modified. Since we have an unresponsive government and in fact, government's presence is actually invisible, we, all must agree that the dream which demands our most immediate attention is the dream of just living in an equitable society.

Our dream must simply be--to live as decently and as honorably as other Asians do. What does this mean?

It means eating 3x times a day, enjoy watching television without incurring a 2,000 peso electricity bill, going to work with less hassle, and trying to worry about higher priced gasoline and diesel and simply enjoying the simple pleasures of life without spending an exorbitant amount.

That dream, really, is for us, everybody, to be treated like they are supposed to be treated-as humans.

This blog will try to reflect our simple dreams as a Filipino and will try to provide some solutions on how we can get our simple dreams realized--without government.

From these simple dreams, let's hope to get our aspirations realized. Then, from achieving our aspirations, let us then, target how we would try to regain the greatness of our country. This is a step-by-step thing. Let's hope that from this, we'll be able to secure the future of our children and our children's children and make our society a better place for them.