It’s been a while since I had a chance to post. I left off to head for Tagbilaran. Did a few days of fiesta there, which included an all-night-concrete-basketball-court-disco, where I managed to hurt my hip by stomping/over-dancing. The DJ couldn’t choose between Bon Jovi trance remixes, slow Filipino love songs, and Andre3000 & Big Boi.
Then there was the DTI Product Showcase, a trade-fair for local craft producer groups. The honored guests at the grand opening were ushered into a freezing cold movie theatre (over-aircon is a huge problem here, and not just cuz it raises the temperature outside of the aircon areas and uses ridiculous amounts of energy) where we listened to person after person give speeches that had nothing to do with helping to support local producer groups.
Then it was time for the ribbon cutting. Without naming any names, the large flower arrangement fell over onto the ribbon cutters. To the cocktail reception we went. It was held in the still under-construction National Book Store. The regional director had a fit, during the party. She corralled everyone from our provincial office, not far from the beverage table and let it rip: “How dare you have a cocktail party in this ugly place. If you told me I could have done something, blah blah blah.” Nevermind that it resembled a SoHo loft, and none of the craftsmen had ever been to a cocktail party. (They weren’t invited to this one either.) I only feel ok relaying this story here because Nimfa, the head of our office carries on about the regional director on her site too. And this is about as gossipy as I ever plan on getting.
Directly following the cocktail party, Blair and I hit the road and boarded the 10:30pm boat for Cebu. His brother met us at the Cebu pier, and whisked us away to the airport, where we caught a flight (obviously) bound for Manila. From there, a taxi to a bus-terminal. The bus featured way too much aircon. The 61km bus ride featured way too much urban sprawl. It didn’t used to be like that, so they say. At 8:30am, or half an hour late, we arrived in Los Banos (whiere I spent my first week in the Philippines) for a conference on Project Management.
During training, we had learned about the Asset-Based approach to community development. In other words, how to help communities help themselves, instead of just complaining about problems and asking for money. But until this conference, our Filipino counterparts were never versed in this kind of approach. Lots of inspiration and new ideas all around. Hope we can put it to good use.
After the conference adjourned for the day, a nice swim in the natural-spring pool, and then a quick hop to town for a beer turned into a night of videoke and billiards that lasted ‘til 1am. (Can you believe that a Filipino lady told me videoke was invented here in the Philippines?) Peace Corps volunteers (and their American-influenced counterparts) have an amazing ability to mix work and play and do not worry about trivial things such as sleep. So this pattern repeated itself for three straight days. Do a lot of work in the conference (Peace Corps conferences are very participatory, not allowing for much shut-eye) and then staying out way past a normal Filipino bedtime. There was also a bootleg screening of Fahrenheit 9/11 one night, perhaps the day Filipino truck-driver Angelo De La Cruz was released by his captors, much to the distress of GWB and what’s left of his coalition of the fill-in-the-appropriate-ignorant-themed-adjective. (Not looking so hot since Honduras and Nicaragua bowed out.) Felt subversive watching the first blockbuster documentary on a U.S. Government owned DVD player/projector!
It’s time for me to get away from the computer. I will try to find time on Monday to tell you how I made it through Manila alive, and attempt to explain the nightmare that is disingenuous customer service here in the Philippines. Help is on the way!
The theme today is water. (My project has a direct connection to water. I worry the dye effluents from the existing loomweaving projects in Inabanga are contaminating the water supply.)
I drink copious amounts of purified water. (Some people here worry I drink too much. In all seriousness, they ask me if I always have to pee. Oh yes, I do, but I hear it’s good for doing away with toxins…and where I come from, they worry if you drink too much booze.) The mayor’s son owns a purification station called Vigtoh. When I see the mayor she tells me not to drink the tap water. With a grin, I point to my ever-present orange nalgene bottle and tell her there’s Vigtoh Inside. But at 35 pesos per 6 gallons, most people can’t afford the purified stuff.
Safe drinking water is a luxury here. (Of course most people probably have no idea that there’s a good chance their “drinking water” isn’t safe, and the news isn’t gonna tell them about it. After all, the main instrument of TV Patrol’s theme song is the police siren. Obviously they have a different agenda.) The following story came out last month:
MANILA, Philippines, June 19 (UPI) -- Environmental researchers have found 58 percent of groundwater in the Philippines intended for drinking contaminated with the coliform bacteria.
Jitendra Sha, a senior environmental specialist for East Asia and the Pacific region at the World Bank, cited the Philippines Environment Monitor 2003, saying the lack of proper sewerage systems has led to the contamination of ground water, the Manila Times reported Saturday.
"More money must also be invested in a sewerage system because untreated wastewater is costing everybody's health and even the tourism industry," Sha told participants in the World Bank-funded International Workshop on Beach Ecowatch Program, held on Boracay Island.
The Philippines Environment Monitor 2003 reported that water samples from 129 wells nationwide show that 75, or 58 percent, had a high level of positive coliform bacteria.
Domestic wastewater is considered the main contributor to bacterial contamination and the presence of coliform bacteria in drinking water supplies can cause water-borne diseases like diarrhea, cholera and hepatitis A.
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In other related news, there’s a documentary called Thirst premiering tonight, July 13, on PBS. (And I love saying this: Check your local listings.) Of course I won’t be able to tune in, so whoever wants to tape it for me is more than welcome. Here’s a synopsis:
The rush to privatize water is underway across the world. In the new documentary 'Thirst,' filmmakers Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow set out to explore the consequences.
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And if you want to know more about why buying bottled water isn’t such a great idea, visit www.sierraclub.org/cac/water/bottled_water/.
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I will be heading to Tagbilaran tomorrow for the Bohol Beauty Pageant among other things. After the queen has been crowned, I’ll head up to Luzon to a conference on how to evoke excitement and involve the community in Peace Corps projects (for one thing, always bring Coca-Cola to the meetings.) Then to my favorite place in the world, Manila, to go ice skating and pick up donated textbooks from Books Across the Seas. So please check back here at the end of the month for another update. Stay hydrated!
So now there’s a Filipino worker being held hostage in Iraq. The same setup as usual: Masked men bearing swords standing above a kneeling hostage, who in no uncertain terms, looks terrified. Makes for a shocking story on TV Patrol, the national nightly news program. Pictures of Filipinos in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs demanding a pullout of Filipino forces from Iraq are pretty striking too. (I don’t know the details because TV here is in Tagalog, more or less the national language. I am learning Cebuano, slowly but surely.) This morning the radio programs (in Cebuano) were talking about it. They seemed pretty fired up. I think it’s been quite a while since a story regarding Iraq has drawn much attention here. Let’s hope the guy makes it out alive. Oh, and what do you know, perfect timing for the flood Fahrenheit 9/11 bootlegs into the Philippines. (My copy just arrived, special delivery.)
Now, onto more mundane things. I undeniably butchered Prince’s Raspberry Beret on the videoke machine the other night. It’s one of those songs I thought I knew, but when it came on, I realized all I knew “She wore a raspberry beret, the kind you’d find in a second hand store…and if it were hot she wouldn’t wear much more.” And I am no match for Prince’s vocals. Still, nobody in the place knew the tune or cared enough to help me out. I was so embarrassed I didn’t sing another song the rest of the night. In fact the world would not be a worse place if I never take the mic again.
Whatever my videoke future, it seems I’ve awoken the Prince ghost. Yesterday, at the electronics repair place across the “highway,” – and yes, they can repair anything -- I sat down to watch some TV. (I’m trying to get in with them so I can bring F9/11 over there and use their VCD player.) There’s a channel called MYX broadcasting out of Cebu. These tech wizards have managed to pull down a fairly decent signal from Cebu. The show is called Take 5. It was Prince day. So, as the name implies, they played 5 Prince videos. Of course they played my favorite.
I explained to my fellow couch potatoes (except picture plastic stools) that second hand store is the English term for ukay-ukay. One of the girls was like “hold on, wait a second, you have ukay-ukay in America?” Most Filipinos are under the impression that all Americans are loaded. Why would we ever buy used clothing? (In fact, it would be great if everyone bought used clothing, if only because nearly 25% of pesticides worldwide are sprayed on cotton.)
When I try to tell people that there are plenty of poor people in America, that something like forty million kids don’t have health insurance, they either don’t believe me, or say “Well, those people are just poor because they don’t want to work.” If only it were that simple.
One more thing…I discovered a new feature for this site. The robots can automatically send out an email every time I put up a new post. If you’d like to get that email, just send me an email or leave a comment on this post, and I’ll let the robots know.
What about the work I’m supposed to be doing? Like I said, nobody in the Philippines cares much for the “big huss.” I wouldn’t describe it as a dawdle, but things just happen at a slower pace. The center of my project is a few barangays away. Most people around here ride the habal-habal or motorbike taxi to anywhere beyond a few football fields. But that’s just not kosher with Peace Corps. And I’m into walking anyway. (I’ll be getting a bike tomorrow if all goes as planned. And maybe I’ll lobby to get some moving sidewalks around here.)
So the other day, despite the disbelieve of those I informed of my plan, I walked a whopping two miles to the loom-weaving “center.” Along the way, I encountered plenty of drinking circles encouraging me to take a swig, some guys who wanted to introduce me to their sisters or cousins or neighbors (but never their daughters,) and even some ladies who wanted to become my textmate. But I was on a mission, and not gonna have any of that. After all, I’m a professional.
Some of the folks at the center may have seen me before, but never on my own. I was kinda shy and they were kinda shy and nobody what to say, so I just watched them work for a while, and they watched me watch them, and then eventually someone asked me a question, and I answered in Cebuano and they got all excited. Which is a good thing. If there’s anything that will make this project a success, it will be mutual excitement and getting along with the people.
When the workday ended (and it ends when you want it to) one lady invited me to her house to meet her husband and five of her seven kids. Her youngest daughter, age 4 is a mischievous type. On the way to the house, she was flailing around a glass bottle, and, trying out my Cebuano, told her not to throw it. Her mom echoed me, and you guessed it, she threw the dang thing smack into a tree, shattering everywhere. Cute!
Anyway, once on the porch, we talked about kids and vegetables and basketball. Her husband, a bus driver, pulled 200 pesos (less than $4) out of his pocket and told me that was his daily salary. On that particular day, the winds were strong, so fish was more expensive. They seemed to wonder what they’d eat for dinner.
This family will be my neighbors once my nipa hut is built. I like my neighbors.
I realize I still haven’t explained what my work is. Don’t worry, my job hasn’t really started yet. Thanks for your patience.
Ok, in the name of not yet having at least some of the facts straight, I’ll hold off on the contaminated water bit, and delve straight into the drink tax. Well, first some background.
I signed up for a Google News Alert. (You can specify any search you want.) So, every day, Google scans something like a million online news sources, and spits out an email to my inbox. The email has links to every story that mentioned “Philippines.” Yup, the internet can do that. I can hear my 92-year old grandmother’s confusion: "But if you don’t check your email every day…???"
Well, just last week, this gem, courtesy of the just-drinks.com editorial team popped up:
PHILIPPINES: Government ponders drinks tax
22 Jun 2004
The Philippine government is considering introducing taxes on soft drinks and other artificially-flavoured juice beverages. New tax measures are required in the country as the government is due to assume between PHP500 bn (US$8.9 bn) and PHP600 bn of debt from the National Power Corp.
A tax on the drinks was first proposed in 1999, and had expected to yield PHP3.5 bn.
A source at the country’s Development Budget Coordination Committee told the Manila Standard: “The new taxes are necessary because there are no more spending cuts possible. We have cut on the expenses of the administrative and the only thing left now is the pork barrel of the legislators. Even then, we cannot just eliminate it because some of them use it for education and health projects.”
The Philippines has among the highest per capita consumption of soft drinks in Asia, accounting for 60% of total volume sales in 2003, according to industry studies.
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My first reaction was: oh gosh, wouldn’t they be better off taxing cigarettes? (As it is, a pack of smokes goes for about 30 cents.) But I’m sure they’re exploring all options. After all, the government has a ridiculous debt. Yes! Let them tax Coca-Cola up the wazoozillyzoo. Can you imagine living in a place where 60% of all the soda in Asia is consumed?
Most Filipinos believe Coca-Cola has a magical power to aid in digestion after eating meat or a heavy meal. For a while I just kinda nodded my head and, when offered a glass, said “Thanks, but I only ate vegetables.” But then I asked a doctor, who told me it was just a myth, and I imagine Coke probably instigated it.
So now, I ask people why they drink so much Coke, and they say we need it to digest and I say “WHAT????” Just yesterday a lady explained to me that if I need proof, just drop a piece of meat in a glass of Coke and it will be gone in the morning. So I ask “That is proof of WHAT???? Proof that it’s gonna devour the meat? What do you think it does to your stomach? (I remember a kid in elementary school called Dan Wintermantel. Actually, I barely remember him, but I remember his science fair project like it was yesterday. His dad was a dentist, so he had all these teeth lying around. He dropped them all in various beverages. Sure enough, the tooth submerged in Coke disappeared the fastest, in less than 24 hours.) Don’t you think the meat will digest itself eventually anyway?”
For a country that never seems to be in a rush about anything, why not just lay around and take a nap until the digestion sets in. Or like the lady said herself, maybe Filipinos should not eat so much meat.
For a country where almost everyone I come across knows someone with diabetes, why are they letting themselves be fooled? Why are they spending 30 cents for a liter of Coke, on a regular basis, when the average salary barely affords basic nourishment?
I guess I’m just seeing red.
I thank justdrinks.com in conjunction with Google for bringing this tax to my attention. I hope this tax becomes a reality and people say to themselves “you know what, I really don’t need this. I’ll buy a couple of mangos instead, or maybe just put the money back in my pocket and save it for a rainy day.”