"A man is arrested after holding a woman as hostage Monday. He was told he could not refund his P40 job application fee." Charlie Magno - www.gmanews.tv 8/13/07
Man, times are really hard nowadays. This poor guy probably gave his last bit of money to apply for a job he badly needed. I bet he didn't get the job, which made things worse. He wouldn't ask for a refund if he got the job. I guess he was so desperate in getting the money back he just snapped and held the poor lady hostage.
I may be right in saying "poor lady", but sometimes people just tend to be difficult. Maybe that certain lady was just being bitchy that time, so the guy probably cracked.
Most people would think, "It's just 40 bucks, what the hell was he thinking?". For the well-to-do classes, P40 is not even enough to buy them their favorite frappuccino. As they wallow in their ignorance, little do they realize that P40 is actually lunch (and dinner as well) for a poor family.
What that guy did was wrong, but look how desperate the people are getting. The Social Weather Stations (SWS) Second Quarter 2007 survey states that 2:5 people "feel their lives had worsened over the past 12 months, almost double those who felt their lives had improved." I think I would agree. While the Philippine economy is doing phenomenally, wages and benefits are still stagnant. As the Peso is getting stronger, the buying power of the Filipinos is getting weaker.
Now, I bet that some smart-ass economist, politician or whoever, would like to dispute what I just said. For all I know, you can all kiss my ass. Don't show me figures or explain that national growth rate should be between 7-8% before it'll trickle down to the masses, etc. etc. etc. Fact of the matter is, my friends, we're still living in a shit hole and it's getting deeper because of graft, corruption and apathy.
In a different note, I don't agree too much with the government's program where they 'spoil' the Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) with special rates, promos, etc., and don't give attention to the people left slugging it out in the Philippines. We are also OFW's, Ordinary Filipino Workers. Why can't we get the special treatment they get? Is it just because of the inflow of money they send to the country? I say develop our country right: Get rid of TRAPOs and realize projects that the masses can actually benefit from and we don't need to work abroad.
Easier said than done? Well, at least I'm saying something.
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