My dear friend, I felt the same when floods hit my city back in January 2009. I guess myopic vision keeps some people in the Capital from seeing and feeling for the rest of the country.
Sadly, of that there is no doubt. I still remember the displaced persons photo-op fiasco of last year; where graciously Manileno society folk went down to ‘shed light’ on the plight of refugees. It was a farce then and it remains so today.
A certain level of regionalism is to be expected in any country. But, our complete lack of ability to see what is happening in the rest of the country is abominable. And our media’s lack of attention to what is going on more so. I would hope that so many people suffering would warrant more than a mention in the ‘Nation’ section of the newspaper. The worst part is, we don’t realize that so much of the issues (peace and order, economic and so on) faced outside of Metro Manila are a result of poor policy from Manila.
Brillantes facing a storm is noteworthy (Inquirer headline…a national not a daily broadsheet). In this case 1.4 million displaced Filipinos (and likely well over 2 million in total from various conflicts and disasters) should be more so.
I think we both agree that the current myopic level derives from two sources: education and media. Both are tools that can enlighten; one builds an understanding of the interconnectivity of a nation, while the other helps enhance it. Right now, both fail in large part to expand the region-restricted horizons of Filipinos.
I can well attest to this, if only because it’s been in the last few years that I’ve started to really learn (even just a little bit) about Philippine culture and history outside of Luzon.
(Source: marocharim)
