Taking the train from Espana to Bicutan, I passed by Sta. Mesa, Pandacan, Paco, PedroGil, VitoCruz, Buendia, Pasay Road, then Magallanes.The houses were sparse here but in general the places along the railroad were eeky -- shanties, kangkungan, pool of stagnant brackish water, plastic cups and foils scattered about. Then we reach Taguig, and Bicutan where along the way also, were shacks, tagpi-tagpi, men with bare chests drinking at 2 pm, people vending vegetables, newspapers, and all sorts of kakanin. The scenes are boring, to say the least.
What do you call poverty? Are these poor people, or are these scenes to be called places of poverty? What is an affluent site but -- paved roads, well-lit streets, 24-hour streetsweepers, etc. I took the train right after the elections and visited a friend in Ayala Alabang. The sites have not changed, still the same and the morose faces of the people probably waiting when things will make a big change in their surroundings, in their daily lives.
We need not feel depressed when travelling and contradictions in lifestyles appear here and there. Perhaps the Philippine National Railways can put up a contest among the barangays lining the railroad tracks as to which one can spruce up and make it worthwhile looking at their environment as the trains pass by. Reward of P150,000 per barangay would suffice to motivate the chairs to move their constituents to have that aesthetic eye at least to please the travellers with scenes of their barangay - like flowering plants, street paintings, and huts that are well constructed, no longer rusty roofs and flat panels of different sizes.
I don't really think the people there are poor. They have funds for appliances but not for making their homes look beautiful because they think their stay there is just temporary. Allowing them to nurture that kind of thinking is like pushing them to a wall -- "wala kayong maaasahan dito sa Kamaynilaan kundi kunsumisyon."
I do think that governance must be focused not only on economic but also aesthetic matters which should really begin at home.
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