Heya, guys. I just learned about this community from one of the Splinterlands podcasts, and I thought this would be a good place to vent out my sentiments on the current state of the Philippine government.
Early this month, news broke out of a certain barangay hall in the city of Manila being demolished. Here's a quick video of it:
A barangay is like the smallest unit of local government in the Philippines. So why is this building being demolished and why it is so controversial?
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First, this structure was erected directly in front of a public school. It's widely known that the Philippine climate is mostly humid, and you couldn't expect the rooms of public schools to be air conditioned. This means the building in question is directly blocking the essential air ventilation needed by the students and teachers, especially in the dry season when heat strokes are a common occurrence.
Second, the building was erected in the sidewalk! Students and other pedestrians are forced to walk on the actual road where they are directly in the path of motor vehicles.
Third, this building was allegedly constructed without the necessary building permits and documentation. I said allegedly but erecting structures on the pavement is actually illegal by Philippine laws in the first place! The counter claims that it actually went through proper procedures would have been impossible to begin with.
Finally, this project allegedly cost 19 million pesos! This is according to the current Manila mayor. Would you imagine, a 2-meter width, four-story structure in the sidewalk costing 19 million pesos or 334,510 US dollars! For comparison, this is what 11 million pesos can buy you:
That's a 90 square meter luxury duplex in Metro Manila for almost just half the price. This is just one of the numerous government projects that are riddled with corruption. Why else would politicians spend millions in campaign funds just to be elected? It's so they can tap into the public funds. It's either they get a kickback from the contractors or they themselves establish their own contracting company and award themselves the projects!
And what's worse is that they kept getting away with it. Sure, news like this can go viral and get sensationalized, trial by public opinion, but that's all there is to it. When actual complaints are filed, the case would progress so slow that it would eventually die quietly into obscurity and eventual dismissal due to 'lack of evidence.'
On the National level, the Philippines became the top seller of gold in 2024 at 29.4 metric tonnes, or equivalent to 18.48% of the total reserves. This is at a time when most countries are securing more gold as a hedge against the uncertainties in the global economy. What led them to this action and where did the proceeds go? And despite all this, they somehow kept finding new ways to tax the citizens more. Even Netflix subscriptions are now subject to an additional 12% digital services tax.
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Another controversy involves the National budget for 2025. They have blatantly distorted the allocations into their favor and self-interest.
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How can these politicians walk away with not allocating budget for the mo$#rfux*ing health care system when it is mandated by law?! There was zero, ZERO budget allocated for PhilHealth. They are arguing that there are still reserved funds and that PhilHealth is being mismanaged. So why not fire the officials and file charges against them? What gave them the right to not allocate the budget? Why should the citizens suffer for it?
The reality is they twisted the National budget to forcefully give way to funding their government handouts. 2025 is an election year and they were giving HANDOUTS/AID in order to BUY THE VOTES to their favor so that they can be RE-ELECTED and continue syphoning money out of the nation.
I'm sick and fu@%ing tired of it all. Filipinos need to wake up to the reality that the politicians are bleeding us dry. We deserve a better life, a better healthcare system, a better educational system, and better public infrastructure. The Philippines should not be neck deep in foreign debts and budget deficits. I hope there comes a time when we can all hold these bastards accountable for their greed and corrupt practices.
