‘Small-town thinking’ addresses national epidemics
The problem with some Big City people is they think they have all the answers.
Take for instance the latest opinions of a handful of people belittling the pronouncements of Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte concerning curfew for minors, time limits for serving alcohol in commercial establishments, no smoking in public, speed limits on EDSA, shoot to kill orders for drug manufacturers, gun for hire, rapists, and 10 pm limit on Karaoke parties.
Out of nowhere, we now hear critics saying that Duterte’s declarations are the sort of plans or solutions that they expect from a mayor and not a presumptive President. These same people were obviously expecting Duterte to talk about the mass transit system, traffic on EDSA and other problems that are generally problems of people in Imperial Manila or as they say on Facebook “Rich People problems.” Economists and academicians want to hear sophisticated plans and terminologies while their dotting friends in media want “programs.”
Tough! Every President that played along with that game never got anywhere and failed to get people behind them simply because they tried to please people instead of getting people to tow the line or follow the law through simple political will. None of them even managed to get everyone to have one national ID. If we can’t make people follow simple laws of the small town sort, how will they appreciate the big-ticket items that only benefit the top richest families and corporations in the Philippines.
Our national epidemic is we have become a nation of selfentitled individuals who demand more than we contribute. We are a nation of know it alls who have an opinion on just about everything that goes on in the country and in media, in fact people even pay money everyday just to hear their opinion on radio or TV without realizing that every text message they send in sends money to the station! We are citizens who demand change and want to dictate the change we want from others but not from ourselves. “Our opinion” is all that matters especially compared to the opinion of the lower class, less educated, less sophisticated. There is nothing “Small Town” about addressing our drug epidemic.
The PNP has said time and again that the majority of Barangays in the Philippines are already affected or infested by drug users and drug dealers. The war on drugs fails because no Commander In Chief of the Philippines has ever declared war on drug manufacturers, drug pushers and drug users specifically. Declaring war on drugs is key because it is the primary agent of criminality. It creates addicts who rob, steal, kill and rape. It destroys families, marriages, ruins professionals and employees and affect productivity in the work place. It disperses and depletes law enforcement agents and resources of government that could otherwise be focused more on fighting other criminal elements.
If all our neighbors in Asia impose the death penalty for illegal drug manufacturers, pushers and drug mules, they must know something that our leaders don’t or are in denial of. Past political leaders have always sang and danced to western influence and pressure but never got anything in return to fight our national drug epidemic. It takes more than “small town thinking” to defy global pressure and hang enemies of the people and the republic and lest someone starts using the religious flash cards, even God and the Bible has given the state and the King or DU30 the authority to punish those who defy divine and earthly law.
Just like drugs, smoking is a major health issue in the Philippines.
It is a leading cause of cancer and cardiac arrest as well as lung related illnesses such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, pneumonia, etc. The national cost is tremendous and could be devoted to other medical concerns but are used up in a growing epidemic especially with the growth of the call center industry where smoking in public places has become a public nuisance and health hazard for pedestrians who have to share the space with large groups of smokers.
Once you count the deaths and the trail of medical bills, you begin to appreciate that cutting back cigarette smoking is not small town thinking but an added level of difficulty for smokers in order to convince them to give it up. The fact is smokers do obey such laws when in effect and enforced.
With the changing lifestyle of the 24/7 generation comes the binge drinking, loud Karaoke parties, and drunk driving as well as the regular rumbles, bar fights and alcoholism. How can we classify limiting alcohol sales to 1 p.m. as a “small town” solution when Big Cities and towns in the United States were already implementing the same solution back in 1984 and earlier when I was living in the United States?
What is “small town thinking” about reducing the incidence of DUI or Driving Under the Influence of alcohol and alcoholism? What is small town thinking about making people respect peace and order by putting a cap or time limit to use of those loud and disturbing Karaoke machines used by out of tune singers who rob neighbors of their sleep? Why is it “small town thinking” if you put a stop to acts that qualify as “causing alarm and scandal”? What’s wrong in making thousands of people regain their sense of neighborly conduct and manners?
For the longest time Filipinos all over the country have complained about all of these problems but none of the presidents, vice presidents even senators acted on these with passion and political will. Now we have an incoming President with a proven track record for implementing the solutions and they call his declarations “small town thinking.”
Quite honestly, it is those who criticize and label Duterte’s ideas, who are probably suffering from degenerative diseases such as Presumptive Pre-disposition to Critique, psychotic episodes of taking themselves too seriously or a degenerative disorder affecting vision, otherwise known as narrow mindedness. Give the guy a chance, let’s try his solutions and if they don’t work, they don’t work. But please, don’t call his ideas “small town thinking” because you’re not just criticizing the size of his ideas, you are insulting many small towns and leaders and that is the ARROGANCE of Imperial Manila that people from out of town seriously dislike!
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