No Chance in Hell
I just watched a replay of the ANC show "Square Off", which I suppose
is the official debate show of the local news channel, where, at the
end of every round (three in all), viewers could vote in who they
thought won the debate. This particular episode featured another clash
between Chiz Escudero and Mike Defensor, this time as to GMA’s repeal
of an Estrada Executive Order, limiting lending activities to
government financial institutions (GFIs). The proposal therefore of the
government in this discussion was that by repealing such order, it
would allow for more line departments of the government to operate its
own financing and micro-financing programs in order to provide credit
to the poor.
Now,
without getting into to much detail, such repeal would basically mean
that any Filipino in need of money could, in a more informal manner,
obtain credit from a government office or agency with a lending program
and that such government offices or agencies would not necessarily be
engaged in anything remotely financial. Hindi kailangan tipong
Landbank. Puwede na, halimbawa, ang DPWH magpautang. Take note, DPWH or
the Department of Public Works and Highways, has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to
do with financing. But with the recent repeal, such is very much
possible.
The funny thing about the whole debate was that Chiz
Escudero, who was argued, quite eloquently I might add, for maintaining
the limitation under Estrada’s version of the EO, had, in my opinion,
no chance in hell of winning any votes at the end of any of the three
rounds of competitive discourse. You see while Mike Defensor was
talking about allowing more money sources for more people, here was
Chiz Escudero saying that we should continue to limit because such
programs could be abused. Of course, to a normal Filipino who hardly
has enough money to get through the day and who can’t get a clean loan
from any financial institution to help him out, what the damn hell
would he care about such abuses? Eh kasasabi lang ni Pareng Mike na
darami raw ang puwedeng utangan - ba’t hindi? The unfortunate reality
of having no access to resources is that it’s hard to look further than
the next day. When someone says, "Hey, here’s money" to someone who
doesn’t have any and who hasn’t had any for a while, the recipient is
unlikely to think "Hmmmm… kinurakot kaya ‘tong pinanggalingan ng
pera?" Di na pare. Kanya-kanya na yan. Galit-galit muna. Chiz Escudero
could have made all the sense in the world, hell, he could have talked
with the voice and reason of the Lord God Himself and he still wouldn’t
win any nods.
The result was an average of 70%-30% of the votes in favor of Defensor. Didn’t even stand a chance. Yes, we’re just that poor.
