to those not in the know, Mariannet is the 12-year old girl residing in davao who hanged herself last nov. 2 out of sheer desperation due to her household's poverty. her father was a construction worker but was out of work in the months before her death. her mother meanwhile, works as a "packer" in a factory, and as a laundry washer. for the former, she earns 50 pesos a day, and for the latter, 100 to 150 pesos a day. after her death, her parents discover her diary, which was a story of anguish and desperation, and a letter the girl wrote, intended for the TV program Wish Ko Lang.
Pag may tiyaga, mayroon bang nilaga?
Mariannet's father is a perfect example of the lack of credibility of the Government's claims of job generation. In other countries, Mr. Ampet would not be classified under the employed part of the work force because he is considered a seasonal worker. If he was, it would be indicated that he was a seasonal worker, or one that did not have a regular source of income. Yet under our present system, he is considered a regular worker. So are farmers who have no jobs during the time between harvest and planting seasons, the children and wives who help their husbands work in the fields although it is only the husband who gets paid, or even the streetsweepers who are only employed by the MMDA for 3 months.
Even if one could get regular work, and even work hard, it is not a guarantee of even just living a decent existence. Mrs. Ampet, as shown above, only earns 150-200 pesos a day, with only 50 pesos coming from her regular job. It is the sad plight of most workers in any given country which has virtually non-existent industries. Like in the Philippines, there is an illusion that only foreign investors and corporations can produce jobs for us. So our own Department of Labor and Employment does not enforce the minimum wage laws, does not even raise the minimum wage, and even uses its administrative powers to order the AFP and PNP to crack down on labor unions. Also, these corporations receive various tax exemptions, while we are made to carry the burden of the Government's budget deficit, such as the E-VAT on petroluem products which easily compose 4-5 pesos of gasoline's current price.
Tanging lupa ay ang dumi sa kuko
The Ampers lived in a hillside community. One could argue that the reason why wages are very low in the rural areas is that there is plenty of land for peasants to grow their own food: subsistence in other words. Yet, only 9,466 Filipinos own 21% of our country's agricultural land. Meanwhile, more than 6 million peasants do not own the land that they work on. And in countless places nationwide, the experience of Hacienda Luisita is repeated: if you are caught planting food crops even on the land near your house, consider yourself lucky if the punishment is to have those crops uprooted.
Iskwater sa sariling bansa
And just beside their community is a posh subdivision. Only Mariannet's death is a more intense symbol of the contradictions in our society today. Subdivisions are sprouting like mushrooms all over the Philippines, not just in Metro Manila, yet the poor are forced to squat to avoid paying for the already-expensive-and-still-rising costs of owning your own house. And in Metro Manila, more than 100,000 families are facing the prospect of losing their homes due to various development projects of the Government.
Sinong pumatay kay Mariannet
The conditions of a lets-please-the-foreigners type of economy, a historical hangover from the time when encomenderos owned all of our land, and a State which seemingly protects such arrangements, are the ones that precipitated the death of Mariannet. Yet, such conditions would never have even existed if the people opposed it to the point of creating new conditions.
If we follow Newton's laws on motion, then we cannot say that such conditions are permanent. The being poor of our country has a beginning, and also has an end. And everything came from something. The start of our country's poor condition arose from the clash of certain factors and forces, and so will the end of such a condition arise from a similar clash.
In our present society, everyone and everything can be grouped into two: those who support the status quo in their actions, and those who oppose it in their actions. while some peasants certainly spend their lives praying that the afterlife is somewhat better, there are those who realize that it was not ordained by the heavens that they should be slave to some master. while some workers spend their lives in diversions to the misery of their existences, some try to smash the instruments of their misery. and while some students spend their time trying to feel good here in multiply, some are trying to use this very instrument to enlighten others.
there is no neutrality. no one put the noose around mariannet's neck. no one told her to jump. but certain people made her short life miserable, and they can be divided into two categories: first, the ones who are in power and who make the policies of our country. second, the ones who just watch by.
in finishing this article, you may ask yourself: what can I do?
i applaud such a question, because it would signify that you are moving towards a plan of action. instead of following blindly the dogmas fed into us that we cannot change the world, you have either questioned such dogmas, or actively smashed them and are looking for any plans of action.
