Violence vs. Hospitality

The photo in PDI last Saturday shows aggrieved Bicolanos lighting candles for their favorite volunteer Julia Campbell, who was slain in Batad, Benguet while she treaded the muddy tracks of Banawe Rice Terraces during the Holy week..

It was also during the Holy week that our German volunteer in the office working under the DED program, Sarah went to climb Mt. Apo. By the time the news on Campbell’s death erupted in the local news, Sarah was perhaps on her way to the peak. I remember how excited she was saying there’s not really much to climb in Germany since mountains there are usually covered by snow. She did climb the Apo, a feat that even some of us who’ve been here in Mindanao since birth, haven’t been able to do so.

Sarah came to the Philippines a year ago for a 2-3 months internship with the office (though I can hardly understand why she should be working here of all organizations. I reckon later it was because of Peter – our German colleague who went back to Germany early this year – whom she met while working in Indonesia.) She helped during the BIMP-EAGA Business Council turnover last March 2006, which was one hell of an event when everything goes haywire at the last minute. Which was I wondered why she would still choose to work here.

When Sarah started asking about places she could go to – and I’m not talking about malls and parks here – that’s when I ascertained that an adventurous spirit resides in every foreigner’s heart and a pulsating fondness for the Filipino culture that you just can’t seem to contain. While some of us laid-back commoners shy away at the mere thought of shedding a sweat, they don’t usually give chickenshit about it. Last year, me and some of my friends brought Sarah to a pristine beach in Samal Island. She was also introduced to kinilaw, which she absolutely loved. She looked for it during her first day in the office (this year), and she sure got a serving from our suking karinderya.

Okay, going back to Campbell. Her death brings to the fore the issue of lawlessness and violence which this government has taken with so much impunity. It’s not just a matter of foreigners being killed, which I think is very unsettling given the bazillions of aid we have siphoned from the donor community and the spirit of volunteerism that we have grown accustomed to as a friggin’ third world country. But more so with our own people getting killed extra-judicially, our journalists as targets of hapless killing sprees, and the recent election-related violence, that just about complete the plethora of miseries of Juan de la Cruz.

So where did the big chunk of government fund for national defense go? Oh, I had my math wrong, the fund is meant to counter terrorism pala. So that even when fighter planes start bombing us like Hiroshima and Al-Qaeda start plotting a Malacanang attack, we would all still feel safe and sound. With a country relying on tourism to increase its investment potential, the old-fashioned Filipino hospitality just won’t suffice.