Piece and Odor

After the rise in oil prices, rice followed. Now pandesal will follow suit when bakers are unable to absorb the cost of flour anymore. I hope that the next thing to rise won't be the masa's BP.

We're facing one of the highest inflation rate growth in years, but to take that into a better perspective, read this - Vietnam with 20% inflation rate growth from the previous year. 20 percent! Now doesn't that make you happy you were living in one of the 7,107 islands here?

Inflation is one thing, and peace and order is another. It concerns me that robbery (and as a result, killing) has been on the rise in recent months. Such as this one. This follows the recent break in at the Talayan Village in QC. And just follows the huge heist in the RCBC Laguna branch.

I don't have the statistics to back my claim that crime is on the rise; but, I am pretty sure that it is. As the election season kicks in in 2009, I think there'll be even more scandalous crimes. But even before campaigning begins, petty crimes due to hard times would already be in vogue. Security and order is something that is starting to falter in this part of the world. The person who tells you otherwise is either filthy rich and lives in a fort or the person's out of touch with reality.

Crimes - in Fashion now

Most of the crimes here go unreported and and I don't even have to guess why. If a student is held up and his/her cellphone is robbed they'd call home and report the incident. I wager they won't even go to the precinct to file a report at the police desk. For all they know, the cop behind the desk is the coddler. That's one less incident reported. Moreover, what's the point of reporting it if you know you will find your phone faster at the nearest pawnshop or retail store?

One similar incident happened to me once before. It happened along one of the most crime infested nest areas of Manila - Recto. It took three guys and one balisong to take my mobile phone. It's not like I resisted though.

It was quite ironic and poetic because it happened right across a small local church. Where was God when that happened? And the better question is, where were the cops when that happened?

It's pointless to go to a police station to file a case. For one, the crime has already been committed and the crooks are long gone. If you don't "fund" the investigation, the cop behind the desk will just type your case away and go back to his siesta.

Pardon my ignorance, but I think that the concept of a police system is one of prevention. Cops are there to prevent a crime from happening in the first place. In the Philippines, cops are there to catch the crook, after the fact. Like when the perpetrators have already legitimized their loot through various laundry machines [I use these words on purpose], or when the victim/s have already died.

And in the off chance that you meet one of these handsome men in blue, you are most likely going to be treated like a criminal. Only in this country is a citizen treated like a criminal by the police. Try going through a "regular" checkpoint. I once traveled with a friend along Roxas Blvd, via car and we were nearby City Hall, and we went through a barricade of cops and cop-mobiles.

Checking In at the Checkpoint

I didn't realize that we were on a nationwide red alert then. I say that with sarcasm as that was just a regular day. No threat of coup d'etat, no big time crook on the loose.

They asked us to open our windows, open our glove compartment. Heck the cops even asked me to open my bag. Under those circumstances, tell me, should I oblige or not? All I know is that there is one general rule in the galaxy, and that is,

"Ye who wields no gun should yield to the one with the gun."

So I did.

It was a good thing that my friend's uncle was a senior police officer otherwise they could've planted "evidence" in the car and accused us as big drug lords. For some who think that this is some urban myth, there ARE cops who REALLY plant drugs on hapless people to extort their hard earned money.

I am unsure if the police here realize that it is with the citizen's money that pays for their salaries. Then again, probably not, because, hello! Brain Drain! All of the world class Filipino workers are scattered across the globe, except their home country! So we are stuck with the rest of he 80M strong population.

(I do not wish to disrespect the Philippine National Police, but I can't help it that that is the mental image I have of our cops. It doesn't help that I have had unpleasant experiences with them. Let me tell you a short story. Can you believe it that I was once accosted in front of my own house??

It happened a few years ago, I was inside the car with my lady friend, and a cop-mobile passed by the car. It stopped abruptly and one foot soldier armed with a rifle disembarked. He approached the car and tapped on my window.

"Anong ginagawa ninyo?" (What are you doing)

I looked at him for a few seconds. I was trying to understand his question. Was he asking why I was parked there with a lady? Was he insinuating that we were committing "acts of lasciviousness"? All I know was that we were just talking inside the car. And I also knew that at that time, there were no laws banning two opposite gendered people to speak inside their own car. So I maintained my composure and sent him off with a curt reply.

"Nag-uusap kami. Ayan bahay ko o, anong paki mo?" (We are talking. That is my house over there. This is none of your business".

He stared at me for a while, probably collecting his brain cells and just went back to his cop-mobile and left.

I was scared more by his sleepy almost dazed (as in high on drugs kind of dazed) demeanor than his moronic question.

There are still no laws banning opposite sex conversations inside a parked car to this date.

My blog is still about finance and investments, don't worry. However, as someone who offers financial advice, I cannot stay blind to what happens around me. At the end of the day, money is worth nothing when the one earning the money is already dead.

To borrow Suze Orman's goodbye greeting, STAY SAFE!

Or, we can follow our nation's politicians advice and "GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY IF YOU CAN'T LIVE WITH US!"

***** Footnote ******
I realized that I may have a slew of unfinished blog topic series. I will have to double check on them. If I am not mistaken, I didn't finish up my piece on opening up your own business and another series on making a mission and vision for yourself.

I am still busy but I owe this blog (and you, the readers) more than just a visit and I promise to update my blog weekly. Yeah, I've made a promise before this that I'll update my blog daily, but I guess my idealism overcame my sense of reality. (Grinning)

Ciao.