Saturday, January 3, 2015

Vanity: A Sin or a Social Image

Vanity: A Sin or a Social Image
    The Papal visit is, most likely, the first notable event that will take place in the Philippines. In spite of its divine and religious nature; a few Filipino idiosyncrasies will inconspicuously be carried out; presenting something that shall seem grand while using methods which are ignoble.

“It’s not all the time.”
    When a special or important personality, or even relation, who rarely pays a visit, does so; a Filipino mentality would be to justify the extravagant expenditures for the upcoming event as a “rarity”. And because it is that; they do not see any reason to think twice about intemperance. (‘It’s not every time the boss comes over to dine with us.’; ‘The guys from the team rarely get together, and in my place this time.’; ‘Marge, the Reverend Lovejoy doesn’t do house visits all the time!’; so it’s okay to waste our budget once in a while).
    So come the Papal visit, the government officials will not think twice about utilizing the national budget and public funds to impress the entourage of the Holy Father. They will waste money on gunpowder for gun salutes; spend on audacious delicacies and entrées; and anything that is a waste of assets in order to create an image that will conceal the mediocre; or simply image of the country.

‘The kids and the dogs’
    During special occasions, a couple who is expecting a revered individual to enter their home would make sure that their children will be lectured, intimidated, or conned into behaving in the appropriate manner; and making sure any of their household pets shall appear adorable and not out of place.
    Come the visit of the Vicar of Christ in the Philippines; there are schedules in his itinerary which will require his presence in certain designated venues. Authorized personnel will then have to make certain that the enthusiastic crowds maintain peace and order as they see it an exigency for them to take part in the state affair; and that no dissenters may be allowed to express their comments/views contrary to the collective ambience. In order to do such; the authorities will have to set out employees of the Philippine National Police and the MMDA who do not have beer bellies or have physical appearances that suggests incompetence with their performances.

Sweeping Under the Rug
    The quickest way to make a venue appear spic and span is to ‘sweep the dirt under the rug’. This creates a deception which suggests that one, or a few areas, of the residency is commendable-only those which are certain to be put into focus; and the other less relevant are left as untidy as they are.
    The streets and thoroughfares, which the Pope is sure to tread in order to fulfil his scheduled Philippine odyssey, shall be attended to that these shall not appear unpleasant or prove annoying to his sojourn. Roxas Boulevard , the streets and side-roads of España, as well as the various paths leading to the disaster area of Tacloban shall be rid of traffic, trash and other ‘eyesores’; but no funds will be given out to tidy and renovate other sectors of the country which are not concerned with the papal visit.

“Put on your best dress, honey.”
       As with most citizens of other countries; the Filipinos also follow the trend of appearing fashionable and grand upon the arrival of guests or attendance of social functions. Politicians and persons of stature, especially those who are certain to enact hypocritical roles when meeting the Pope in person, shall already be off to reputed fashion designers as Rajo Laurel, Inno Sotto, or Monique Lhuiller before the arrival of the holy party; getting garments customized for their physical features that they may appear alluring and vainly noteworthy.
    Yes. Let the nationalistic ‘barong tagalogs’ and the ‘baro’t sayas’ conceal their true unpatriotic personalities and hearts.

“Make sure the neighbours can see.”
    Another reputed quality of the habitants of the Philippines is their ardour for outdoing one another. This is the term usually called “patalbugan”. When festivities or special occasions take place; they want to make sure that what they have in their possession, or what occurs concerning them, is more ostentatious in comparison to that of their fellowmen. And what better way is there to suggest that one’s neighbours are inferior, except getting their attention? Since the Philippines is the most renowned, if not the only, Christian country in Asia; the local media will surely allow international networks around the world to receive videos and images of Pope Francis’ social rounds of the country. It may have the intention of enhancing his eminence’s image as a “Pope of the People”; but there is also the undeniable, underlying intention of showing off to the world that such a dignified person has decided to frequent the nation.


    Filipinos are commendable for their perseverance to uphold the slogan which announces “It’s more fun in the Philippines” in order to swank a pretentious identity which contradicts itself; and they may just inspire the Roman authorities to move the Vatican to Manila in the process.

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