A Precedent President

As the world waits to see how Trumpety Trump behaves once he gets into office, I am reminded that the Philippines has had an equally unconventional, right wing president since the middle of last year. President Duterte has declared war on crime and drugs in this country if necessary by “killing thousands of criminals”. He has gone on record as saying he has personally despatched at least 3 of them and that “I’m used to shooting people”. I can’t believe that even Donald T would make such outrageous utterings. Interestingly, when you talk to locals, about 50% of them think that Duterte is doing a good job because the drug problem, in particular, was getting out of hand. In fact one taxi driver claimed that 80% of the population were on drugs, even in the highest levels of government! I must say I haven’t seen anyone floating around in a catatonic state yet so Duterte’s tough anti drugs’ policy must be working, mustn’t it?

When I first came to the Philippines the population was around 40 million. Today it stands at more than 100 million thanks in part to the staunchly held views that many Catholics here have about contraception! So it’s difficult to know how the ever widening gap between the small number of the wealthy (and there are some seriously rich Filipinos) and the large % of very poor will ever become narrower. This is all too evident in the vast urban sprawl that is Metro Manila.

I have seen so many tragically poor areas which, frankly, I was too embarrassed to photograph. Pile upon pile of rotting refuse being picked over by young and old alike in a desperate attempt to find something worth selling or eating. Fathers and sons sifting through rubble on building sites

in the hope of salvaging something. Swimmers scratching around the sea bed in Manila bay looking for sellable flotsam and jetsam

and young boys on the streets of the wealthier areas with arms outstretched asking for a few pesos. And all this going on within the general mayhem of Manila’s traffic

where pavements are often given over entirely to food stalls

or used as car parks!

Despite everything it would seem that the vast majority of Filipinos are content and even happy with their lot, many working extraordinarily long hours to keep the body and soul of their (often large) family together. And they are not all trying to rip of ‘wealthy’ foreigners.

This young lad, sensing my reticence to cross the busy street on a crossing where I waited in the hope that some vehicle might let me pass just marched into the middle of the chaos and stopped the traffic for me. Impressive! So, yes, I did give him a few pesos to reward his gallantry!

By no stretch of the imagination can Manila be described as a beautiful city

but the late afternoon light does lead a little enchantment to the view, as they say. No place is this more apparent than looking out over Manila bay

which is, understandably, a favourite walking, talking and picture taking spot.

For just a moment or two it’s possible to forget the urban jungle just a few meters away with its vast array of delights to whet the weary wanderer’s appetite.