^i Agree.
This is the reason why I left manila. I live in the south, and i remember a time when 30 minutes lang or less ang biyahe by bus through SLEX, without using Skyway, door to door, from my house all the way to La-Salle Taft. i had a condo in Taft pero i used to go home middle of the week para humingi ng extra allowance...hahaha.
but oh my gosh, after lawschool and my masters abroad, i went back home to start working. grabe, by bus going to makati, which is considered mas malapit from my house kesa sa La Salle, no, joke, 3-4 hours one way lang naka-skyway ka pa nun ha. pag minalas malas ka pa, standing ovation sa bus. hindi ko naman ma-afford to take my car every day dahil expensive ang gas, toll and parking and i was just starting my career then. tapos, lalo naman na i cannot afford my condominium unit na... unless babayaran ng mommy ko my unit, which defeats the purpose of me working. kaya may i fly away na lang ako.
here's my 20 reasons:
1. Traffic - as elaborated above
2. salary is very low - i worked for a big organisation and above average my starting pay, dahil i have higher degrees, pero ganoon pa man, ang baba pa din ng sweldo grabe. not enough even for just a daily trip to starbucks (maluho, i know, but this is just a comparison). Malaki pa allowance ko back when i was studying
3. Juan Tamad attitude - reklamo ng reklamo, wala namang ginagawa to improve their situation. all they do is blame the 'man'.
4. culture of "kelan ka magaasawa", "tumatanda ka na, wala ka pang anak?" - hello, i am a strong, independent single woman. i don't need a man to be fulfilled. (not that i'm a man-hater, but puhleeze, let a girl enjoy her independence!)
5. so many street kids and pulubis around - okay, not to be matapobs, but really, i blame the parents. bakit hindi na lang mag family planning kung wala naman ipapaaral/ipapakain sa mga bata?!
6. Street kids - you think their kawawa, they're not. they are entitled pieces of **. Back when i was a law student in manila, lalo na in the recto/mendiola/espana area, grabe yung mga street kids dun, sila pa galit pag hindi mo sila inabutan ng limos. obligado magbigay? parepareho tayong walang work, totoy.
7. unsafe - sobrang dami na holdaper, snatcher, pickpockets, etc. you have to be always alert. i mean, i'm not saying naman that you have to be burara or something, and for some, second nature na talaga nila to be "maingat" para nga hindi manakawan, but let me tell you, darling, there's a better way of using your energy. hindi na dapat isama pa sa stress ang fear na manakawan ka for doing simple things such as running errands, crossing the road, etc.
8. No discipline. nobody follows rules. kahit simpleng traffic rules lang such as bawal tumawid or using designated bus stops, hay nako, mahirap ba sundin yun? pag nanita ka, sila pa galit.
9. Pollution. Oh my gosh the pollution. naglalabasan lahat ng allergies ko sa pinas, grabe. at hindi ako talaga makahinga. clogged my nose palagi.
10. Trash. tapon dito, tapon doon. anak ng pasig naman kayo! (my age is showing!)
11. Healthcare system. super expensive, even for the basic things. bawal magkasakit. nakamamatay.
12. Taxes - Taas ng tax, di naman natin nakikita sa infrastructure/benefits
13. Corruption - following number 12
14. Over Population - kasi nga hindi nagfa-family planning, tapos you'd think dahil madaming subjects for taxation dapat madaming macollect na taxes and the infrastructure can be improved. pero waley pa din.
15. transport system - this relates to my number 1 reklamo also, but at the same time, there's really not a lot of option to get from point a to point b. pahirapan the commute. kaya din hindi umunlad ang tourism natin eh, to think na our tourist spots can rival any of the words' tourist destinations. no joke. ang dami ko nang narating and all i can think of is sayang, mas maganda sa pinas pero hindi natin maalagaan
16. poor management of infrastructure and natural resources. again, as i said, sayang talaga. ang dami ko nang narating sa europe na mga "old towns" that is well preserved talaga and believe you me, ang laki ng kita ng gubyerno nila dito, and they really take care of these places to attract visitors from all over the world. hello!! we have intramuros. we have vigan, pero hindi natin ma-market sa tourist kasi bukod sa wala tayong infrastructure, takot pumunta mga turista sa atin. don't even get me started about the beaches/natural resources. wala pa akong nakikitang lugar abroad that can rival what boracay or even puerto galera has to offer... and partida, boracay and puerto galera are so-so lang compared sa iba nating mas magagandang beaches.
17. Public Service and the system itself. yung feeling na sabihan na "wala kang magagawa, ganyan sistema dito" oh my gosh. hindi ko talaga to matanggap. lalo na the government workers. and not only in manila. kahit saang Philippine Embassy or Consulate, dinadala pa yang mentality na yan. super kainit ng ulo.
18. internet. oh my gosh. everytime i go back to the philippines, uwing uwi na agad ako dahil sa sobrang bagal ng internet, sobrang expensive pa! kahit simpleng pag-download lang ng word file from an email, kung naka mobile data ka, sisante ka na sa trabaho mo, hindi pa din tapos ang pagdownload ng file. que horror
19. church-going hypocrites, and i dont just mean the catholics. mas lalo pa ngang hypocrite yung ibang bible-bearing christians, grabe sa pagiging judgmental "in the name of their bible" ang sasama nbaman ng ugali. very self righteous pa. even the islam and other minor religious communities na feeling nila minority/discriminated sila, it's not because of the religion, it's because of your attitude. you're not asking for "equal treatment" you asking for special treatment.
20. madami pa but let's just leave this number 20 to i agree to everything that is said below.
