“Our problems can be solved if we elect national leaders who have a vision for progress”
SOME balikbayan relatives and friends who have become Fil-Ams have told me the United States has ceased to become “the land of milk and honey,” which was the dream in the past of most Filipinos to live in.
When I asked them why, they all say have become so expensive.
Certainly when they came back home, compared to the American dollar, and at the rate of P56 and over to a dollar, the Philippines is worth coming back to, Santa Banana!
They tell me you can no longer have a meal at McDonalds for less than $10. My gulay, here in the Philippines at the current rate of exchange, their dollars can go a long way!
While the balikbayans complain of the high cost of gasoline and oil, as we do here in the Philippines, the United States is also beset with the increasing number of joblessness.
As a result, the syndrome of “Hate Asians” prevails.
My gulay, while the newspapers don’t emphasize so much on this malady, my balikbayan relatives and friends avoid getting into trouble with the Americans and Black Americans over this issue, but hate crimes against Asians continue!
What they notice is in some big cities in the US, like New York, Chicago, San Francisco , Los Angeles and Philadelphia there is a growing number of homeless Americans, that they often occupy sidewalks where they put up their tents and even shelters made of boxes and cardboard.
And, Santa Banana, the worst thing about this is that most of the homeless are drug addicts! Why the police cannot stop them from occupying the sidewalk is also a problem.
This phenomenon gives a black eye on the Americans.
I’m also told by my balikbayan relatives and friends that nowadays Americans have become so short-tempered,that in long lines at fast food places, for example, Americans shout and curse at the smallest inconvenience.
This also becomes prevalent during traffic jams,when motorists often curse and shout. America is no longer “the land of milk and honey/”
Some of my balikbayan relatives and friends who have become dual citizens with both American and Philippine passports want to come back to the Philippines ,but their problem is that many members of their families have jobs they cannot leave and they have mortgages to pay.
Understandably, they have their roots in the United States.
My source in the American Embassy in Manila told me the long lines for immigrant visas have thinned out. Yes, there are still Filipinos who want to go to the United States, but only as tourists or to visit their relatives.
I, too, had my “American Dream.” I recall when the Sorianos took over the Philippines Herald in the 80s, our publisher was Ken Macker, an American who was the promoter of soccer football in the United States.
Understandably, he had some connections with American mainstream media, and he told me if I would like to work in the US, he would do his best to help me.
A few years later, when he had to go back to the US, he wrote to me if I wanted to work in the US, he would recommend me to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Since that would mean leaving my family , it would be a great sacrifice on my part. So I declined my American Dream .
For some Filipinos in pursuit of the American Dream, they were willing to run the risk of becoming TNTs (Tago ng Tago) in the United States until they got deported as having violated their non-immigrant visas.
There are often big scams in the USA of fake marriages, all in pursuit of the American Dream.
I know many Filipinos had to resort to fake marriages.
But, my gulay, with America no longer “the land of milk and honey,” the American Dream is no longer worth it.
In other words, the Philippines has become a paradise to balikbayans.
Yes, the Philippines is now paradise for the balikbayans in many ways.
No wonder some members of my family who are now Fil-Ams consider their former country, the Philippines, a paradise.
Yes, we have many problems here in the Philippines.
But, our problems can be solved if we elect national leaders who have a vision for progress.
Every country has problems, but they are resolvable if we elect the right leaders.
Our midterm elections are coming next year. So, we have that opportunity to elect good leaders once again.
