Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Siao: I am a consumer advocate By Kristi Siao
IT HAS been quite a while since I expressed my thoughts into words. It has been quite a while that I have been drowning myself in the science of nursing care, trying to find my niche in this world, and flowing with life's hurdles and joys that I forgot who I really am.
For years, I have closely observed and listened to a man's crusade, his beliefs, and his principles. The man I speak of is Robert "James" Siao. The man who fearlessly challenged, questioned, and exposed malpractices by a local electric power company that lasted for more than 10 years. He is a man who stands up for what he believes is right, regardless of the threats and criticisms that come his (and his family's) way.
How can this man fight for others when it should be his family that should come first? I couldn't understand. I was passive then. I wasn't one to fight for people's rights. Why should I go look for trouble? Why fight for the rights of people who don't really care about what you are fighting for?
Yet, he never faltered. He didn't give up on the people. Soon, I started to notice how his fighting spirit touched people from all walks of life. Now, I realize how his crusades have molded me into becoming what I really am...a consumer advocate...just like him.
You see I am my father's daughter. It is a call that I cannot turn away from.
Being, presently, in the field of Nursing (as most are), I see how much diseases have become rampant in our nation. Recurring infections, acute "preventable" illnesses, and the like. I see them everyday. I feel sad and frustrated. Despite health programs implemented by the government, sufferings continue to spread that lead us to believe that our nation may be a hopeless case.
We are of the third world, aren't we? We have nothing to do but to give in to what this world has condemned us to. To become mere guinea pigs of those who profit and those in power. They control our economy. They control our food. They control our lives.
Hasn't it occurred to you how cancer has become as common as TB (tuberculosis) these days? If it isn't your father, it's your mother, your brother, your sister, your cousin, your uncle, your auntie, or your friend, who is suffering with, or already died of it. The dreaded cancer. The one thing we thought that would only occur in families who has had it for generations. These families submit themselves for routine check-ups knowing that all its members are at a high risk to acquire it. The irony of it is that they are luckier because they know what they have to look out for.
But, what about those families who have never had a single case of cancer tainting their genogram? Whose eyebrows raise when the doctor tells them that it truly is the uninvited cancer that has found a home in the body of their family member? Who plagues the doctor with questions of "Are you sure?," and "How can that be possible?" How can a thing like cancer steal from us like a thief in the night? Stealing our rights. Stealing our hopes. Stealing our lives.
These thoughts have alarmed me to sleepless nights and numerous discussions with colleagues. Searching for answers, I realize that the clues to my queries were all into the one thing everybody had in common...food.
As problems on food shortage loom before us, there is rampant and hidden use of GMO's (Genetically Manufactured Organisms) in the production of our food. GMOs pose risks on our lives, on our very existence.
(More about GMO's on Kristi's next article. Ms. Siao can be reached through kristisiao@yahoo.com.)
