Friday, October 17, 2008 Roperos: Search for a meal By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
ONE of the most difficult part of a person’s daily existence if he is the head of the family and belongs to the ranks of the poor, according to a taxi driver, is the search for the next meal.
It places a strong pressure on your shoulders, what with the image of your three children and your wife staring at you, silently asking what the next meal would be.
I rode a taxi the other evening to the Cebu Catholic Television Network where I have a 9-10 p.m. program “Clearcut Tonight” with Manny Rabacal and Andy Manatad. That was how I met the taxi driver.
He did not want his name mentioned, but the point is that the current economic downturn appears to be quite severe as to seep down now to the ground level of our population. It has somehow become worrisome.
Which brings me to the general uproar the filing of the 14th impeachment complaint against President Arroyo has generated. The uproar is anchored on the belief that the filing is ill-timed in the sense that the nation’s economic condition is shaky and tends to be unstable. There is therefore the need for everyone to come out and help.
There is no doubting the fact that our people in the countryside, or those that have very low incomes, such as the taxi driver, need some kind of leeway in order to be able to pursue the search for a meal with a measure of ease, and lesser pressure as to make life a little easier for them to sustain, and not demand so much of the peace and quiet of their family life.
Our taxi driver said that often his take home earnings, after deducting the cost of LPG and rental of the taxi unit which was P800, are barely enough for the noon and evening meal of his family, plus the baon of his kids for school in the morning.
He usually takes home food for breakfast if he can knock off early. But the point is, under the present circumstances, it is very difficult to save a little for any emergency, especially now when he suspects his wife is on he way with their fourth child.
Under the present circumstances, how indeed, could one be able to find material security for his family?
What is happening now is that what he earns today he eats the following day. And if it happens that he is unable to work that day, meaning go out and drive his rented taxi unit, where would he get the next meal for his family?
Good question, but who among national leaders now would dare answer it?
