After the quakes and the storms, the Philippines has been given a respite the past days. I was afraid that typhoon Tino, which damaged part of my house, would be followed by more devastating storms. Thank God the sun came out, giving me a chance to spend my 13th month pension on repairs. That has made for an uncertain Christmas spending for me. This has proven once more how retirement can be difficult if one ends work in the private sector. A teacher and a military man have bigger pensions, thanks to efforts by past governments to improve their pay.
Being a senior citizen and a retiree like me in the Philippines is difficult financially. My cousins who served in the US military and have retired get bigger pensions in dollars. This plus the current exchange rate in pesos made spending their retirement back in our country worthwhile. And they are far younger than me. Of course, the US government is the one paying them.
I say that rationalizing the pension rate is a must now for the SSS. A few years ago I suffered from a mild stroke. This has increased the number of maintenance medicines I take daily, raising also my spending for these in a month. I am now trying hard to cope considering the meager pension I am currently getting. One of the coping mechanisms for us Filipinos is family or the clan. But even if the younger generation in the clan is already working, they and their families have their own needs, thus limiting the help they can give to the other members of the clan.
I am now thinking of finding ways to get an income. Social media is one good avenue because the effort to use it can be monetized. And I do have the talent, having spent years as a journalist in an English language local daily. But social media is far different from the traditional media. I did try learning and mastering it but gave up because I did not have enough experience to do it. I am now thinking of relearning and to try mastering it again. If other social media creators without a journalism background can do it, why can’t I?
I did try revisiting the things that I did in the early years of social media. But that was long ago and the social media that we know now is far too different. I got turned off early on but I must persevere now because this has become somewhat like an existential struggle. Nobody else can do this or can be of help but myself.
I once considered myself lucky enough that social media became a thing just when I was about to end my stint as a journalist. Considering now the effect of social media on traditional media, that belief did seem true. But I neglected to consider social media’s effect on retired journalists and the changing landscape of media work and the economy.
The media as I know it is far different now. I am still trying to learn about the setup and how to adjust to it. The influence of social media is widening while that of traditional media is narrowing. Even in elections, politicians are beginning to rely more on social media influencers than on their propagandists in traditional media. Sad but true.