Naging Mahirap

Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura?
Nag-Pasko ka na ba sa gitna ng kalsada?
Yan ang tanong namin,
Tunay ka bang isa sa amin?

Nalaman mo na bang mapapag-aral ka nya?
Tutulungan tayo para magka-trabaho?
At kanyang plano’y magka-bahay tayo?

Si Villar ang tunay na mahirap.
si Villar ang tunay na may malasakit.
Si Villar ang may kakayahan
At gumawa ng sariling pangalan.

Si Manny Villar ang magtatapos
ng ating kahirapan.

Obviously, the message being imparted here is that Villar knows how to solve poverty because he himself was once poor. But, there’s an even bigger message here that many people probably missed. Villar and his handlers obviously think voters are so stupid they’d actually believe this crap.

Think about it. Does his being a poorboy once upon a time really make Villar the most knowledgeable and most qualified to take on the task of addressing poverty? I don’t think so. Would it even matter that he was once poor? Maybe. Is Villar really pro-poor? Your guess is as good as mine.

I appreciate Villar’s Sipag at Tiyaga slogan. It’s a good message to impart since it basically reminds us that we need to take action and persist if we want to rise above our circumstances. This is precisely why I find it odd that Villar also perpetuates victim mentality. Watch this TV ad titled Sama sa Masa. Pay attention to the line of the elderly woman identified as Araceli Pena.

Kasi pinalad sila maging anak mayaman.

Sounds to me like an excuse. Now, imagine that kind of message taking root among those who saw that ad. I’m sure not a few people said to themselves, “Oo nga. Mayaman kasi sila.” Is that the kind of thinking that would help poor people get themselves out of poverty?

Villar and anyone else who plans to run on a pro-poor agenda should be careful with the messages they impart especially the subliminal ones. They should make sure to promote a winner’s mindset because that is what the poor should strive to have. It would also be good if they refrained from depicting themselves as saviors of the poor long before it becomes fact.

The good senator should also stop reinforcing the misconception that the poor will only get out of poverty by voting formerly-poor-but-now-fantastically-wealthy people into office. That is so trapo. Of course, he should also make sure to mean it when he claims he is pro-poor. Otherwise, he’ll just prove to everyone that he really is trapo.