mexiwi 425 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 I had flown out of Cebu back to Australia on the Monday night before. I was watching the tracks and had told my gf on Mactan to get some extra water and get some cash out of the bank just in case it tracked a little more south, her sister scoffed at the idea. They were fine but it was close, funnily enough, any sign of a storm now and her sister is stocking up the emergency supplies - looks like the poreigner had a clue after all Link to post Share on other sites
Bob in Iligan 79 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 This has been a gripping thread, thanks. And sadly, Filipino Pride can be cited as a problem. I think it needs to be dropped as a national motto. Look at China for example - humility is instead part of their national creed. Collective foresight. I am not vaunting the Chinese model in particular, it's just an obvious comparison to make with the Chinese historically having done so well in Philippines. In Western Civilization too, you have Proverbs of the Old Testament railing on about pride in numerous passages. Pride cometh before a fall. Pride is foolish. The prideful are always so cock-sure of themselves when they don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. The prideful don't look ahead, I mean sorry to keep laying down Proverbs here but it's common sense. The prideful even boast about their unpreparedness, damn another Proverb! The upshot for us is that we have our own preparedness plans, just life as usual. I have three generators, four if you count a monster welder truck. We have fuel in different tanks from 300 to 500 gallons. In the Philippines we tied a generator in to the house electrical. During brown-outs, I mean, the King must have air-con in the bedroom. We also have candles, gasoline lamps, propane lamps, even some old-timey oil wick lamps. Those are basically useless and dirty but the kids think it's cool to use them. We stockpile food, everyone does around our neighborhood. Poor Filipinos live with no food stored. No water. No means of producing electricity on their own. No fuel. Their houses are squatter shacks along the flood plain because you aren't supposed to build there in the first place. They are not educated, they do not even have enough cash on hand for bus transport and accommodations elsewhere to weather the storm. It is not a thing to be proud of that people can be so unprepared and destitute. You can have an IQ of 120 and act like IQ 70 because you think being born Filipino makes you a genius. So therefore no need to think ahead for retirement, for medical emergencies, for natural disasters, for things that are actually normal in SE Asia. I love my Filipino family and my Philippines soon-to-be permanent home. But this attitude is frustrating to me: foolish pride. I call it stupid pride. A lack of self-awareness. That, for example, you live in Typhoon alley so you need both personal and social typhoon preparedness. It means we rely on ourselves for the most part, but we aren't keen on watching all our neighbors get wiped out. These photos and story were harrowing. Link to post Share on other sites
Davaoeno 37,484 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 12 minutes ago, Bob in Iligan said: I mean sorry to keep laying down Proverbs here but it's common sense. just because you say it is so does not make it common sense 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bob in Iligan 79 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 That was pretty funny! Common sense ain't so common. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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