Sore feet, sunburn and other grievances

Do aching feet after treading the cobblestones of Intramuros in five-inch heels equal walking kilometers to get to and from work at the height of the Apec traffic? Does getting a sunburn make up for the inconvenience of traffic, lost daily income and missed flights?

That seems to be the equation suggested by President Aquino’s youngest sister Kris Aquino in a social media post, saying those inconvenienced by the security and logistic arrangements for the Apec meeting were now “quits” with those responsible, foremost of them her brother, for the people’s hardships in the last few days.

It leaves a rather rancid taste in the mouth, I must say, although I also think a little perspective is needed here. I feel Kris meant to be funny with the post, although I detect a trace of sarcasm in it, too. But despite the attempt at humor, it could only have rubbed salt on the wounds—physical or psychological—of all those who had to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous Apec fortune.

But then, if commuters and workers have a long list of complaints and grievances, doubtless so do the hundreds of volunteers, police, officials and even dignitaries involved in the events of the past week. Perhaps what we need to do is weigh the comparative costs and benefits—the expenses incurred by the government, and by extension us taxpayers, and the future and potential gains to be made from the negotiations and agreements arrived at in the course of the meetings. Not to mention the goodwill the Philippines gained by hosting the event, which, after all, doesn’t happen every day, or every year.

A failure then is the inability of the organizers to create a sense of ownership, of national commitment, over the successful hosting of the Apec. Perhaps the elaborate security measures, and the fulsome praise for the creative minds behind the many Apec fests, only served to alienate the ordinary Filipino from the event. Maybe to many, it was just another one of the many instances where the elite partied while the rest of the populace stewed in traffic.

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An unfortunate side effect has also been the impact on the elections next year. I don’t know if any of our polling firms can measure the effect of the inconveniences caused by the Apec on the minds and choices of voters.

Even before the Apec got off the ground, Sen. Grace Poe, for one, had already released TV and radio ads capitalizing on the woes of the “little people,” from the traffic to the lack of medical care, and asking why people had to suffer for the incompetence—and uncaring attitude—of public officials.

Such ads hit home, and target voters where it matters most: in the heart and in the gut.

Mar Roxas theorizing on what good and effective governance consists of—with a peaceful, sunny garden as a backdrop—feels so far removed from reality compared to the stark brutal photos of long queues at the LRT station, traffic-clogged Edsa, and patients in government hospitals that the Poe campaign airs with regularity. True, Poe offers little by way of solutions, but her promise of equalizing opportunities for the humble folk and of establishing a more “caring” administration responds directly to the public’s sense of abandonment by its current officials.

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Roxas could very well have capitalized on the Apec situation by crafting ads directly addressing the public’s grievances, perhaps by expressing understanding of the hard times everyone was going through but promising better times ahead because of what was accomplished at the Apec sessions.

At the very least these would have shown the administration candidate as not entirely indifferent to the plight of the “little people,” while holding out hope for the good times to come because we as a people had been willing to sacrifice in the short term for bigger rewards in the long term.

I also cannot see why organizers could not have taken more proactive measures to ease the public’s plight during the Apec meetings. If local governments and even the military could field trucks and personnel carriers during typhoons and floods, why couldn’t these have been mobilized to assist commuters trapped in the traffic gridlock?

A Facebook user wrote of her experience with the kindly driver of a pick-up who gallantly gave free rides to commuters stranded on SLEx, noting that many other vehicles stopped and gave free rides to many other strangers. Couldn’t such communal efforts have been planned and encouraged and publicized before the closing of roads and the rerouting of traffic?

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True, carping and complaining even in the face of an international event closely watched by the rest of the world seems to be a distinctly Filipino practice. We do tend to see the few blemishes and ignore the rest of the flawless complexion.

But many of the complaints were themselves valid and reasonable, and not at all the ranting of spoiled children insisting on their sense of entitlement.

P-Noy says Filipinos made his heart “swell with pride” by the successful hosting of the Apec meetings. But he could very well have said the same about the thousands of other Pinoys who endured the hardships brought about by efforts to secure our honored guests and ensure the smooth running of this complicated event. Would it be too late now to expect our fearless leader to address the grievances of the inconvenienced and explain that precautions had to be taken to protect our guests?

Maybe then we could really call it “quits,” our sacrifices worth all the aggravation—sore feet and sunburn included.