Basic arithmetic operates in a very interesting way specifically when it comes to politicians declaring their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). A 25 million-peso rest house in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija becomes equal to a 3.7 million-peso "ordinary house", until one realizes that one pole in the house's gazebo costs P17 million. The 204-square-meter mansion with a 4.7 hectares of land and 300 000 square meter gated portion, or rather again, the "ordinary house" possesses a jaw-dropping landscape of "granite posts, driftwood chairs and tables on the white porch, in addition to an interior design comprising of a "hybrid refrigerator and an Italian made stove in the kitchen."
Director General Alan Purisima of the Philippine National Police, who is charged with three counts of graft and plunder because of his undeclared assets, insists that his rest house does not exceed the adjective "ordinary" because it only has solar panels which light up the house as well as the lamp posts from the outer and inner fences. Complaints were filed by Perfecto Jaime Tagalog of the Coalition of Filipino Consumers (CFC) and Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) on September 22, while the Ombudsman re-investigated Purisima's lifestyle because of discrepancies and inconsistencies in his SALN, not to mention in his possession of a supposedly P90-million worth poultry farm in Cabanatuan City and his already-discounted P1.5 million Land Cruiser SUV.
Ladies and gentlemen, lend me your ears. Let us redefine the word "ordinary" in the context of a Filipino house, in which case the ordinary Filipino is a PNP Director General. The ordinary Filipino house should comprise of an Olympic-size swimming pool, buildings and a very high gate so that there would be zero chances of burglars and tress passers disrupting your sense of peace and security. The ordinary Filipino house should have a large gazebo with four P17-million-worth of posts and four guest bedrooms, never mind if they are empty of furniture and only with beds. Each bedroom should be air-conditioned and the master's bedroom should have a bathroom inside. It should have a mini-bar on the ground floor and the gazebo should be surrounded by wooden benches and a small concrete bridge. Don't forget the family's collection of wine and liquor in the mini bar, filled with bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label and Glenlivet Single Malt scotch.
Now let's redefine the word "extravagant" in the context of a Filipino house. The extravagant Filipino house, in the morning, comprises of a dining area with a small table for eight children. The kitchen houses a small part in the corner with a dirty sink and unwashed plates and saucers. There is no living room for most of the shanty houses in the informal settlers' area, only a chair with a small television in front of it. In the evening, the ordinary Filipino house is a small bedroom, with banig, thin blankets and a few pillows for the children. The extravagant Filipino house is one where there is only one bathroom and no guest bedrooms with its own bathroom. Only a comfort room area with a pail of water, some used soaps and sachets of shampoos. There are no swimming pools, only a drainage system with the most foul odor. The extravagant Filipino house comprises of posts but not worth P17 million. The house is held by long used bamboo poles with a roof made not of quality shingles but of used galvanized iron with holes where the rainwater seeps in every time there is a strong typhoon.
When I first searched for the phrase "ordinary house" in Google, Purisima's statement of "ordinary house" came as the top post. Even when I searched for photos on ordinary houses, his rest house scattered everywhere in the Google images. It is ironic how a Philippine National Police Director General, who should be protecting and serving the country for its own good, becomes a national icon for popularizing such a phrase full of irony and shame. These are the people who we should look up to and yet they become the ones we put our head down to in shame. If this is the old system that continues to be prevalent in the Philippines, then it will forever remain a long shot for the country to climb to the top of the economic progress and development.
