Life Discourse 04.27.2020: How to Use your Social Amelioration Subsidy?

Disclaimer: This is a series of random microblogs created on my Facebook profile during the start and peak of the Enhanced Community Quarantine from March 16 - May 31, 2020. This represents my personal feelings and thoughts on issues that affected me the most. Pardon the grammar & poor sentence construction.

Credits: POLICY ISSUE AT A GLANCE: Defining And Profiling The Middle Class (website: https://www.pids.gov.ph/gallery/299). For more detailed read or to check the publication please click: https://www.pids.gov.ph/publications/6725.

The government (whether you hate who's currently sitting at Malacañang or not) tries to find ways to provide or extend financial assistance during the pandemic. If you are the poorest of poor (marginalized or indigent), you'll get around Php 5,000 - 8,000 as a form of one time assistance. Whether you get this from DSWD, LGU, SSS or DOLE, this was meant to be used to buy food and other basic necessities, which was the original intention of giving this out.

But some have other ideas to use this. Instead of using the money o stock up on food and other important stuff (i. e. medicines, masks, disinfectants or alcohol) - they use this to gamble (double or nothing so they say), buy drugs or alcohol or have their hair straightened (I kid you not here).

Sorry I take great umbrage over this matter; I simply cannot comprehend it all. While we, the so-called Middle Class, frustratingly accept our fate that we cannot even get a flimsy amount (of course we pay our taxes) of assistance; they get everything and still being, to a certain extent, ungrateful. They wanted more. I do understand because of the unemployment or people can't work, but with the outrageous stories going around about this, you get so disappointed.

Not everyone chooses to spend their money irresponsibly - I saw news that individuals returning the subsidy back; aware that someone needs it more than they should, some share it with their relatives and some use this as capital to start another business (remember the tricycle driver using his 2k to open his barbeque business, that's ingenuity at its finest?). I even saw a news a whole barangay refused assistance because they have everything they needed (not sure if this barangay was located in Benguet, a farming community, but correct me if misread the news).

This is how it should be done. Not getting drugs (avoiding reality 'te or k'ya?), rebond their hair straight (over na yan sa totoo lang) and gamble it away.

Realizing that we should have to reassess ourselves during this period what should be our priorities - needs over wants or survival during the pandemic.

Happy Monday to everyone, keep safe and sane. We still have 3 weeks to go (and yeah, we get upgraded to GCQ soon).