“Isang Kahig, Maraming Tuka”: A Vision for the Country

/Art by author

They say that the current government is bereft of a vision, hence the plethora of motherhood statements. Well, here’s a humble suggestion.

By Vincent R. Pozon

In the words of a contestant in America’s Got Talent is a real-world axiom that is hard to argue with: “When you’re surviving, you can’t dream.” He is Michael Ketterer; he is a nurse; he is father of six children, five adopted. That he managed to brave the stage, perform well and win Simon Cowell’s heart and the Golden Buzzer, is proof of the zeal that he puts into this business of surviving.

But what if talent didn't have to bother with the next meal? When it is “isang kahig, isang tuka”, life becomes absurd. You cannot build, create, try for better, do more for others if the mind and the arms and all your waking hours are commissioned for the job of looking for the next meal.

The idiom "isang kahig, isang tuka" suggests precarious living where an individual barely earns enough to survive, and is without the ability to save or accumulate resources for the future. Actually, chickens have a natural behavior of storing food temporarily in their crop before digesting it. This temporary storage allows them to eat and then process the food for consumption at a later time.

Chickens have it better than our poor. And, yes, we are a poor country. Only 26% of Filipino families rated themselves as 'Not Food-Poor'. -SWS

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Western economists will disagree, but I argue that this is the province of governance — to liberate individuals from the oppressive shackles of perpetual scrounging for sustenance.

Envision a government that understands the sovereignty of hunger, recognizing that the breadwinner, when unaided, may be compelled to barter principles, their very deities, for sustenance.

Imagine a country where the people are inventing and innovating and creating and putting up businesses. Imagine the art and the science sprung from minds unencumbered by hunger pangs.

Imagine the drop in criminality.

A president cannot do much in six years – five remaining for Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. But instead of "feel good" platitudes, what if he picked a basic need, create a masterplan towards making it palpably beneficial, and what is more palpable than hunger assuaged? He could, if he wanted to, break ground towards building a future where people do not have to forage, scratch and peck for the next worm or insect incessantly.

Humbly.