, February 18, 2025

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


  •   3 min reads
“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.

WHILE IT MAY SEEM like a chicken's feeding behavior is the inspiration for the idiom "isang kahig, isang tuka", it is not an accurate representation of how a chicken actually feeds itself. When a chicken finds something to eat, the food travels down their esophagus and into their crop, which is a small sac-like structure in their neck. The crop serves as a temporary storage place for food, allowing them sustenance at a later time.

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. 63% of Filipino families feel poor, "rising steadily for the third consecutive quarter since the significant 12-point rise from 46% in March 2024 to 58% in June 2024. This was the highest percentage of Self-Rated Poor families in 21 years, since 64% in November 2003", says the Social Weather Stations in a recent release.

SELF-RATED POVERTY at 63% -- highest in 21 years

Western and western-educated 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 – three 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.


Vincent R. Pozon

After a year of college, Koyang entered advertising, and there he stayed for half a century, in various agencies, multinational and local. He is known for aberrant strategic successes (e.g., Clusivol’s ‘Bawal Magkasakit’, Promil’s ‘The Gifted Child’, RiteMED’s ‘May RiteMED ba nito?', VP Binay's 'Ganito Kami sa Makati', JV Ejercito's 'The Good One'). He is chairman of Estima, an ad agency dedicated to helping local industrialists, causes and candidates. He is co-founder and counselor for advertising, public relations, and crisis management of Caucus, Inc., a multi-discipline consultancy firm. He can be reached through vpozon@me.com.


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