I’m the person that sympathizes with the poor, especially in economic needs. That’s why I have a lenient mindset towards them in terms of money. Sometimes, they all have the necessary means but lacked money. Money hampers their productivity when they are full of them, and also when they are destitute of them. I believe it’s because they don’t handle their money well. It’s either they spend too much on non-essentials, or they just don’t budget it well. Sometimes they even venture into business opportunity that in the end makes them twice as poor as they were. This is how I view them. That is why I’m willing to lend them certain amounts of money. I thought that lending them money would also benefit me in terms of making them more kind and willing to run some favors for me, but I was proved wrong.
It is interesting to share the political space that currently exists around the compound where the house I live is located. The compound is a few blocks away from a railroad track, a church, almost near two ‘barangay’ halls. Observing where the compound is situated, it is surrounded by a vibrant community that is mostly occupied by the working to middle type class of people. I seldom interact with the people in the community since the point of interaction comes only when I walk on my way home or to the light rail transit station at the main thorough fare. But I know a few of them personally, such as: Gerry, a pedicab driver; Mario, the newly ordained guard of the compound; Diaz, long time guard and part-time pedicab driver and some type of healer; Ronnie, driver of the most affluent family in the compound; Edwin, cousin of Ronnie, also a driver of a different affluent family. There are others which I don’t know by name but easy to remember faces.
These people are very dear to my social life since they are the ones that I asked for some help and favors. These favors are reaped from the political relations that exist between them and me. In a Marxist view, it can be considered that I’m an exploiter since I asked them to do something because of the social class and structure that we are currently in. The truth is Marx is right when he said that the capitalist exploits the workers. Indeed, I agree with that reality, but in the case of the people that I mentioned it’s a bit different. Although there is a social divide between them and me, the division is not in the means of labor. Though technically I’m considered their ‘little bossing’ that’s because I live in the compound.
Basically, the compound collectively hires two guards for each shift, but owns their own respective drivers. These people know each other very well, and for quite some time had conducted their own little happenings inside the compound. The reason that I know these little activities take place it’s because sometimes I joined them for the reason that I’m on a little social experiment. I’d like to disprove the general notions of my Chinese elders have on them. I consider it a daunting task, since it would be very difficult to disprove what they already considered as conventional of this poor working class. Another reason that I socialize with them it’s because I believe that there will be a day that they can prove of worthy aid to me.
The interaction and current power relation that they have fostered with me began when I was still a child. With almost every day of contact it is impossible that there won’t be any development of certain kind of personal/impersonal or cliental relationship. I think it’s a conventional habit for people to know and categorize ‘manong’ guard, ‘kuya’ driver, or ‘manong’ pedicab as mere acquaintance level of relationship. Who would be interested in being a friend of ‘manong’ guard, ‘kuya’ driver, or ‘manong’ pedicab? Certainly we hold them as valuable only as to make our daily amenities constantly available. Only a meager portion of the rich, wealthy, and affluent befriend them for reason of making and treating them as the proper other. Personally, I consider them as friends. I heard their views, their goals, and their problems. Whether it is a means to dupe me into believing their poor state or just really their way to make known their grievance and concerns, it’s acceptable to me.
What makes the power relation in the current relationship tilt towards me is because of their employment and their debt to me. I’m not proud that they’re in debt, but I’m happy to help them in their current situation. I don’t yet fully understand the general habit of the working poor to be always mired with debt. But usually this happens when there are unexpected events that demand a sum of money to serve as a temporal remedy of the situation. I observe, they are usually financially troubled. There was a time that they came to ask for financial aid. They asked to borrow a certain amount of money, and I agreed. From that day on forward, the balance of power relation is tipped over my favor as so I thought. There are documentaries that insinuate that debt is an effective way of coercing people to do what you want, to enslave them to an extent. For me that’s an extreme interpretation of debt as tool for coercive means to an end, but it holds certain truth. I was able to experience the benefit of someone having a debt from you, because they treat you better.
Debt is a dangerous. That is the hard truth for the lender and borrower, since the person might choose to honor repaying his or her debt as part of a mutual agreement. This is all the more true when the debt is exclusively made without paper trail, but only through transaction by word. The borrower might renege on his promise and the lender can’t do anything about it. The resulting power relations between the debtor and borrower, it all depends on how both would use the leverage of power sourced from debt. Power from debt is unstable since it all depends on the honor and shame or the concept of ‘hiya’ from them. Occasionally, ‘walang hiya’ attitude dominates the ‘hiya’ since their dire needs calls for it.
The reason that I agreed to lend is simply because I like to trust them as part of fulfilling my small social experiment around my community. It’s an experiment concerning how far ‘utang na loob’ would fare during between them and me. But debt is not the only that matters in the current structure of the power relation in the chosen political space. The practice of coercion with expected compensation through small favors also matters. For example, there would be times that I asked ‘manong’ Mario to accompany me to go the local community market. I remembered in the past that I asked a former guard working for us Valdez to go with me and buy some animals, liquors. Basically, I asked them to help carry the items which are heavy. This small favors don’t go without any returns. Sometimes we would buy a kilo of chicken feet for them to feast on. Sometimes they asked me for a portion of contribution for their small ‘happenings’, which I gladly give some. For example, Gerry would ask me for a gift for some occasion.
There are also times that they’ll treat you or share with you some form of amenities to ease your situation. For example, they’ll offer a ride for you when they see you on your way out to school. ‘Kuya’ Edwin would offer his master’s car to let me ride on and get me off at a certain point. ‘Kuya’ Ronnie offered me his boss’ service van to drop me off at a certain junction. ‘Manong’ Diaz offered me to ride on a car owned by a former tenant in one of the units of the compound. He asked his friend to give me a ride so that it would save me energy from walking. I think they’re being nice, but more importantly they are playing politics. Though they are at the bottom, they seem to be on top. They can use the transport of their bosses to do some little favors for others. This is not a criticism but an observation on how they utilize opportunity in their favor. In this way, they’ll turn the table and have you caught in ‘hiya’, ‘utang na loob’, ‘pakikisama’ and ‘pakikikapwa’ without actually bearing any cost or expense. In a more positive light, they make use of the available utility in a more efficient and productive manner.
The political spaces that I shared influence only parts of me. Though only portions of me, I consider its impact serious and enormous. It not only confirmed how I view and think about my surrounding world, but also shaped the way I am yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The way that I deal with the people that have power over me and the people I have power over will never be the same in any circumstance in any period of time.
The political space that I am in is in constant change. Today I might be on one of the high places of the political relations, and tomorrow I might as well be at the bottom. The political space in the compound between the poor working class and me a middle class person is mechanize by debt and gratitude, and with certain ‘filipino’ cultural values. The power relations exist between them and I, but they have some ways of circumventing the conventional power relations. That’s why I partly believe the Marxist conjecture of the exploited working class, but I doubt if the working class is not manipulating the power relations in their favor.
Lending money is not a bad act, but it is a dangerous one. If lending is meant for yielding power, don’t forget that the other party being in debt can turn the power against you. Yes indeed, money can be equated to temporal power, but wits can wield you more power. It is when the indebted party uses their wits against you in not paying their debts that the balance of power tips toward their favor. If you are not in position to lend, then don’t or else you’ll get trampled upon by the power struggle.
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