Wednesday, December 21, 2005

i'm pro-BONO

This year Time Magazine chose to honor Bono, along with two others as 2005 “Persons of the Year.” Unless you’ve been living under a rock since the 1980s, Bono or Paul David Hewson is the frontman of the biggest rock band in the universe, U2.

According to the magazine, “Bono charmed and bullied and morally blackmailed the leaders of the world’s richest countries into forgiving US$40 billion in debt owed by the poorest.” For the past years now Bono is actively involved in campaigning for debt relief for heavily-indebted countries in Africa and Asia. He founded Debt, Aids, Trade for Africa (DATA), a London-based non-profit organization that works to raise awareness about the problems of Africa and seeks to influence wealtheir governments' policies toward it. In 2000, he teamed up with the late Pope John Paul II in calling on the rich countries to cancel Third World debt.

Why debt relief? For countries such as the Philippines, writing off billions of dollars in debt would mean more hospitals or more roads for farmers to transport their produce thereby lessening the cost of basic commodities such as rice. It would also mean more budget allocation to increase the salaries of our teachers and health workers thus abating the exodus of Filipino professionals to other countries to work as hookers, maids and ass-wipers.

At present, the country’s allocation for debt servicing is pegged at 34.4% of the total national budget. That's 310.3 billion pesos! And every year budgetary allocation for debt repayments increases by 21%. That's a lot of money which should be spent on social services i.e., health, education, water, etc. Clearly, debt servicing is a heavy burden for poor and middle income countries already overwhelmed with countless problems i.e., high population rate, famine, drought, floods, etc.

Anyways, I am a big fan of Bono and U2 since the release of War album which for me is their best. Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day were our anthems back in sixth grade. I hope Bono will never tire of churning out good rock and roll and continue to take up the cudgels for the world’s poor. Bono is the man.

6 comments:

Yowee said...

" I am the Imelda Marcos of sunglasses." - Bono

yeah i saw the Time mag (Bono with the Gates) but i am yet to buy a copy. he has been a very good example to celebrities to put their fame to good use. you are right, it's so sad that the bulk of the national revenue goes to pay off our debt when it could be used for the country's development. then there would be lesser parents going abroad and lesser kids who will be lonely this Christmas. with the state of the country today I hope everyone could still be merry. but hey...we're Pinoys...have a blessed holiday season!! _*

Anonymous said...

I think Time Magazine has made an excellent choice. Bono and The Gates duo have impressive background on humanitarian efforts.

God Bless them!

nerie said...

yep, i've read that TIME issue. i love how they tagged bono as "the irish rocker who has made debt reduction sexy."

and of course, all i want is you will forever be one of my favorite songs of all time.

bono rocks.

twistedman said...

kiss my mike: i admire the gates for their philanthropic endeavors but i absolutely ABHOR windows!!! now i'm using firefox and open office. try them.

nerie: i also like 'all i want is you'. it's in the reality bites soundtrack right?

Yowee said...

can i link your blog? it's an interesting read and i just want to share it with the people who happen to drop by mine. happy new year!

twistedman said...

hey fixer yow. sure you can po. thanks.