JUDAS NOT PAY
Colorful stickers in jeepneys and tricycles to remind passengers that "God Knows Judas Not Pay" used to make me giggle at the kabaduyan of Filipinos -- both for the gaudy design of the stickers and the Pinoy's attempt of wordplay. But when it comes to paying dues, loans and credits, it's no laughing matter when you are the person holding the empty piggy bank.
This is one of my gripes. Because I'm single and I work for a big company people think I'm fair game for utangs. Let's not get into the discussion that single people do have families to support, financial obligations and living expenses. I find it ironic that friends I have lost touch for ages or people I hardly know would come appear out of nowhere to ask for money. They spin such tall yarns about a child in the hospital, the husband is out of town or out of work, a rent that is due or else they will be evicted, a check that could not be cleared on time, a one-time opportunity to invest in a sure deal, money is tied up elsewhere, those sort of excuses. It makes one wonder why they didn't ask for help from their own families, relatives, in-laws, and friends. Well, chances are these habitual borrowers probably couldn't get a single cent from these people anymore.
What gets my gander is when I'm short of cash they would suggest, "Can't you borrow from your friends or officemates?" Boy, and they have the gall to add "Don't worry I'll pay you back right away." Yeah, right, and Clinton didn't have sexual relations with Monica.
Don't get me wrong. The point here is about utang or loans. Check the dictionary, the definitions for "loans" "debt," and "credit" are not the same as "aid." I would expect it that when a person says "Can I borrow ..." he or she would return whatever was lent. I would expect it that when a person says when and where, he or she will show up at the agreed time and place. What I expect don't always turn out that way. When a former classmate came to me out of the blue I just had to lay my cards on the table, "Let's call a spade a spade. This money is an aid, not a loan. Don't insult my charity and my intelligence by insisting on paying me back." She took my money, but of course, I never heard from her again.
Habitual borrowers are unreliable creditors because they have no serious intention in paying you back. There's another curious thing about bad creditors: they start a fight with you. They find faults or make an issue over something entirely different. All of a sudden you're the bad guy and this gives them a convenient excuse for cutting you off or having their debts written off. It was heart-breaking to see my own sweet and gentle mother go to a customer's residence to collect payment for the curtains she made only to come home in tears because she was insulted.
This happens everywhere. A canteen concessionaire also confided that employees at a factory have been petitioning management to have them replaced. The reasons cited were the food is awful, the choices are limited, the prices are too high, the kitchen dirty. When management investigated its canteen history, it was found that the same complaints have been raised against other concessionaires. What do you know, the instigators are those with the most utang.
In my work I encountered something similar. We organized a group of vendors into an association and later a cooperative. To help them raise funds for the construction of a vendors plaza we donated our products to the coop on the condition that these products are to be sold to the individual members and the money collected shall serve as revolving capital for the coop. As soon as the products were turned-over vicious rumors started to circulate against their duly elected chairman and treasurer to whom the donations were entrusted. A faction threatened the viability of the project. The leaders of this faction suggested that the company support them as a separate group. We refused and insisted they remain united. They tried another tack, suggesting we kick out the chairman and treasurer, dissolve the coop and revert to being an association and write off the outstanding credits. Aha! The first audit revealed the officers were only guilty of being disorganized, but the second audit confirmed that the instigators are once again people with serious bad debts. This story might still have a happy ending. After the other members heard that these people have a personal agenda they re-evaluated all the criticisms and issues against the coop.
In some cultures, specially in ancient times, the penalties for not paying a debt were very harsh -- a hundred lashes of the whip, confiscation of one's property, slavery for the whole family, etc. The Bible made mention of it although the parable was a lesson on forgiveness. This must be where the translation was lost. Pressure is now on the creditor to forgive and forget. I wonder if our predominantly Catholic and Christian culture would have been better off if our religion taught us to honor our debts. But then again, the Bible explicitly forbid adultery, stealing, and killing and look at us. Of course, there's always gaba (karma). God knows ...
September 25, 1998