by Juan Carlos Felipe G. Montenegro
Into a cheap deal for their jr. chicken sandwich: cheaper than
The price of a regular one, fewer calories, too. They’ll weave a
Story of not making it to your class with your current subscription,
So they’ll offer you fiber—a plan complete with speed. Now you
Can finally participate! Your grief over loss will become
An airliner’s excuse to go out and see the world.
You only live once, right? Your loneliness will be the next
Toothpaste advertisement. It’s because you don’t smile enough.
You reek of seriousness and last night’s oysters.
Maybe you need a whiter smile, fresher breath.
They will sell you anything but your country
Because it’s already been sold.
Juan Carlos Felipe G. Montenegro: My poem stems from how advertising has sold necessity as luxury, and gives a morbid depiction of struggle being exploited. I see commercials that feature working people needing to budget their spending until the next payday used to hawk budget promos for restaurants or fast food chains. There are also many cases of people complaining about their poor internet connections and how it has impeded their work, despite all they have paid their service providers. The index of satisfaction hinges on products and services that fulfil the bare minimum instead of receiving an actual “upgrade” per se. These struggles have been framed in a way that the default is to live in substandard conditions and be rewarded with a semblance of adequacy.
The poem is also partly a reflection of neo-colonialism. There is this labelled prestige of owning something imported as opposed to buying local goods or products, which perpetuates the notion that anything of Western origin is automatically deemed superior and places little to no appreciation of our own by comparison. Despite the Philippines’ long history of economic exploitation by Western powers, the West’s presence remains a constant in the Philippines market.
Published: Monday 4 October 2021[RETURN TO WRITE TO POWER]
Juan Carlos Felipe G. Montenegro is a graduate in History from the University of Santo Tomas. His written works have been featured in Ani Journal, Dapitan, and Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine. Aside from writing, he has also competed in competitive debating and won a number of public-speaking awards. He currently lives in Quezon City and is a contributing writer and editor for an independent magazine for the young and empowered.