Santino is the star of the ABS-CBN program "May Bukas Pa". He's based on San Marcelino Pan y Vino. He is a "miracle boy" who regularly speaks with Jesus Christ and creates miracles for people. It becomes such that the people want to steal him and make him slave away to make miracles at their bidding. It's a typical "miracle boy" story.
Santino though has a lot of adventures. They run from being kidnapped to being part of a buss hijack to being wrapped up in political campaigns. This program tries to show all the problems and issues in Philippine society. And Santino in the story provides the solutions for them.
And that's the trouble with Santino; he's the hero who does everything for them. He solves the people's problems for them. But the people don't want to solve their problems. And they depend on him for those solutions. They don't want to do it themselves. There are so many instances where the poor people themselves act insensibly and stupidly - probably some would say, much like real Filipino poor. However, I know better. The attitudes and actions of Filipinos here are not that realistic. It even shows rich people as evil or maligned - a typical representation in Filipino programs. Again, it is not accurate.
May Bukas Pa is another example of the dysfunction of Filipino culture. People just want to live with their problems, but do not want to solve them. If ever they want a solution, they want someone else to do it. It's a promotion of inaction by the people. If this is what people watch and it forms people's ideas about the country, then the program, like most of Philippines TV (in Manila at least), is doing harm. It is promoting false ideas about the country and about how people should act. Most ostensibly it provides the idea that we need a hero to solve our problems for us. And if he doesn't solve our problems, we can always boot him out with "people power."
When will our people ever learn. We should watch something other than this.
