SUBJECT: “Hunyango sa Bato” by Abdon Balde Jr.
DATE : April 12, 2008
Summary:
The story evolves in the life of a civil engineer and his experiences in the field of construction. He narrates how contractors and engineers from the private and government sectors transact business deals, more often than not, feeding their personal motives. He even enumerates ways on how to delight influential decision makers for future projects. He describes in detail how the sport of golf can get someone connections (even if personal pride is sacrificed) in the government. He further narrates that greed was the cause of some local disasters in the construction business like the Ruby Tower collapse, copper mining disaster and the Film
The young engineer, at the beginning of the story, has his morals and principles intact. He would do business with government officials legally, following the rigmarole of procedures in document processing and other government deals. Resisting red tapes and doing shortcuts just to fast track transactions. The seemingly embellished character was slowly poisoned by the rotten system, giving in to the favors of government officials in exchange for a better and a more expeditious service because he felt that these government employees were deliberately stalling the release of important company documents. His continued failure to win projects through bidding endangers his job and the stability of the company which he works for due to the incurred expenses and investments. He was desperate to capture a big project before his career hit rock bottom and company resources diminish. The choice of having a stable job, career and gaining more profit for the company versus asserting ethical values in a squalid and dirty business arena would be the highlight of his story. He reiterated to his Japanese partners that the proposal of the congressman was unethical and