THE CORRESPONDENTS

April 8, 2008

In 2004, Filipinos downed more than 1.4B liters of beer, making the Philippines among the top of highest beer-consuming countries in Asia. This means that, considering the 80M population, Filipinos drink two bottles of beer each.

Drinking is a key element in the Filipino way of living: Celebrations could not be complete without a good round of liquor, nor could we survive low moments in our lives without drinking down a bottle of beer or two. But even without these occasions, Filipinos simply cannot resist drinking.

Fifty-year-old Caloy Espenocillas is one of such Filipinos. He drinks rum in the morning instead of coffee, and sometimes, even if without taking his breakfast, he goes drinking with his friends until late at night. And because he is jobless, Caloy begs for money in the streets to be able to buy his daily dose of liquor.

Eventually, Caloy ends up in jail, as his house allegedly has become a node for drug trafficking. His family still struggles from the event.

Like Caloy, Napoleon Astillero drinks everyday, but quite recently, he is noticing peculiar changes in his body. And after agreeing to undergo some tests, he discovers there are fats in his liver.

His condition would worsen if he could not find a way to stop drinking. Aside from the health problems, Napoleon now has to deal with deep glitches in his marriage and family life.

This Tuesday night, Alex Santos and The Correspondents team will explore how some Filipinos live everyday with beer at hand, how their lifestyle affects their health and familial relationships, and how they continue to struggle with liquor being a friend and a foe.

-----

For suggestions, reactions, and comments, email the_correspondents@abs-cbn.com