A few years ago, Maestro Ryan Cayabyab opted to migrate to Canada. But he admitted to Manila Bulletin in a past interview that the issue was blown out of proportion. He said he was just rethinking his options.

Mr. C may have had a change of heart but his action triggered questions, like, why would someone of Ryan’s stature want to leave the country for good? Is the industry, and the country that hopeless?

Fast forward to present. Two disheartening news.

Singer-songwriter-photographer-author Jim Paredes is bidding goodbye to the Philippines. He and his family will be moving to Australia.

Acclaimed film director Jose Javier Reyes will also be doing the same because he keeps arriving at a nagging conclusion: There is no hope in the very things Filipinos believe in.

Jim Paredes, who himself wrote the poignant words of the EDSA theme song "Handog Ng Pilipino Sa Mundo," is packing his bags. He justified his decision in his haringliwanag.pansitan.net blog site: "It might be a good experience living in another society, even for just a while, and becoming a global Filipino, like Rizal, Luna, Ninoy and the OFWs I have met while performing with the APO overseas."

He added, "I wish to share their experience of living abroad, in functional and orderly societies, and bringing back home lessons learned from the experience. Being a global Pinoy can only be broadening."

Filmmaker Joey Reyes is more brutally honest with his reasons. He told the Bulletin: "Living in the Philippines for me is like being a resident of Barangay St. Bernard in Leyte before the landslide naghihintay na lang akong gumuho ang bundok sa akin."

Joey is known for being harshly downright when he feels strongly about something. Only this time, he does not only speak as an authority of the industry but as someone who went out on the streets to clamor for a better governance, a better Philippines. Unlike Jim who promised to return when the situation improves, there is no turning back for Joey.

"I feel like pinapabobo ako ng Pilipinas at hindi naghirap ang aking mga magulang sa pagpapalaki sa akin para lang tumandang bobo. Ayokong mamatay na bobo. Gusto ko pang gumanda at gumana ang utak ko. There are a lot of things I still want to do like more meaningful movies. And I can’t do that here in a society na laging iniisip na bobo ang mga manonood. There are a lot of things I still yearn to achieve [but with] the state of the country now, it won’t allow me these things."

Joey almost left the country for good a few years back. Ryan Cayabyab suggested that he applied for the Alien of Extraordinary Talent pass to greener pastures.

"The only thing that stopped me from leaving was my 93–year-old mother whom I would surely kill if I left. Otherwise I would have been in Vancouver, Canada already. She needs me and I have an obligation to attend to her until her time comes. I owe her that. [But] I don’t intend to spend my autumn years here. I’m 51 now and I’ve been wanting to leave since I was 40, plus the fact that our society is prejudiced to aging faggies," explained the outspoken director.

If (some of) the very anchors of the industry have passed solid judgment of the incurable ills of our society, what alternatives are there left for ordinary Filipinos?

"There aren’t," Joey stated.

He continued to cut more threads of hope by describing the current national crisis as a conflict where there’s no glimmer of hope on either side.

"I’d rather be second class citizen living abroad than a miserable first class citizen here in our country," he bitterly added. "I remember when a neighbor walked up to me and gave me a gift because he and his family had decided to migrate to the States. I asked him why he was doing it when he was in fact a successful person here and he was living a very comfortable life with his family. He said, ‘I’m not doing it for myself…I’m doing it for my children. What sort of future am I going to give them here? I have to do this because I am answerable to their future.’ I tell you, naiyak ako sa mga sinabi niya. Ako ngang walang anak gusto kong umalis, how much more yung mga mayroon?"

‘Brain drain’ is a phenomenon where the learned, the intellectuals and the talented people who believe they have nothing more to gain in their successful lives in a country tend to migrate and relocate for better possibilities.

Both Joey and Jim marched the streets on several occasions to voice their sentiments.

Jim said that more than once did he think the Philippines was on its way to greatness after each bloodless revolt (EDSA 1 and 2) bowed for happy endings. But at this point, the country is not an inch far from where it had been 20 years ago.

Joey recalled, "One moment during our days with the Civil Society, someone told us, Jim and I, that the Philippines will be great but not in our lifetime. I thought, ‘What? I need to make sure I’d be reincarnated just so I can see the Philippines well again!’ Again I fought on the streets during the time of Erap. I’ve also fought with people who need to be ousted from their posts right now because they just used the opportunity to put themselves up there. So why still fight when marami dun sa mga taong nasa tabi ko noon at nakikibaka ang mga dapat mawala sa puwesto ngayon?"

Let’s face it, an entertainment industry ruled by soap operas (and more soaps in the guise of ‘reality TV) does not sound like it has a tremendously promising future. Festivals that are raised to worship commercialization and TV shows that have the same form and content regardless of timeslot and channels are not that pleasant a truth to ponder on. What better illustration is there of a severely ailing industry than the Wowowee tragedy? It provided in unbelievable magnitude a mirror of the kind of hopes our kababayans pin on showbiz. Is this mere overload of cynicism or the awful truth?

Joey admitted he is even willing to start from scratch when he leaves for good.

"Kahit maghugas ako ng pinggan, okay lang. I’ve been through worst. I’m not afraid that my age would hinder my growth outside the country because age is just numeral. I’ve come to realize that I can do anything I set my mind on. I lost 33 pounds in a few months. The only impossible thing for me right now ay ang magkaanak."

Teaching, he said, is an option. The fact that Reyes is teaching in UP makes him see all the more the fangs and wreckage of the society.

Towards the end of the Bulletin’s interview with the Metro Manila Film Festival’s Best Director, he asked: "Is it that depressing?"

A statement of fact more than a question. Nobody is assured of anything anymore, he added.

"Look around you, open the newspapers, watch TV. Nothing in there is worth staying. Am I being selfish? Yes, of course. There are still Filipinos fighting for the country but I hope dumami ang mga kagaya nila na sincere sa pakikibaka. I am selfish. I admire people who still believe there’s hope but I’m done here. I’ve contributed everything I can for the industry and the country."

Jim wrote in his essay that he will be back to fight the battle another day. Like a wounded soldier who needs ample healing time, the APO member said that he and his wife still want to spend their sunset years in the Philippines. Years of touring with the APO made him learn that living in another country does not, in any way, lessen Filipino-ness.

Even Joey, in certain moments when his pessimism meter is running low, said he still longs to wake up one day and realize that he doesn’t have to leave anymore.

"Sana isang umaga paggising ko, hindi ko na kailangang umalis. Kaya lang hindi ganon. Pero naniniwala ako na kahit sa North Pole pa ako itapon, Pilipino pa rin ako. Hindi dapat nawawala ang pagka-Pilipino mo at iyon ang mahalaga."

"There’s no such thing as too late," Joey ends.

Then again, he may just be referring only to his age and the time left for him to realize more dreams.