The Philippine Circus

Once again Filipinos have to deal with an absurdly immature display of political soap. Between the presidential snafu of making an inappropriate, ill-timed phone call to a Commission on Elections official and the First Family’s proverbial hand caught in the jueteng jar, we can only wait with bated breath how this circus will turn out. This will perhaps be the beginning of President Arroyo’s undoing. This is not a prediction on the outcome of all this. Then there’s the Opposition waiting like buzzards for anyone to fall by the wayside.

What’s wrong with us? Haven’t we learned anything since toppling a dictator almost two decades ago? We have a democracy that’s about twenty years old and we still refer to it as “fragile”. I believe the problem is not so much the democracy as it is the leaders we elect (even though most win through an ancient political formula called cheating). Filipinos, by and large, lack at least two basic concepts that keep the nation from moving forward. The first of these is the concept of public trust. One needs to be trustworthy with whatever is entrusted to him. More so when we are talking about public office. This is where a Filipino is found wanting. This makes a Filipino almost untrustworthy – a major lapse in character. We possess a knee-jerk reaction to always putting numero uno ahead of everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. We think of ourselves first. “What’s in it for me?” This paradigm will surely bog down any organization – including Philippines, Inc. Rare is the public official that puts country and constituents above personal gain. I am not against personal gain per se, but not at the expense of others.

Second is the concept of public property. We have this attitude of ownership. We own whatever and wherever we find ourselves. That’s why we have no sense of transgression when we litter the streets, urinate or spit in public, and sticking chewing gum under cinema seats. Is it any wonder that our public officials bicker like five-year olds? Help! We are being governed by a bunch of children.

So what now? What will keep this blog from being just an opportunity to air a gripe? Theologically speaking, I believe we, the Church, have the greatest fault in all this. Think about it. We are the ones made in the image and likeness of God for the purpose of exercising dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26), then we are the ONLY ONES that can truly do something about some of our national issues. Let the changes begin with us. Let us learn to exercise discipline. Stop at red lights (even when there are no cops), dispose of litter properly, learn to use toilets not trees, and a zillion other things to make this a better country to live in. I realize this will not improve our country in the short run. But it should make for a generation with integrity in the future.