I’d like to take a break from my usual reflections/doodles here on my blog to talk about something else. Today is August 26, a holiday here in the Philippines due to the celebration of National Heroes’ Day. But citizens are taking this day to a higher level by staging what is now called the “Million People March” in protest of how our supposedly national servants have used public funds for their own private gain.
Corruption in this country is nothing new. And while I love my country, I couldn’t say the same for those Filipinos who drag the rest of us into the quagmire of their dishonest pursuits and dirty dealing. Many times in the past, political analysts, reporters, and writers have said that the root of all evil in the Philippines is corruption. It keeps the rich forever enjoying their sweet life and the poor eternally impoverished by the lack of opportunities and severe blows brought on them by the hand of those that are supposed to serve them.
Corruption in this country is nothing new. And while I love my country, I couldn’t say the same for those Filipinos who drag the rest of us into the quagmire of their dishonest pursuits and dirty dealing. Many times in the past, political analysts, reporters, and writers have said that the root of all evil in the Philippines is corruption. It keeps the rich forever enjoying their sweet life and the poor eternally impoverished by the lack of opportunities and severe blows brought on them by the hand of those that are supposed to serve them.
But I think there is a much serious problem than corruption that ails our land. Why would someone steal from another? Why would one usurp the right of another for a good life? Why would people ignore the law and do their own thing?
I think, and I’m being bold here when I say that, Filipinos do not really understand the real meaning of love. Yes, we love. We love our families. We love our friends, our colleagues, even perhaps the street vendor who we meet every day on our way to work. But when push comes to shove, we love our families, our friends, our colleagues first before we can even think of proving that love for our country.
Without that love, I guess it is easy to steal from another. It won’t even cost me not to respect the right of another if doing “it” would improve my life. Some people might call it the law of seizing opportunities regardless of who gets hit in the process. If I didn’t love my country, why would I subject myself to its rules; whether they are the mundane rules of traffic or the more essential ones that uphold life and liberty?
I may be wrong. I could be wrong. But I do believe that if love is real, then it should go beyond the self and one’s next of kin.
This is perhaps why the pork barrel scam that has angered the nation these past few days has taken us to a whole new level. It challenges us not only to speak for ourselves or our loved ones, but for the million others whose rights have not been respected and those whose life’s opportunities have been stolen from them.
Corruption is real. And it is very wrong. But love is just as real. And it is real love for our country that we need to strengthen all the more.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Photo from: www. adobomagazine.com |
Incidentally, the photo above (a visual pun of a thumbs down and a pig’s silhouette) is the “abolish pork barrel” logo my nephew designed to reflect the sentiments of people about the issue.
This post also reminds me of something I wrote last year on a few little things we can do for a better world. That time, I said that youth is not an excuse not to do anything. Well, being alive, no matter how old, is no excuse not to do anything. These little things I wrote about then couldn’t hurt us to build a better country now. Hope you have time to read it here.
