Why not Cory and, by extension, Noynoy?

By Jayson Edward B. San Juan

Friends from various sides of the political fence will often ask me who will be my presidential bet for May 10. My standard answer is, “I’m still discerning.” To be followed by a standard retort, “Anybody but Noynoy.”

Sure, Senator Aquino might be a nice guy. Never mind his lack of solid track record and competence. I might even be convinced of his ‘virtue’ of being a ‘straight-arrow’. But for me, being forced into a situation then playing along with it leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth. And while his campaign team continues to play up his initially unwillingness to assume power, this just shows how dangerous an Aquino administration will be in case Senator Aquino wins in May 10.

I remember a dialogue from the television series Commander-in-chief, where US House Speaker Nathan Templeton (played by Donald Sutherland) berates US Vice President Mackenzie Spencer Allen (played by Geena Davis) in contemplating to take the Oath of Office when US President Teddy Roosevelt Bridges (played by William Lyman) suddenly died. In that scene –

TEMPLETON: In this room, where it’s just you and me, just the two of us, the answer that you should be giving me is that you want to be President because you want the power. You want the power to control the universe.

ALLEN: That’s not me.

TEMPLETON: Well, that’s the problem! That’s what I’m telling you. People who don’t want power have no idea what to do with it. They have no idea how to use it when they have it.

People who don’t know how to use power are enslaved by it. And those enslaved by power are the ones who are more prone to dictatorial tendencies. One must then master power and tame it. And one can only tame power if it is clear at the onset why he is seeking it in the first place.

People believe that it is virtuous to refuse power. They say that President Cory Aquino initially refused the Presidency when it was first offered to her, belatedly taking the mantle of leadership when Jaime Cardinal Sin presented her with a million-signature petition.

In 1986, she was installed as President via People Power. But good governance took a big hit. She concentrated in dismantling everything reminiscent of the Marcos administration, but remained hostage within the contending factions of her administration. At the end of her term, rotating blackouts were a norm because there was no serious energy planning (she abolished the Ministry of Energy and mothballed the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant without any contingency plan); her infamous promise in the US Congress to ‘honor all debts’ continues to plague the Philippine fiscal system; her refusal to enact a genuine agrarian reform program resulted in 20 years of declining agricultural productivity and agrarian unrest, resulting in the death of 13 protesters and injuring others in the foot of Mendiola Bridge.

President Cory Aquino has all the power from 1986 to 1987 – she was ruling under a revolutionary government with full dictatorial powers. But because she did not know how to use that power, she let the opportunities slip away. She did not know how to use this power, but instead allowed her squabbling officials to eat her up and advance their own interests.

And now comes her son, trumpeting the same ‘virtue’, surrounded by ‘squabbling’ factions all jockeying up for spoils.

God help us if Senator Aquino wins in May 10.

I am Philippines

By Ceazar Ryan Aquino

Many works of art depict love for the land where one was born into this world. These are affirmations of the idea that each man is bound to respect the country where he took his first breath. The same idea is carried in our legal system. Treason is punished because the country as parent of each citizen provides security and protection. Its only demand from each citizen is loyalty. Underlying this framework is the assumption that it is natural for each citizen to love his country; each citizen, under the constitution, may be called upon to protect the country when under attack from foreign forces. One may be required to lay his life for it.

Love of country has been such a noble idea that it has existed even before countries, as we know them today, were formed. The movie 300 depicts how the city-state of Sparta, led by its king, fought a battle impossible to win. The idea best thought of in the Hellenic tradition. Despite its age, its brilliance continues to draw men to serve his country; up to this day, laying down one’s life for the country is still as noble.

However, citizens of countries today do not enjoy the same regard citizens of city-states had for theirs. The Philippines is currently experiencing massive outward immigration. It is estimated that as much as one-third of the Philippines’s citizens are residing outside the country temporarily or permanently. More conservative estimates put the figure at one-fifth. Lack of an actual number notwithstanding, it is proven by the fact that not a single Filipino cannot say that there is no OFW in their family.

A citizen in a country like ours might ask, “How can one love a country which does not provide enough? How can this country be loved when it seems there is no hope for it to become a better place to live in?”

I think the first reality that needs to be recognized is the fact that our country was formed not by force of culture or tradition but artificially by oppression and exploitation. Proof is abundant. The capital city of the country was pulverized during the Second World War. But all around the country remnants abound. The walls of Intramuros stand witness to the shelling. Liberation of the Filipino people was not the point of the Battle for Manila. It was between two oppressors vying for the right to exploit it. The country has been the object of such oppression and exploitation as far as the collective memory extends.

When one sees the way this country was ravished, it will be hard for him to leave it while it is vulnerable. However, most often than not, when the Filipino views his country’s colonial past, there is a failure to recognize the violence involved in it. It is possible that we have grown callous to the violence of oppression. However, this is not the case. The oppression that impinges on this country is of such sophistication that its citizens have been desensitized to the point of ignoring it.

The walls of Intramuros stand today as a reminder that they were not made to protect the Filipino. They were made to keep them in so the oppressor will have a cheap source of labor. The overwhelming acceptance of foreign investments in the outsourcing industry is a misplaced trust. Indeed, our country benefits from the inflow. But instead of liberating our economy, the point of these investments is to actually make it more dependent on a larger economy.

The second realization that needs to be seen by each citizen is the fact that his fate is intrinsic to the fate of his country. If people do see the violence of oppression and merely shrug shoulders, they are not properly responding to such an abhorrent sight. Again, such oppression is of a level of sophistication as to fool one to exhaust all his efforts in advancing his own good. Such an attitude divides the citizens even further. It is true that there are some citizens of this country who find the oppression objectionable from amongst the hundreds of others which simply see it and do not know how to respond to it.

Many would often complain about the lack of services and say that it is the country’s job to provide for its citizens. They fail to recognize that he is part of the thing that he says fails to extend him security. As a consequence, one may become selfish. To an extent, those who choose to go out of the country fail to recognize that their action was crafted by oppression itself. When one is able to situate one’s destiny as constituting that of his country, he will have more patience in trying to resist an escapist approach to the problem. Being one with the country would inspire one to pursue a proactive stance which truly engages at its source.

The third realization that a citizen needs to come about is that continued adherence and constant struggle constitute love of country. Love of country is not a natural inclination of men. Given a chance, men will be tempted to advance personal gains at the expense of others. The sum total of such action is a net deficit on the country. As such, it is rightly viewed that the oppression is maintained by those who benefit from it. Adherence to the country means restraining one’s self from such temptation.

Aside from constantly desiring to be part of one’s country, love for it entails a struggle. The first struggle being restrictive of one’s self from taking advantage of others; second corollary struggle is to learn how to deal with the oppression without taking advantage of other’s ignorance or weakness. The third struggle is to discern where one’s struggle must be directed. This is having the end in mind. That end is a country fully alive because its citizens love it, and do so not in consideration of some benefit but upon the realization that I AM MY COUNTRY.

Smell the coffee and wake up

By Joseph JV Lumanog

Coffee. The word means different things to different kinds of people. For a few, it means the luxury of enjoying exotic flavors from around the world. To some, it means the chance of pretending to afford and enjoy this luxury. To others, it means daily fare to keep them awake and alert for their daily labor. Finally, for a steadily growing number of Filipinos, it equates with their very survival. Coffee is more than a mere beverage consisting of alkali, sugar and other compounds. It is a symbol of social and economic status, of prestige, and of power. In every stir and sip, and in every drop is the story not only of the person drinking it, but of the society as well.

Drop by a classy café or restaurant. Chances are, you would see at least one person drinking coffee at any given time of the day. The coffee there comes in many different flavors, with a variety of syrups, flavoring, toppings, cream and other add-ons to create a vast combination for drinking pleasure in different sizes. Imagine that you’re modestly well-to-do, if not filthy rich. Take your pick. Order your cup. Read a book and enjoy the comforts of a relaxed lounge atmosphere. Pay your bill: use either cash or credit card for your purchase. Then drive off, feeling better with that one dose of sheer pleasure to make your day.

Now imagine you’re not really rich or well-to-do. Remember: You had to save for this trip to the café, so make it count. You approach the counter and give your order with enough élan and sophistication to shame any high-browed socialite. You find a seat closest to the door where everyone can see you sipping an expensive cup. A friend comes in, and you feign surprise. You invite her to order a cup and join you. Three hours pass, and amazingly, your cups aren’t even half empty. The coffee’s cold, but you don’t mind, as you wave to your acquaintances passing by outside. Yes, that was good, wasn’t it?

It’s midnight, and you have to beat a deadline. Hours pass without much productivity, so you cram. Finding the nearest cup of warm water and a sachet of instant 3-in-1 coffee, you pour everything in and stir. Satisfied with that brownish tinge, you chug it down in one gulp. Now, that ought to perk you up, for the fourth time in two hours. Minutes tick by and your deadline comes closer. God, the stress is killing you. But hey, there’s still one more sachet left to calm you down. You finish a few minutes before deadline, you prepare that last cup and drink it. You feel like passing out, but you’re wide awake. Your head hurts, and it’s driving you mad.

You have a family of seven. You have a job, thank God, but it’s not enough to cover the costs of daily living. At least you have enough to buy rice. Cooped up in the four walls of your flimsy shanty, you prepare another mix of rice and instant coffee powder. That would be enough to keep your children’s stomachs from grumbling, at least for another day. They ate batchoy yesterday anyway, so a little sacrifice today wouldn’t hurt. You mix a little condensed milk for extra flavor, with some water to spread it. You don’t complain – better to eat once than not eat at all. Dinner is served.

In the simplest of things, like coffee, we can see the grim realities of Filipino society. It’s appalling how some could casually spend for their luxuries, while others are at the brink of starvation. A friend once told me how guilty he felt when a street kid asked him for alms when he left a Starbucks. Whether he gave the poor thing anything, I don’t really remember. What’s sad is that many of us don’t really care. I don’t know if apathy and indifference are side effects of caffeine overconsumption. To some extent, there is blood in your coffee. I guess what’s important is that even when we enjoy coffee as a creature comfort, we do not forget those among us whose very survival hangs on a thread. Everytime we perk up, our social consciousness should also get a jolt.

Smell the coffee and wake up.