From a corrupted mind springs corrupted thoughts
THERE is so much noise raised about the daft Federal Constitution as if this has already been approved for implementation and the federal government will already be in place when we wake up tomorrow.
The noise is coming from the opposition, those who have seen nothing good about the former Davao City Mayor and only sees his big nose and hears his curses.
The scenes they paint of dictatorships and extended terms is as if today’s world will still allow such. But then, I pondered about it and realized, it’s not the President, it’s not us, the Dabawenyos. It’s them, the unbelievers. For they cannot see beyond the reality they live: that everything is corruptible and corrupted. That given the smallest chance, they will stay in power throughout their mortal lives, and if possible, even long after their bodies have turned to dust and their souls have gone the dark road.
It’s unthinkable for them that people do know how to chill, that leaders do step down when they think they’ve done their part.
After all, they’re not from Davao...
For decades now is the running joke among friends whenever we gather to form one group of another to embark on some endeavors: Once a person is elected as president, it’s a forever thing. It’s not even because the elected wanted to be the president. Rather, the president has been bulldozed to be the president and is left to be the president for life because no one else wants to. That’s very common, over here.
People just want to help, they don’t want the responsibility of leading. Not that they can’t lead. They can, they can even contribute a lot to the president’s work, they just don’t want the official responsibility.
That’s typical of a laidback culture, where people expect only the best but would rather not get the official mandate. It’s more relaxing and fulfill- ing to contribute. Officialdom somehow pushes you to the limelight, and boy... that is one thing many Dabawenyos abhor: the limelight.
Why is that? Maybe it’s because of our common past. The past that is painted with the sufferings of being the urban laboratory of the New People’s Army, who did not hesitate to execute one policeman or soldier each day, just to show that they can do it. The past that has seen many families take flight and leave the city because these same rebels, in the guise of serving the masses, were threatening them with extortions and kidnapping and all kinds of harm.
No one wanted the limelight, no one wanted to be known. The past still lives in us, we did not forget. And so we quietly rally behind a leader and contribute what we can in our own big and small ways as citizens of a country, as Filipinos, as Dabawenyos.
What do we have to show for it? Just about the best civic and government institutions that serve the people be it the Southern Philippines Medical Center or the Maharlika Charity Foundation or the tiniest nongovernment organization working in the boondocks to help the poorest and the lowliest, without forcing any ideologies into the poor impoverished minds.
For many, it’s unimaginable that a government facility can give so much, even our jail isn’t the jail most Filipinos are used to, where prisoners are given a real second chance.
But there is always that but in all these. There is the law to abide with, and that is part and parcel of being good citizens. No, that is not kowtowing to power, it’s making sure that government does its work by contributing what each individual can, including making it easier for law enforcers to enforce the law.
Sad to say, that does not hold true to everyone. Not even all Dabawenyos, just the many who matter. Definitely, not all Filipinos.
For decades, we have been ruled by the corrupt, such that now, we expect nothing more than corruption. Our psyche has been twisted into the most sinister manner, we cannot see a government that is doing its best to serve the people.
They’ve never seen it done, so they believe it can never be dome. And because that is how twisted the minds have become, Dabawenyos to the twisted are nothing but the laughingstock because we believe our people can. Sad but true.