The traitors among us
I sat stunned in eerie silence long after the credits scrolled up. Inside the movie house on a Friday night, after watching the film Goyo, I thought of one thing – the Philippines, this country we all claim to love – is sadly, still the same place as our heroes – real, imagined, and self-proclaimed – have left it. Or even worse.
Lessons from the film still ring loud and true today: that we are still surrounded by indifferent townspeople, blind followers, ass-kissing puppets, power-hungry leaders and traitors.
We praise false heroes and kill those who speak the truth, the true patriots who have nothing but genuine love for the country.
The movie is about Gregorio “Goyo” del Pilar, the young general from Bulacan, considered as the hero of the Battle of Tirad Pass of 1899. It shows a glimpse of his life, his struggles with his inner demons, and how he led the war from the trenches. It’s up to the audience to decide how much of a hero he really was. But “Goyo” was really more than just about the young general. It is a disturbing and accurate portrayal of our nation today, the nation that it was and possibly, the nation that it will be.
And the question that really begs an answer is why, over and over, do we remain a nation of fools, traitors, oligarchs and leaders who are moved mostly by selfinterest?
Goyo, the movie is a stark and sad reminder of how greed, selfishness, indecisiveness and betrayal have time and time again, sold this nation’s soul.
The result is a society that benefits only a powerful few and the story is the same all over again – a new president gets elected, promises are made, Filipinos hold on to those promises and there is so much hope. But soon we’re back to where we were. The people we elect soon turn out to be traitors, betraying the country’s interests for their own.
The new president becomes the old master he promised he wouldn’t be and new cronies emerge. These cronies, we’ve seen them all -- one administration after another. They bag government contracts and projects or they simply get protection for their businesses.
In the past, they lobbied for sweetheart deals to recover sequestered assets – whether it’s a beer business, a banana plantation or a chain of sleazy hotels. One got sky-high tariffs that protected his company, allowing him to monopolize the industry.
Things haven’t really changed much these days. The President’s friends are still scrambling for deals – from government contracts in Davao, to regional airports to sprawling casinos and more recently, to restaurants famous for cakes.
The result is an elite-driven economy. Policy-making is influenced to benefit self-interests and to protect one’s own corporations. Thus, it is an economy that struggles to grow and benefits only a powerful few. The elites are unified and are more powerful, while the non-elites are fragmented and powerless. It’s no wonder that inclusive growth remains a dream and those in the grass roots continue to live a hand-tomouth existence.
A letter sender said it well: “We seem to have forgotten that the problem lies in the people running the government. They have no love of country. They only have love for themselves and their families. It is not the system that is broken. We have jeepney drivers running the government. I have time and again said that if the system of government is a Ferrari or a jeepney and if the Ferrari is driven by a jeepney driver, it will crash. But if
the jeepney is driven by a Hamilton or a Schumacher, it will reach its destination. I remember the words of a retired general who said: ‘If only 50 percent of the budget of the department of national defense is used properly, the military would have long modernized.’ Imagine, he said 50 percent. And he said this in 1996. And now the Marcoses are back. Pity the country.”
Pity the country, indeed, for we are surrounded by traitors and fools and false heroes pretending to be patriots.
But then again, we can’t just stop. We can’t stop hoping and we can’t stop fighting the many ills plaguing our nation. No, we can’t leave the trenches just yet.
Iris Gonzales’ e-mail address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com