This is an illustration of an unfinished building, an illustration that signifies the lack of civility and discernment. If you look at it deeply, it doesn’t really differ much from the body snatchers from the funeral parlors, nor with the owners of those floating coffins that have caused the death of thousands of Filipinos, nor with the countless operators of public utilities and businesses who serve slapdash goods and services to a powerless public. It illustrates a trait known as cultural malaise.
Cultural malaise is the barbarism of mindless profit-seeking, of getting something from almost nothing, of doing vigorous businesses on the misery of others. It is the culture of cruelty, of unevenness, of neglect, and of everlasting improvisation. We think tolerating this is all we could do because we are poor and because it is necessary to free ourselves from the grasp of poverty. We blame it to others. We all find reasons to escape from the fact that we all have this trait. But come to think of it, this may not really be our fault. I mean, how many years have we been colonized? It’s not really surprising for us to be too dependent to our colonizers. What else could we do? What else could we be proud of? Our self-esteem has been crushed. Our very own products are recognized not as ours but as the products of our colonizers. Even if we tried to produce something out of our own, even if we tried to progress to nationhood, we just couldn’t pursue because we are being stopped by colonialism. We may have started to recover our nation’s self-worth but it was still with the help of those countries with colonial powers, it was still with the influence of colonial powers. We couldn’t do anything on our own. The result was a culture of improvisation and mediocrity. Instead of striving for the highest goal we could possibly achieve, we are satisfied with the rule of the minimum; instead of thinking for the good of the nation, we all worry about our own progression; instead of being responsible for all our actions, we escape even from our duties especially when it comes to community tasks; and instead of a chase for superiority, we’re just contented to stay put and do nothing for progress. We portray ourselves as a weak nation, a nation that is diverse, a nation with no collective conscience and a nation with an unpleasant imagination of itself. We think only laws can solve this entire problem, we think good implementation of these laws can answer all the questions and doubts on government honesty. But laws cannot take the place of civility and discernment. It does not form a nation, it does not form people. It is the family, the church, the school, the community. For once, let us not think of the mistake of others. For once, let us ask ourselves, what have I done to help develop the country? What have I done to consider myself as a part of the society rather than a separate entity?
Frankly, more and more Filipinos are losing hope and confidence that Philippines may once again be a governable nation and I am not an exception. I always wanted to work abroad for my only goal is to have my family experience richness. After all, I couldn’t get anything from our country. This country of ours is a total chaos, a perfect image of a baby trying to reach a fruit planted by a stranger. But this should not be so. We should have a national image that is good so as to have a good goal for the nation. We should not be a baby trying to reach something foreign. We should be someone who will plant our own tree and bear our own fruit. If we imagine ourselves to be free, then we should do something to be free. We must take up the challenge for self-creation. We must reimagine ourselves, reinvent ourselves. We must be passionate for perfection, we must work hard, we must instill the values of self-discipline and public service and we must believe that we could do something on our own to create a mature and a completely independent society. We should not be afraid to take on the steps on our own. All we have to do is to be selfless. We have to dream big for our country; dream larger than ourselves; larger than our family; larger than our community. We have to share our thoughts to come up with the best solution to alleviate poverty and ease the problems our nation have faced, is facing and will face. We’re not born to this world to see how important we could become; we are born to see how much difference we can make. And that difference will lift the Philippines from pain and suffering to progress and development.
Glenny A. Ermita
POSC 1-X
Prof. BB Asor
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