It is no secret our government always fails us like a serial heartbreaker. It doesn’t help that it is mostly run by people who are better off as jesters in the court. Laughable is an understatement.
There’s our Senator Vicente Sotto III who once again quotes the words of our recent celebrity visitor Pope Francis and takes them out of context in a whole new level, inserting his agenda on the opposition of the Reproductive Health Law.
There’s congressman Manny Pacquaio who, once questioned why he isn’t constructing or passing any law during his term—especially that his attendance in the House of Representatives can only be summed up to seven out of 70 sessions—responded that, “Huwag niyo na ako iboto. Mas gusto nga matalo nalang ako. (Just don’t vote for me anymore. Anyway I prefer to lose).”
There’s Joseph Ejercito Estrada who, after being deposed as the nation’s president by a People Power movement because of plunder, ironically returns to power in the form a mayoral seat in the city of Manila, grinning and waving to the deafening cheers of his fans.
And finally, to rub salt in a wound, there’s our current president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III who attends the inauguration of a car manufacturing plant instead of the necrological services of the remains of 44 elite policemen who died in a terrifying onslaught in Maguindanao last January, as if he has forgotten his role as the nation’s commander-in-chief.
These are but a few sampling of diseases that plagued the country. A man who is delusional, a man whose fame has gotten into his head, a man who continues to get away, and a man whose priorities have gone bonkers. Even with these facts, facts that are more visible and present than ever, it is sad to note that people continue to put them in power.
It has become a vicious cycle: People vote for these politicians, they say promises. When they perform badly, people groan. When people start to forget, these politicians eye the next elections. When they start to campaign, people listen. Then people vote for them, and then they say their promises again. And we’re back from the very start.
The poet Charles Bukowski once said, “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” Laugh all you want, but it struck a chord. Perhaps the people do not understand the meaning of “plunder,” or what a contraceptive is, or maybe ignorance, and that primetime news have not done enough explaining on what these things are? Questions, questions.
It looks like the majority of the Philippines can be diagnosed having the Battered Wife Syndrome. And we do not deserve this. We cannot just be full of doubts, groan, and complain throughout the rest of our lives. This cycle could only be stopped if we face the reality and decide to ease our problems long-term and not only for the time being.
Because if we allow ourselves and this nation to be better, then we can really be men and women of intelligence with the right amount of doubt.
* * *
Guys, it’s February. It’s that month of the year that could rival December’s jam-packed restaurants and malls. And just like any old map, X marks the spot. Kaya mag-ingat.
[ image lifted from Facebook ]
There’s our Senator Vicente Sotto III who once again quotes the words of our recent celebrity visitor Pope Francis and takes them out of context in a whole new level, inserting his agenda on the opposition of the Reproductive Health Law.
There’s congressman Manny Pacquaio who, once questioned why he isn’t constructing or passing any law during his term—especially that his attendance in the House of Representatives can only be summed up to seven out of 70 sessions—responded that, “Huwag niyo na ako iboto. Mas gusto nga matalo nalang ako. (Just don’t vote for me anymore. Anyway I prefer to lose).”
There’s Joseph Ejercito Estrada who, after being deposed as the nation’s president by a People Power movement because of plunder, ironically returns to power in the form a mayoral seat in the city of Manila, grinning and waving to the deafening cheers of his fans.
And finally, to rub salt in a wound, there’s our current president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III who attends the inauguration of a car manufacturing plant instead of the necrological services of the remains of 44 elite policemen who died in a terrifying onslaught in Maguindanao last January, as if he has forgotten his role as the nation’s commander-in-chief.
These are but a few sampling of diseases that plagued the country. A man who is delusional, a man whose fame has gotten into his head, a man who continues to get away, and a man whose priorities have gone bonkers. Even with these facts, facts that are more visible and present than ever, it is sad to note that people continue to put them in power.
It has become a vicious cycle: People vote for these politicians, they say promises. When they perform badly, people groan. When people start to forget, these politicians eye the next elections. When they start to campaign, people listen. Then people vote for them, and then they say their promises again. And we’re back from the very start.
The poet Charles Bukowski once said, “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” Laugh all you want, but it struck a chord. Perhaps the people do not understand the meaning of “plunder,” or what a contraceptive is, or maybe ignorance, and that primetime news have not done enough explaining on what these things are? Questions, questions.
It looks like the majority of the Philippines can be diagnosed having the Battered Wife Syndrome. And we do not deserve this. We cannot just be full of doubts, groan, and complain throughout the rest of our lives. This cycle could only be stopped if we face the reality and decide to ease our problems long-term and not only for the time being.
Because if we allow ourselves and this nation to be better, then we can really be men and women of intelligence with the right amount of doubt.
* * *
Guys, it’s February. It’s that month of the year that could rival December’s jam-packed restaurants and malls. And just like any old map, X marks the spot. Kaya mag-ingat.
[ image lifted from Facebook ]
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