Never Learned Lessons from Past Mistakes
Posted on Tuesday, 1 July 2014
NEVER
LEARNED LESSONS
FROM
PAST MISTAKES
By Apolinario
Villalobos
The
most significant turning
point in the
history of the
Filipinos was the toppling
down of the
dictatorship of the
late Ferdinand Marcos,
by the so-called
“People Power”. Many
Filipinos regretted their
lack of concern
and failed to
discern the creeping
onset of the
dictatorship. There was
no vigilance. The
trusting culture of
the Filipinos is
such, that
they allowed an
authoritarian to rule
their lives for
more than ten
years, before they
were jolted from
a deep indifference and
realize their mistake.
Posthaste,
Cory Aquino, the
opponent of Marcos
in the presidential election, and
wife of
the assassinated Ninoy
Aquino was installed
based on the
election results that
were supposedly rigged
to favor Marcos.
But not all
participants to the
political tableau were
satisfied. Those who
showed disgust were
open about their
apprehensions. They
expected that the
inexperience of Mrs.
Aquino in
Philippine politics would just be exploited by the seasoned
and shrewd politicians who
have hidden and selfish
agenda. True enough,
the good
impression on the
Cory administration did
not last and
those with hidden
agenda were unmasked.
After Cory Aquino,
came Fidel Ramos,
Joseph Estrada, Gloria
Arroyo, and currently,
Benigno Aquino III,
son of Cory
Aquino.
Today,
the Filipinos
are practically
wallowing in misery,
and for that they are
blaming the government.
But who put those
greedy
people in their
posts, anyway? Filipinos
failed to put
to good use
one important tool
of democracy -
election. That tool
is supposed to
give them the
power to choose
the right people
who are expected to
champion different causes
of the various
ethnic groups that
comprise a proud race.
That power puts everyone on
equal footing regardless of
social and financial
status in society. Unfortunately, that
opportunity is blown
time and again
because of the
greedy desire to
exchange such “power”
with a few
hundred of pesos
every election day.
Filipinos
refuse to see the truth, that
their decision
come election time is swayed
by either money
or impression. When
before, Filipinos in
general, look at
electoral bribery with
disgust and discussed
only among peers
and used as a dirty
accusation, after the
Marcos administration, such
subject has become
a common topic during
campaigns, with constituents
comparing amounts given
by candidates. On
the other hand,
those who belong
to the financially
better-off group of
voters, base
their impression on
the eloquence of
candidates in mumbling
promises, aside from the tract
record of their
families in the
political game, a
practice conveniently tagged
as perpetuation of
political dynasty.
Filipinos
are emotionally
carried by sad
stories about
“martyred” father or
mother of
candidates for the
sake of the
country. They are
captivated by fluently
delivered speeches in
different dialects. They
are mesmerized
by the seemingly
permanent smile of
pretty candidates. They are
spellbound by the regal
bearing of candidates
who suddenly emerged
from the glittering
show business world.
They are
awed by the
mathematical geniuses who
promised billions, even
trillions for the government’s
coffer if given
the chance to
steer the country
towards the vast
international commercial arena.
And
speaking of commerce,
there is a
fast advancing move
of the congress
to amend the
economic provision of
the Philippine Constitution by
inserting the “unless,
otherwise, provided by
law”. That simple
amendment is supposed
to invigorate the
apathetic performance of
the nation’s economy,
as foreign
investors are expected
to flock to
the Philippine shores,
by then. It’s
funny, but even
without such amendment, foreigners have
already been flocking
to the
shores of the
country for the
black sands and
nickel –rich soil transported out
on big ships
to China. So,
who are these
congressmen fooling? Who
formulates the law,
anyway? What will
stop them from
formulating laws that
will favor their
interests, and worse,
extend their term
by inserting
fine words that
will indicate the “economic
necessity” of
such extension?
The
ongoing investigation on
the anomalous dispensing
of the people’s
money, known as
the pork barrel
scandal, says it
all. Lately, even
the people that
surround the president
doubt if the
investigation could be
capped with the
departure of Pnoy
from the
palace by-the-Pasig river.
Will the next
president have the
heart to go
on with such investigation? Some
observers are looking
at the investigation as
some kind of
zarzuela, where participants deliver
speeches with a
wink.
Law
makers will always
find a way
to get hold
of the people’s
money by all
possible means. Despite
the declaration of
the Department of
the Budget and
Management (DBM) that the pork
barrel is a
thing of the
past, the Congress circumvented the
blocking restrictive system
as manifested in
the already approved
budget, by coming
up with a
deceptive form which
the representatives can
fill up to
indicate their recommended beneficiaries of
their projects and
preferred implementing non-governmental organization
(NGO). Of course,
the congress leadership
vehemently denies it,
despite the form’s
having been shown
by a
seemingly “honest” congressman
on TV. Noticeably, the
form which has
already been distributed among
the congressmen, according
to the whistle
blower, has no
letterhead! Most importantly, who
will know if
conduit NGOs have
handed out cash
rebates, perhaps, a
few months after
the liquidation of
project expenditures? Unlike
bread, cash does
not become stale
despite months of
safekeeping.
Again,
all that
the Filipinos can
do now is mumble
a painful regret
and draw a
heavy sigh for
the mistake committed….again. Good
thing the Filipinos
do not have
the painful habit
of beating their
chest, or their
head, or pull
their hair, or
cut their skin,
every time they
are in distress
brought by a regrettable act
or sorrow, otherwise, most
of them would
have been disfigured
or maimed a
long time ago,
yet.
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