have we ever considered how such supposedly hard-core anti-arroyo personalities could so easily embrace her in an election year and pretend that nothing unusual happened? how we think it should no longer be a surprise that these personalities who just over a year ago were clamoring for gloria arroyo's removal from office are now raising hands with her as if they've been allies all their lives. for people who are not used to these philippine style "shifts of alliances", it would seem horrendous, totally unthinkable. it's akin to john kerry jumping to the republican side simply because he was not accommodated by the Democratic leadership in some internal party squabble. the closest thing to the trio's stunt was joe liebermann's run as an independent when he lost in the democratic primaries. but even then, he continued to caucus and vote with the senate democrats when the election was over. and joe libermann's case is very rare to say the least.
how these people do it with such ease still baffles me even with some understanding of filipino politicians. of our lack of communal spirit. our loyalty is to ourselves and our own survival, not to the party that espouses our goals, nor to the country for whom such goals are supposedly intended for. for these three stooges, it doesn't matter if they would swallow their pride, stomach the face of their new leader, and run under the coalition of the president they were trying to oust two years ago, as long as they have a political party to further their own personal goals.
i'm not discussing this because i have discovered it is a new phenomenon. by no means have i ever thought that such realignments of loyalty is a novelty nor do i have the slightest delusion that these three are capable of demonstrating the highest ideals of self-sacrifice for the party, or more nobly, for the country.
even by lip-service, the concept of "motherland" or love of country is so alien to our thought and national experience. as individuals, as a community, and as a people. maybe the harsh experiences we have been through as a people have made us more greedy and less generous to the country we feel we owe nothing to. tito, tessie and ed would of course need to be in the next senate as their own agenda would dictate. it doesn't matter if it's erap's hand that raises them, or the woman they swore was a fake president. they just need to be senators again.
and who said their actions have no bearing on the national psyche? in the more polically developed democracies of the west, the sense of shame comes with the sense of loyalty. while the battle is fiercely fought through debates in the streets, in the campaign platforms, in parliaments, the civility with which decorum is upheld is very admirable. just the sense of being a democrat or a republican here in america, for example, is a deeply held sense of identity. but whether democrat or republican, such american will claim that all his or her actions as a partisan will be for the greater benefit of the country. and after having tried to absorb the american way of life for a number of years, i cannot deny the palpable patriotism even of the average citizen.
maybe that's what we are missing as a people. maybe we easily forgive the likes of tito, tessie and ed because there's a little of them in all of us. we do not value loyalty to anything, whether to a party or to our country, because our loyalty is to ourselves. if we are unable to be loyal to anything, how will love of country, the selfless kind, be any easier?
and so i hereby i predict that at least one of these three will move on to win a seat in the senate. and shift loyalty again. still for the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment