Daghan na kaayo ang atong nadunggan on how to be a Filipino. Ug kini nga mga pangutana nagsumikad sa mga problema nga atong gasagubangon isip mga Filipino. Unsaon man nato pagsulbad sa atong mga problema, samtang gadugay murag wala may pagbag-o.
(We have heard a lot about the challenge to be a Filipino today. These questions arise from the many problems that we face as a nation. How can we solve our problems when it seems that, as time goes on, nothing changes.)
I came upon these words while ruminating on these things:
“The principal thing that should be demanded from a Filipino of our generation is…
who would help his country to progress with his head, his heart, and if need be, with his arms. With the head and the heart we ought to work always; with the arms when the time comes.”
to be a good person, a good citizen,
I agree. The challenge to the Filipino today is to be a good person, a good citizen - to think about the “common good’, of the national interests with the head (intelligence) and the heart (compassion). Intelligence alone is not enough. Intelligence needs to be informed and influenced by the heart. Technocracy, efficiency, well thought-out policies without rootedness in compassion will surely fail. Our political history is testament to failed leaderships despite obvious intelligence, the latest example of course is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. On the other hand, pure heart compassion and populism without a clear grasp of things is naivete and a great disservice to the people. Effective governance requires an understanding of the problems and the subsequent drawing up of solutions to solve those problems. Erap, of course, is to some degree an example.
We cannot demand these virtues from our political leadership if we ourselves do not live out these virtues. Political leadership, I am afraid, is reflective, to some extent, of the governed. Ika nga, “we must be the change we want to see”.
By the way, the quoted words above are not mine. Those words were written 150 years ago by a guy named Jose P. Rizal (In letter dated June 27, 1888 to Mariano Ponce). One and a half centuries had past and we still are grappling with the same questions and challenges.
We have not moved. Sad and liberating.
