Let's Build Peace We Can All Own

I salute GMA's recent directive to have "thorough review" of all peace initiatives.

Indeed, I subscribe to the directive that a thorough review of all peace initiatives are in order. We have had peace panels for so long now, but what have we really gained so far?

This is not to say the peace panels are not doing their jobs. Far from it. In fact, the Social Reform Agenda launched by former President Fidel V. Ramos during his term from 1992 to 1998 was the result of the peace process.

But that was then. It's 2008 and at the rate things go at present, we can end up dismembering the country. Giving in too much to MILF for instance will infuriate the Lumads, who may end up carving their own territory in Mindanao. Why indeed were they not part of the negotiating table to craft the MOA AD?

Then what about the Christians in the eastern side who vouch for an independent Federal Republic of Mindanao? Do we think they would just sit down and watch?

It's time to do a reality check and retreat a little bit. These are shaky times. A lot of people do not want to make a choice outside of Peace, me included.

But let it be a Peace we all can own.

We're so, so, so young!

I cannot help but realize that we're a very young independent nation, this Philippines that we claim our own.

June 12, 1898. Was this really the day we became a nation? All you have to do is go to the Ayala Museum (see my earlier post) and see the beautiful dioramas there, and somehow you just get the feel of the continuous stream of events that transpired since 1898. You will realize that we have never really been an independent nation then.

No, we have not been. Even Emilio Aguinaldo has admitted that it was "snatched" from us. The year 1898 was a terrible year for us. It was the year we declared Independence from Spain, it was the year Spain sold us to the Americans, and it was the year the Americans took over us as colonizers. The independence movement was practically nipped in the bud.

No, I don't think we were an independent nation by then, much less a nation. The dream of nationhood was there, but were we a nation indeed? We did not have a common language outside of Spanish, which were taught only to the elite. We did not have our own government. We did not have our own centralized army that controlled the archipelago. We were not even Filipinos then. We were Indios.

July 4, 1946. This has been the day when we really began self-rule, and even that is debatable. But granted, how old are we as an independent nation? Right, 62 years old! That may be "old" for a man, but for a nation?

Take out 20 years out of the 62 years, the time when one man ruled our country as dictator, and during which time many national leaders, young or old, were either subdued or killed. So that leaves us with how many years? Yes, 42 years to build a nation.

If we forfeit the years prior to the one-man rule, because 20 years has been a very very long time! No old guards have survived and the young and idealistic ones have been suppressed. That leaves us with how many years to build a nation? You must be a genius, yes, we've got 22 years.

Some would want take out ten years more to account for the years GMA has reigned, but I won't go there. I'm sticking to 22 years. She's the President we've got and let's learn the art of accepting the outcome of our collective will. Yes, we elected here there. Didn't you know? Oh! now you know. Congratulations.

I'm 39 years old. How about you? Gosh, our country at 22 years is so, so, so young!

Think about it.

Sometimes we have too much expectations of ourselves and if we don't tame our expectations a bit, our resentments can do us more harm than good, during the delicate period of our country's "birth" in the world.

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Someone said that a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. That guy actually sounds like my friend Bong Montessa these days. It is hard to swallow at first, but that indeed is a question to ask. We're not babies anymore, asking for milk. It's time to ask, what can I do for my mother?

I cannot answer for you. You have to answer the question for yourself.

A Little Known Way to Appreciate Philippine History

Philippine history from 750,000 BC until 1946 in 60 beautiful dioramas, what a bargain! Anyone who goes to Makati has no excuse for not visiting the Ayala Museum.

(Take note of my earlier post on how to be a better Filipino!)

Philippine history is interesting. It tells us who we are and who we are not. It tells us of our struggles and explains to us that all that we see around us now did not come from the clouds, but from the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors. Anyone who asks, "Who am I?" should go see the Ayala Museum. It won't cost you much to go there and it's absolutely easy to go there. It's between Greenbelt 4 and Greenbelt 5. You wouldn't miss it.

There's a certain spirit in that Museum that makes you feel absolutely at home. I have gone to the Ayala Museum twice, and will be coming back again soon. The first visit was when my son was about three. The second visit was two years later, early this afternoon to be specific. I came out of both visits having learned something new and interesting about our country. For instance, today, I learned that San Juan de Dios Hospital in Pasay City has its roots in the makeshift hospital established by Franciscan Fray Juan Clemente in 1578 and its present name dates back to 1656.

The dioramas cast a spell on you. The figurines, the backdrops and the props were done very very professionally. The scene depicted in the diorama looked so real and captured the mood and spirit of those times. You actually get sucked into a time warp such that it wasn't difficult to imagine that you were actually there. One diorama that struck me the most was Diorama #2 that depicted the Tabon Caves, circa 50,000 to 6,000 BC. The people, the cave, the cliff, the plants wove together perfectly that you would actually feel in your skin how life was for people way back then. Fast forward to succeeding dioramas, your skin would feel the pain in Antonio Luna's face when he was assassinated by fellow Katipuneros, thus aggravating the demoralization that was already plaguing the revolutionary movement against Spain and the United States at that time.

The historical snapshots were cleverly selected. The continuity was there. You would see gaps, enough to invoke questions into your mind and awaken your curiosity; enough to lead you into a quest of your own as to what transpired in the corridors of time in our country. The diorama illustrated scenes from pre-colonial times, the Spanish occupation, the revolts that occured during the occupation, the brief occupation of Intramuros by the British, the end of Spanish rule, the entry of Americans, the birth and death of the republic established by Aguinaldo, the wars during the American occupation, the Japanese occupation, the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese rule and the eventual recognition of Philippine Independence.

"Over a million museum visitors" since 1974. I bought the Diorama guide sold at the counter and in its Foreword, I learned how the Diorama was conceptualized in 1967 (I wasn't born then) and how it was meticulously studied and executed. It was inaugurated in 1974 by Imelda Marcos and since then, "the dioramas have been seen by over a million museum visitors, including thousands from other countries."

What are we thinking about the Ayala Museum? Honestly I find the figure "over a million" a bit sad. The Ayala Museum is underrated. What in the world do over 14 million people of Metro Manila think of this Museum? A haven of the elite? Let's just think then of the millions of Filipinos flocking to Makati and the figure "over a million" since 1974 is still pathetic.

Someday I'll understand why so few people go to Ayala Museum. But I don't think the reason would interest me. Anyone who goes to Makati has no excuse for not going to the Ayala Museum.

In the meantime, to you who happen to be reading this blog, I urge you to go there and revisit our country's past, beautifully depicted in dioramas that make you feel like you were actually there. As Rizal says, ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay di makararating sa paroroonan.

Filipino by Choice, Oh Yeah?

It's easy to say be a Filipino by choice, but what's the price to pay?

To me, being a Filipino by choice does not have to mean staying here in the Philippines and remain a Filipino citizen til you rot. The reality for a lot of Filipinos is, some of us just have to leave either to maintain their existence, or at least their sanity. You work your brains out here and what do you get in return for the 20-32% the government takes away from your salary?

Indeed, what do we get in return for what gets deducted from our profits, dividends or take home pay? How I wish I see statesmanship, unity in purpose, strong and principled leadership worthy of respect and admiration in the annals of our country's history. Instead of statesmanship, I see warlordism still looming way into the 3rd Millenium in this part of the globe. Instead of unity in purpose, I see factionalism and personality-oriented political alignments in the government. Instead of strong and principled leadership, I see compromise as the rule. This is a sin we are collectively guilty of. We can do better than these!

Talk about Pope Benedict XIV's cry against the dictatorship of relativism, which the Catholic Church is waging a campaign against. It's happening right here in the Philippines right now, the country with the largest "Catholic" population in Asia. The quotes are deliberate. In the Church, as in a nation, there are absolutes. Once we let go of these absolutes in favor of relativism, we lose our soul.

I once worked as a contractual worker in the government (contractuals are not covered by GSIS, that's why I've never been a client of GSIS) and I saw a lot of dedicated people working for the country. But where the buck ends, the key result areas are different. No need to elaborate on that, but we can certainly do better than politics of patronage. The "weather-weather-lang-yan" attitude will never get us anywhere as a nation, much less as a "Catholic" nation. Shame on you politicians. But shame on us too for putting you there.

(In fairness I have high respects for the Social Security System, the PAG-IBIG Fund and PhilHealth. I think they're delivering the expectations. My salutes to them!)


So what's the price of being a Filipino by choice? The price is the cross. We have a cross to carry: our government, our people, and the ills of our culture.

Our government. WE ELECTED OUR LEADERS! Let's make our right of suffrage work for us, and not against us. We do not have direct control, as common citizens, over the actuations of our leaders, but we have the power to choose who sits there. Let's use that power wisely. Go beyond personalities. Let us use our brains, not our stomachs. A politician who gets votes by exploiting the squatters in the city corners will not think kindly of my statement.

If you're an immigrant Filipino, use the same principle in the country you have chosen to reside. Be an asset there and not a liability. Then, by your shining example, the people in the homeland will have someone to look up to as a hero and inspiration. Our heroes here are either dead or dying. Some are presently being tied up to be shot. It will be this way until we all learn our lessons on how to run a government of our own.

Our people. We are a diverse people, a very diverse people. Moros do not have the monopoly of the complaint that they're different. Cebuanos can claim such from the Tagalogs had they chosen to. People in Batanes can say as much. Cordillerans say so, but they have chosen, as a people, to stick it out. We do not detest our diversity, we appreciate them. The harmony is there, we just need to support the harmony, even in pain.

The rich and poor can work together well in this country. I used to lambast the poor and the lazy, as well as the rich and greedy, til the day someone asked me what I was doing about it. That's when I realized that the poor are not lazy and the rich are generous. You see it happening in Gawad Kalinga. I am a GK volunteer, are you? Be one of us. If not in GK, then get involved in something else. Together we can move mountains to improve the lot of our people.

Our Culture. We have a great culture, only we abuse it. First were the Spaniards, then came the Americans. We are a very hospitable country, even to the extent of inconveniencing ourselves. Then came the present crop of politicians, and, like their Spanish and American predecessors before them, abused the people with their "Sultan" attitudes and behaviors.

How do we put a check on the excesses and abuses attributed to our culture? I know at least one way: blogging! This is the present day expression of people's sentiments. No need to wait for your day in front of an audience. The news are not enough. Even journalists are being accused of working for their own interests--justifiably or not--but the voices of the people in blogs like this is a great venue. The blogs I see around are beautiful, like flowers in the field, beautiful in their diversity, full of expression.

At the end of the day, I always see a beautiful Filipino rising from the ashes of its history, a Filipino that is a gift to the world, a Filipino whose values are rooted deeply into the human essence of love: spirituality, family and camaraderie among all, regardless of color and race. Through our diversity and mutual respect for each other, we can become shining examples of being citizens of the world.

We can claim that.

Let us claim that.

Three Things To Do to Be a Better Filipino

There are at least three things one can do to be a better Filipino. Certainly, there are more. But these are my contributions to the table.


1. BE A FILIPINO BY CHOICE

There are two kinds of Filipinos. Filipinos by default, and Filipinos by choice. There's a world of difference between the two.

Filipinos by default. When you were born, you became a Filipino by default. You did not choose what would appear on your birth certificate, nor did you choose the nationality of your parents, much less the place you were born in. Then, as you grew up, you had all these impressions--good or bad--about the Philippines, but were largely uninvolved because of your very young age.

Some Filipinos have chosen to remain uninvolved even after 18 years of age. When these Filipinos get their day in court for the crime of being a Filipino, these are the ones who will tell the court, "Your honor, I did not choose to be born a Filipino."

Filipinos by choice. Clearly, when Filipinos by choice get their day in court for the crime of being a Filipino, these will say, "I am guilty, your honor. Hang me if you will. I am a Filipino." After having seen everything that the Philippines stands for, they say, all these don't matter at the end of the day. I love my country. In my own little ways, I'm going to help out.

A great present-day example of this kind of Filipino is Alexander Lacson who wrote the book, "12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country." In sum, the 12 things are:

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
3. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy Local. Buy Filipino.
4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively about us and our country.
5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.
6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
7. Support your church.
8. During elections, do your solemn duty.
9. Pay your employees well.
10. Pay your taxes.
11. Adopt a scholar or a poor child.
12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.

The book is a best-seller and the ONE THING you can do today to be a Filipino by choice is to go out and buy that book, and most importantly, READ that book. You will see that the 12 things are not all that hard to do. They only need to be done by a critical mass of Filipinos, starting with YOU.


2. KNOW A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY

(a) Find a world map and locate the Philippines in that map. Someone somewhere may ask your help, and it will be a shame if you will not be able to point in the map where the Philippines is. Know how far it is from the equator. Know its neighboring countries. Know what oceans surround it. Know what climate we have. Know how long our day or night is. Even without a map, be prepared to describe where it is. Lastly, know what the number 7,107 means.

(b) Find a Philippine map and locate the main islands. Know where Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are, and where their artificial boundaries are. Know where the key provinces and cities are. Know how many places are called "Cagayan" and where they are: Cagayan Province, Cagayan de Oro, and Cagayan Islands. Know where Mt. Apo, the country's highest peak, is. Know where the Philippine Eagle thrives. Know where the Chocolate Hills are, where the Banaue Rice Terraces are, and where many other great sits of the Philippines are.

(c) Know the languages spoken in your country. Do you know that the linguists count between 130 to 170 languages or dialects in the country? Do you know the main ones? Do you know where the Ilocos region is? Know where the Tagalogs are, the Bicolanos, the Hiligaynon, the Cebuanos, Moros, Waray, etc.

(d) Know the major events in our history. Be ready to tell your friends and children how the name "Philippines" came about. Do you know there was once a move to change it to "Maharlika"? Read a bit more about Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, Andres Bonifacio, Gregorio del Pilar, Antonio Luna, Juan Luna, Apolinario Mabini, Lapu-Lapu, Sultan Kudarat and many more. Find out a bit more how each one lived, and how each one died. Find out who killed some of them and why; and reflect how we can do better in this generation, or the next.

(d) Know the religions and customs of every part of the country. What religions influence the thinking of Filipinos? Are we properly living out the values taught to us by the Church? What are our core values? Which values are helping us? Which ones do not? How can we do better? What are our festivals? Why do we love festivals?


3. LOVE YOUR COUNTRYMEN

(a) Appreciate the different sub-cultures of our country. Filipinos come from different linguistic backgrounds and cultures attached to them. Know a bit more about the diversity of our people. Know how each one is being stere-typed by the others, and the reasons behind it. Know the sensibilities of each sub-culture and respect them. Understand why Filipinos speak English even to each other. Understand why Moros want greater autonomy.

(b) Serve. From praying to blogging to actual work in an office or community, one can be of great service to the country. Oftentimes, being a good civilized citizen is good enough. But it is virtue to participate in anything that will make our immediate surrounding even more civilized. So start serving right within your family, work or business, church or neighborhood. Be a man of integrity and don't be lazy.

(c) Say "No" to corruption. Corruption is there because people patronize it. It's an "easy" way out for some of us. But for this country to function properly, let us pay our dues properly. We want smooth traffic and disciplined drivers. Corruption hinders it. We want good roads. Corruption short-changes us. The list is long and painful. Let's stop the list from getting even longer. To love our countrymen is to say, "No" to them at some point.

(d) Pray for our leaders. When you're a Filipino, regardless of your religion, you know how to pray. Pray for our leaders. Tremendous responsibilities are on their shoulder. We want them to be super-human; but fact is, they're just human after all, prone to temptation, prone to anger and frustration, prone to discouragement, prone to disillusionment---just like the rest of us.

(e) Pray for our government. This is the only government we have. This is the only government we ought to have. We have embraced democracy as a nation. We cannot learn to handle its reigns overnight. We started to run our own government only on July 4, 1946; barely a few decades ago, and one-man rule--whom some of us call a "dictatorship"--tainted 20 years of the time in between now and then. We have a lot to learn as a country and as a people, but let us treasure democracy, which we have fought hard to earn.


These are all for now. When I think of more, I'll write more...

A humbling realization

Emails about the relative size of the earth with respect to the giant creations in the cosmos abound. But it took Louie Giglio to startle me with the implications of these pieces of knowledge. Before, to me, such stuff were just science. But Louie Giglio gave it a spiritual dimension. Yes, I do believe God is the Creator of all things, but I didn't immediately realize how that really feels...once we look out into the cosmos.

The images below are from rense.com although this site does not claim ownership of these images. I received these images myself through email, but I cannot locate them now. Perhaps the email browser already deleted them.

The first image is striking because you can see the Philippine islands very clearly, right there.

See how large the Philippines is compared to other islands. We know it's our country because we are familiar with its shape. Everything that we see in the news occur right there, in different locations of those set of islands. That alone is already amazing. Around us are oceans, deep oceans. We are alone in the middle of those blue zones there.

Mag-aaway pa rin ba tayo? Tayo-tayo lang nandyan, o! Walang iba. Tayo lang. Then look how large the globe is, compared to the lands we occupy. No one in the whole world will give a damn about us if we can't get our acts together. We can sink for all they care. After all, their shores are way out there from ours. There are only...us, Filipinos.

The next image is even more humbling.

How large is the solar system compared to the earth? If the size of the earth does not amaze us, how about the size of Jupiter compared to ours? We think we're the greatest? the mightiest race? the most unique race? Jupiter couldn't care less. The whole earth, which we consider huge, can plunge into its surface and form a small mountain, and Jupiter won't even notice.

How big are our problems? Is it bigger than Jupiter? If that does not impress you, then it may help to know that the gargantuan Jupiter is to the Sun, as earth is to Jupiter. Jupiter can plunge into the Sun and the Sun won't even notice.

Do you see how big the earth is compared to the sun? Whoever made this graphic had to draw an arrow for us to see earth.

How big are our country's problems?

The story continues, but I would like to let this video do the talking:




The globe is just a microscopic speck of dust in the cosmos. There are bigger, much bigger, things happening beyond our skies. We say we couldn't care less. The cosmos couldn't care less either. It has more important things to do.

In the face of these realizations, why would God, who created this cosmos mind us?

Fact is, he does.

I believe God cares about this country, and some of us are His instruments. We are on holy ground--the Philippine Islands, the earth itself, the cosmos--and blessed are those who see it.

I do not believe there is no solution to our country's problems. Our problems are peanuts compared to what God has to deal with to hold those large planets and stars in their proper places. I insist on believing. War is not an option.

Peace is the only one, and even if its evasive, let us continue to pursue it.

When will this war end?

Being someone from Mindanao, I cannot help but get concerned about the news of renewed hostilities between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The question, "when will this end?" echoes through history in the Christian-Muslim confrontation in the South. I too ask that, when will this end? Honestly, I do not see an end to it. But I admit my vision is limited on this matter. There are seemingly irreconcilable forces at work here.

The history of Christian-Muslim relationship that dates back to the middle ages in Europe has somehow translated itself into the southern part of the homeland. We honor Lapu-Lapu, who was Muslim, for slaying Magellan, who, incidentally, brought with him priests who introduced Christianity into the islands. We honor Sultan Kudarat for his sense of nationhood and his defiance against Spain, which ruled us for 400 years and brought the influence of the Catholic Church into our lands. See the conflict that is raging inside me. I am a Catholic. I also am a Filipino patriot.

The history of Muslims in the south is one that we cannot ignore. History tells us that once upon a time there have been three sultanates that dominated Celebes Sea: the Sultanate of Brunei, now a nation of its own and a rich nation at that; the Sultanate of Sulu, which has claims over Sabah that strains the relationship between the Philippines and Malaysia; and the Sultanate of Maguindanao, the home of the MILF. They claim they are a nation prior to the Philippines. That's not a nonsense claim, and my friend Bong Montesa, who's with the negotiating panel, pushes that we respect it, even if we have to amend the Constitution. See the conflict in my heart. I have a heart for these Muslims whom I consider my brothers in Mindanao; but I don't want to see this country torn apart.

Under a tree inside the UP Los Banos campus around 17 years ago, I sat down to reflect what I wanted to do with my life. I already finished all my course work in college, and I was already accepted into the Philippine Air Force Flying School. They were waiting for me to report for training. In two years, if I survived, they would have commissioned me as Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, and, chances were, that I would have been part of the contingent that dropped bombs in the MILF lairs in Mindanao years later.

At that moment under that tree, I saw a future that was bleak. I saw a future that was full of pain. At that moment, I made a decision never to hold a gun. I could not see myself up in the air, piloting a war machine and killing brother Filipinos on the ground; whether they're Christians, or Muslims, or communist rebels. Yes, I wanted to be a soldier, a noble soldier, a protector; but not someone who shoots my own people. I decided not show up at Fernando Air Base and join Class 1993.

How I wish I could finish this post with an answer. I could only finish this with the same question I started this post with.

When will the war end?