Dr Rizal on Weed Seeds

Good seeds; weed seeds

20 July 2014

Today’s reading reminds us to be patient with weeds. “‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:27-30)

Dr. Jose Rizal, in his Liham sa Mga Kadalagahan sa Malolos, adverted to this sacred scripture in his conclusion: “Matupad nawá ang inyong nasang matuto at harí na ñgang sa halaman ñg karunuñgan ay huwag makapitas ñg buñgang bubut, kundí ang kikitili'y piliin, pagisipin muná, lasapin bago lunukin, sapagka't sa balat ñg lupá lahat ay haluan, at di bihirang magtanim ang kaaway ng damong pansirá, kasama sa binhí sa gitná ñg linang.” (May your desire to educate yourself be fulfilled and may you in the garden of learning harvest not bitter unripe fruit, but take only what you consciously choose, think about it first, sample and test before swallowing, because on the surface of the earth all is mixed, and it is not infrequent that the enemy sows weed seeds amongst the good seeds in the middle of the prepared field.)

These teachings are relevant, fellow sovereign Filipino citizens, in our contemporary atmosphere where small, loud, well-financed, and strategically positioned fronts of vested interests are calling for extra-constitutional means to address national problems. EDSA 1 was historic and important; we, the people, had to take matters directly in our hands (albeit triggered by an internal rebellion within the ruling circles) because our patience had been exhausted by that “never-ending injustice and oppression” of Marcos Alibaba rule. We have since freely and fully adopted our 1987 Constitution, by which rules we have sovereignly agreed to play, to keep our democracy and our republic stable and prosperous.

Now, there are suggestions peddled by some corners of the ruling elite and “those who think they know better than us and would like to be the rulers” – and their loud mouthpieces - to do away with our Constitution and form a National Transformation Council to take over national governance from now to an unknown date, without stating the over-arching system of oppression and injustice that constitute the very extraordinary circumstances warranting direct action by the people, except their personal crusade against the current administration, not acknowledging the untrammelled freedoms that are guaranteed to all in this democracy, allowing them to be so abusive and deprecatory in their language.

Without allowing ourselves (particularly our AFP) to be pulled hither and thither by the concealed or sugar-coated hooks of all active parties, especially the contending anti- and pro-Aquino forces, let’s be patient with all these, think about their “sabog-tanim” ideas, sample and test them, and when harvest time comes again in 2016, let’s do the sovereign separation and further strengthen our democracy and our republic by choosing leaders with moral integrity and vision… so as to make stronger a just and humane society, as well as to fortify a Government that embodies our ideals and aspirations, promotes our common good, conserves and develops our patrimony, and secures to ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace. (cf Preamble, 1987 Constitution).Top of FormBottom of Form

WE AND US

The nation is “we and us”, never “they and them”. It starts with “I and me” and my relations with/beliefs about “we and us”. In Dr. Rizal’s time, our country had worse and bigger problems though with lesser population. Yet despite clear threats to his and his family’s life and limb, he decided to be here after gaining more light, because here is where the battle is. Prior to his return, he wrote the Spanish colonial governor-general of his motivation: his country’s moral and material prosperity.

How about “we and us” –here and now - putting our hearts and heads together, focusing on our current blessings and opportunities in the unified area of moral and material progress, and in peace and joyfulness (in the context of seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness within each), working together as a solid team, building each other up, nurturing mutual esteem and mutual respect, and in Dr. Rizal’s words (Hymn to Talisay), resolutely move forward: “Firme y constante, siempre adelante tú marcharás. ¡Tú, victorioso, todo elemento, mar, tierra y viento,  dominarás! Firm and constant, always advancing you shall march. You, triumphant, all element - sea, land and air: you shall master!”

Happy Birthday, Pepe, and Thanks

By Edwin D. Bael, June 19, 2014

Having studied a little of your works, dear Don Pepe,

I feel I know you a little somehow, like your agape

For Inang Bayan, this jewel of the sea of the orient,

That she may hold her smooth forehead high unbent:

Enjoy her dark eyes dry, her visage without frown,

No wrinkles, no stains of shame on her beauty brown.

Today we commemorate your “being given to the light”

Recalling the why of your existence, your life birthright;

How you sought to rectify what in her was improper,

Those within her and inflicted upon her by the colonizer;

You calmly faced death, falling to give her power to fly,

Dying to give her vigor to live, resting under her sky.

Like the moth attracted to the lamp, you sought fire

And light that you could set on fire awareness left dire

Amongst your people who had forgotten how to be human

Made as Beings Unlimited, fearing rather the bogeyman;

You wrote to give us light and love that we may awaken,

That noble deeds and self-respect shall forever be retaken.

So, Happy Birthday, Pepe! And thank you for your wisdom   

And your vision for us to become people at home in freedom,

Having respect by others and according mutual esteem;

Let our tribute for you be such as to rise above and redeem

Trivialities, egoistic positioning and self-serving publicity

And be for daily effort at our moral and material prosperity.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTHERS ACCORDING TO DR. JOSE RIZAL

In his February 1889 letter from London to the Maidens of Malolos (Ang Liham Sa Mga Kadalagahan Sa Malolos, Bulakan, Ni Dr. Jose Rizal, Febrero, 1889), Dr. Rizal wrote some things we might want to recall in celebrating Mother’s Day (May 11, 2014, Sunday), given the current “ambiance” of abuse of power and position, corruption, national weakness in face of a bully behemoth neighbor, and over-all shallowness and uncoordinated drift of national awareness among us Filipinos.

Let’s take a look back. The Tagalog is his original text; the English is an attempt at translation combining some extant ones from the sources indicated at the bottom. These are just extracts that I believe might be relevant to Mother’s Day, Filipinas, 2014:

“Ñgayong tumugon kayo sa uhaw naming sigaw ñg ikagagaling ñg bayan; ñgayong nagpakita kayo ñg mabuting halimbawa sa kapuá dalagang nagnanasang paris ninyong mamulat ang mata at mahañgo sa pagkalugamí, sumisigla ang aming pag-asa, inaaglahì ang sakuná, sa pagka at kayo'y katulong na namin, panatag ang loob sa pagtatagumpay.” (3^rd paragraph of his Liham).

“Now that you have responded to our thirsty yearning and outcry for the good and well-being of our people; now that you have shown a good example to your fellow young women who, like you, desire to have their eyes opened and to be lifted from their prostration, our hopes envigorate, daring to defy adversity, because now you are our fellow workers, we feel assured of attaining victory.”

Ang babaing tagalog ay di na payukó at luhod, buhay na ang pagasa sa panahong sasapit; walá na ang inang katulong sa pagbulag sa anak na palalakhin sa alipustá at pagayop. Di na unang karunuñgan ang patuñgó ñg ulo sa balang maling utos, dakilang kabaitan ang ñgisi sa pagmura, masayang pangaliw ang mababang luhá. Napagkilala din ninyo na ang utos ñg Dios ay iba sa utos ñg Parí, na ang kabanalan ay hindi ang matagal na luhod, mahabang dasal, malalaking kuentas, libaguing kalmin, kundí ang mabuting asal, malinis na loob at matuid na isip. Napagkilala din ninyo na dí kabaitan ang pagkamasunurin sa ano mang pita at hiling ñg nagdidiosdiosan, kundi ang pagsunod sa katampata't matuid, sapagka't ang bulag na pagsunod ay siyang pinagmumulan ñg likong paguutos, at sa bagay na ito'y pawang nagkakasala. Dí masasabi ñg punó ó parí na sila lamang ang mananagot ñg maling utos; binigyan ñg Dios ang bawat isa ñg sariling isip at sariling loob, upang ding mapagkilala ang likó at tapat; paraparang inianak ñg walang tanikalá, kundí malayá, at sa loob at kalulua'y walang makasusupil, bakit kayá ipaaalipin mo sa iba ang marañgal at malayang pagiisip? Duag at malí ang akalá na ang bulag na pagsunod ay kabanalan, at kapalaluan ang mag isipisip at magnilay nilay. Ang kamangmañgan'y, kamangmañgan at dí kabaita't puri. Di hiling ñg Dios, punó ñg kataruñgan, na ang taong larawan niya'y paulol at pabulag; ang hiyas ñg isip, na ipinalamuti sa atin, paningniñgin at gamitin. Halimbawá baga ang isang amang nagbigay sa bawat isang anak ñg kanikanyang tanglaw sa paglakad sa dilim. Paniñgasin nila ang liwanag ñg ilaw, alagaang kusá at huag patain, dala ñg pag-asa sa ilaw ñg iba, kundí magtulongtulong magsangunian, sa paghanap ñg daan. Ulol na di hamak at masisisi ang madapá sa pagsunod sa ilaw ñg iba, at masasabi ng ama: "bakit kita binigyan ng sarili mong ilaw?" Ñguni't dí lubhang masisisi ang madapá sa sariling tanglaw, sapagka't marahil ang ilaw ay madilim, ó kayá ay totoong masamá ang daan. (4^th paragraph of the Liham).

“The Tagalog (Filipino) woman is no longer bowing her head nor kneeling; her hope is alive for the time to come; gone is the mother who helps to blind her child to grow in self-contempt and moral annihilation. It’s no longer the highest wisdom to bow the head to every unjust order, the highest goodness to smile at an insult, the joyful solace to shed a lowly tear. You have now discerned that God’s command is different from that of the priest, that piety is not prolonged kneeling, long prayers, large rosaries, soiled scapulars, but in good conduct, clean conscience and right thinking. You have now perceived that it is not goodness to be obedient to every desire and request of those who pose as little gods, but to obey what is reasonable and just, because blind obedience is the origin of crooked orders and in this case both parties would sin. The leader or the priest cannot say that they alone will be responsible for the wrong order; God gave each one his own mind and his own conscience, so that each can distinguish between crooked and straight; we are all alike not only born without chains but also free, and in will and spirit cannot be subjected to another, so why would you let another enslave your noble and free thought? Cowardly and wrong is the belief that blind obedience is piety, and pridefulness is to keep on pondering and keep on ruminating. Ignorance is ignorance and not goodness and purity. God, full of righteousness, does not ask that man, His image, would allow himself to be fooled and blinded; the jewel of reasoning, with which we are furnished, must be burnished and employed. An example would be a father who gave to each of his children a torch to light his/her way in the dark. Let them ignite and intensify its flame, take care of it, and not extinguish it hoping on the light of others, but rather they should help each other, seek each other’s counsel in searching for the way. A stupid fool and blameworthy is he who stumbles in following another’s light, and the father could say: “what for did I give you a light of your own?” But not so blameworthy is the one who stumbles following his own torch because perhaps his light is gloomy or maybe the road is really bad.”

Maghunos dilí ngá tayo at imulat natin ang mata, lalong laló na kayong mga babai, sa pagka't kayo ang nagbubukas ng loob ng tao. Isipin na ang mabuting ina ay iba, sa inang linalang ng fraile; dapat palakhin ang anak na malapit baga sa larawan ng tunay na Dios, Dios na dí nasusuhulan, Dios na dí masakim sa salapí, Dios na ama ng lahat, na walang kinikilingan, Dios na dí tumatabá sa dugó ng mahirap, na dí nagsasaya sa daing ng naruruhagi, at nangbubulag ng matalinong isip. Gisingin at ihandá ang loob ng anak sa balang mabuti at mahusay na akalá: pagmamahal sa puri, matapat at timtimang loob, maliwanag na pagiisip, malinis na asal, maginoong kilos, pagibig sa kapuá, at pagpipitagan sa Maykapal, ito ang ituró sa anak. At dahil ang buhay ay punó ng pighatí at sakuná, patibayin ang loob sa ano mang hirap, patapañgin ang pusó sa ano mang pañganib. Huag mag antay ang bayan ng puri at ginhawa, samantalang likó ang pagpapalaki sa batá, samantalang lugamí at mangmang ang babaing magpapalaki ñg anak. Walang maiinom sa labó at mapait na bukal; walang matamis na buñga sa punlang maasim. (12^th paragraph of the Liham)

“Let’s reflect on this well and open our eyes wide, especially you women, because you are the ones who unwrap man’s mind and consciousness. Think that a good mother is different from the mother created by the friar; a child must be reared close to the image of the true God, God who cannot be bought, God who is not grasping and greedy of money, God who is father of all, who favors no one, God who does not fatten on the blood of the poor, who neither exults at the cry of the oppressed, nor renders blind or obfuscates an intelligent mind. Awaken and prepare the heart-mind-will of the child towards all that is good and excellent in thought: love of purity and honor, loyal and resolute inner strength, enlightened thinking, good manners, noble actions, love of neighbor, and loving reverence of the Lord - teach these to the child. And because life is full of heartaches and hardships, fortify the will against any adversity, embolden the heart against whatever danger. Let not the country wait for praise and prosperity while the rearing of children is bent and crooked, while powerless and unwise is the woman rearing the child. There is nothing to drink from a murky, bitter spring; there is no sweet fruit from sour seed.”

“Malaki ngang hindí bahagyá ang katungkulang gaganapin ng babai sa pagkabihis ng hirap ng bayan, nguni at ang lahat na ito'y dí hihigit sa lakas at loob ng babaing tagalog. Talastas ng lahat ang kapanyarihan at galing ng babayi sa Filipinas, kayá ñgá kanilang binulag, iginapus, at iniyukó ang loob, panatag sila't habang ang iba'y alipin, ay ma-aalipin din naman ang lahat ng mga anak. Ito ang dahilan ng pagkalugamí ng Asia; ang babayi sa Asia'y mangmang at alipin. Makapangyarihan ang Europa at Amerika dahil duo'y ang mga babai'y malaya't marunong, dilat ang isip at malakas ang loob.” (13th paragraph of the Liham)

“Though the duties that woman must carry out to alleviate our peoples’ difficulties are a little great, all these will not be greater than the strength and the will of the Tagalog (Filipino) woman. Everyone knows the power and the excellence of the Filipino woman, hence, they deceive and blind her, tie her down, and bend her will, feeling assured that while some are enslaved, all their children will also be enslaved. This is the reason for the prostration of Asia; the woman in Asia is not rightly informed and is enslaved. Europe and America are strong because there the women are free and knowledgeable, with minds awake and wills strong.”

“Sa mga bayang gumagalang sa babaing para ñg Filipinas, dapat nilang kilanlin ang tunay na lagay upang ding maganapan ang sa kanila'y inia-asa. Ugaling dati'y kapag nanliligaw ang nagaaral na binata ay ipinañgañganyayang lahat, dunong, puri't salapi, na tila baga ang dalaga'y walang maisasabog kundi ang kasamaan. Ang katapang-tapañga'y kapag napakasal ay nagiging duag, ang duag na datihan ay nagwawalanghiya, na tila walang ina-antay kundi ang magasawa para maipahayag ang sariling kaduagan.  Ang anak ay walang pangtakip sa hina ñg loob kundi ang alaala sa ina, at dahilan dito, nalunok na apdo, nagtitiis ñg tampal, nasunod sa lalong hunghang na utos, at tumutulong sa kataksilan ñg iba sa pagka't kung walang natakbo'y walang manghahagad; kung walang isdang munti'y walang isdang malaki. Bakit kaya baga di humiling ang dalaga sa iibigín, ñg isang marañgal at mapuring ñgalan, isang pusong lalaking makapag-ampon sa kahinaan ng babai, isang marangal na loob na di papayag magka anak ng alipin? Pukawin sa loob ang sigla at sipag, maginoong asal, mahal na pakiramdam, at huwag isuko ang pagkadalaga sa isang mahina at kuyuming puso. Kung maging asawa na, ay dapat tumulong sa lahat ng hírap, palakasin ang loob ng lalaki, humati sa pañganib, aliwin ang dusa, at aglahiin ang hinagpis, at alalahaning lagi na walang hirap na di mababata ñg bayaning puso, at walang papait pang pamana, sa pamanang kaalipustaan at kaalipinan. Mulatin ang mata ñg anak sa pagiiñgat at pagmamahal sa puri, pagibig sa kapua sa tinubuang bayan, at sa pagtupad ñg ukol. Ulituliting matamisin ang mapuring kamatayan sa alipustang buhay. (15^th Paragraph of the Liham)

“For people who respect women, like the Filipino people, they ought to know the true situation to be able to do what is expected of them. Before, the custom was that when a student went courting, he would throw everything away – knowledge, reputation, money – as if a young woman could sow nothing but wickedness.  The bravest, when wed, becomes a coward, and the old time coward becomes shameless, as if he had been waiting to get married just to come out and reveal his own cowardice. The son has nothing with which to cover his weak spirit except the memory of his mother, and because of this, swallows his bile, bears the boxing of his ears, obeys the most idiotic order, and becomes an accessory to another’s treachery, because: where no one flees, no one pursues; when there is no little fish, there is no big fish. Why doesn’t the girl perhaps require of the one she loves an honorable and praiseworthy name, a manly heart that can adopt a woman’s weakness, and a noble determination that will never allow having sons and daughters who are slaves? Awaken within him the alacrity and industry, the noble manners, the loving feelings, and don’t ever surrender maidenhood to a weak and faint heart.  When already a wife, she must be a complement to him in all difficulties, encourage and strengthen his inner power, share the dangers, soothe sufferings, overcome resentments, and remember always that heroic hearts can bear any hardship and that there is no heritage worst in bitterness than the heritage of disgrace and slavery.  Open the eyes of children to the care and the love of honor, the love of fellow beings in the homeland, and the doing of one’s duty. Keep repeating that sweeter it is to die with honor than to live with dishonor.”

“Ang mga babai sa Esparta'y sukat kunang uliran at dito'y ilalagda ko ang aking halimbawa: Nang iniaabot ñg isang ina ang kalasag sa papasahukbong anak, ay ito lamang ang sinabi: ‘ibalik mo ó ibalik ka,’ ito ñga umuwi kang manalo ó mamatay ka, sapagkat ugaling iwaksi ang kalasag ñg talong natakbo ó inuwi kaya ang bangkay sa ibabaw ñg kalasag. Nabalitaan ñg isang ina na namatay sa laban ang kanyang anak, at ang hukbo ay natalo. Hindi umiimik kundi nagpasalamat dahil ang kanyang anak ay maligtas sa pulá, ñguni at ang anak ay bumalik na buhay; nagluksa ang ina ñg siya'y makita. Sa isang sumasalubong na ina sa mga umuwing galing sa laban, ay ibinalita ñg isa na namatay daw sa pagbabaka ang tatlong anak niya,—‘hindi iyan ang tanong ko’ ang sagot ñg ina, ‘kundi nanalo ó natalo tayó?’— ‘Nanalo’ ang sagot ñg bayani. ‘Kung ganoo'y magpasalamat tayo sa Dios!’ ang wika at na pa sa simbahan.”  “Minsa'y nagtagó sa simbahan ang isang napatalong harí nila, sa takot sa galit sa bayan; pinagkaisahang kuluñgin siya doon at patain ñg gutum. Ñg papaderan na ang pinto'y ang ina ang unang nag hakot ñg bato. Ang mga ugaling ito'y karaniwan sa kanila, kayá ñga't iginalang ng buong Grecia ang babaing Esparta. ‘Sa lahat ñg babai,’ ang pulá ñg isa ‘ay kayo lamang na taga Esparta ang nakapangyayari sa lalaki.’ ‘Mangyari pa,’ ang sagot ñg babai, ‘ay kami lamang ang nag-aanak ñg lalaki. Ang tao ñg mga Esparta ay hindí inianak para mabuhay sa sarili, kungdi para sa kanyang bayan.’ Habang nanatili ang ganitong mga isipan at ganitong mga babai ay walang kaaway na nakatungtong ñg lupang Esparta, at walang babaing taga Esparta na nakatanaw ñg hukbo ng kaaway. (16^th & 17^th Paragraphs of the Liham)

“The women of Sparta should serve as good model in this and here I shall give some examples:   When a mother handed the shield to her son who was going to war, this was all she said to him: ‘Bring this back or they bring you back’, meaning ‘You come back a victor or you die’ because it was the custom to throw away the shield of a fleeing routed warrior, while the dead warrior was carried home on his shield. A mother received word that her son had been killed in battle and the army routed. She did not say a word, but expressed her thankfulness that her son had been saved from disgrace. But when her son returned alive, the mother put on mourning. A warrior told a mother who had gone out to meet the returning heroes that her three sons had been killed in the war. ‘That is not what I am asking’, the mother replied, ‘but, did we win or did we lose?’ The hero replied, ‘We won.’ ‘If that is so, let us give thanks to God!’ she said and walked to the temple.”  “Once, a defeated king of theirs hid in the temple for fear of popular indignation. The Spartans agreed to close him up and starve him. When they sealed the door, the mother was the first to bring stones. These customs were common among them and therefore all Greece respected the Spartan woman. ‘Of all women’, remarked one, ‘only you Spartan women wield power over men.’ ‘Of course’, replied the woman, ‘of all women we alone give birth to men. Spartan men are not born to live for themselves but for their country’. So long as this manner of thinking and this type of women prevailed in Sparta, no enemy was able to set foot on her soil and no Spartan woman ever saw an enemy army.”

“Magbulay-bulay tayo, malasin ang ating kalagayan, at tayo'y mag isip isip. Kung itong ilang buhaghag na sabi'y makatutulong sa ibinigay sa inyong bait, upang ding maituloy ang nasimulan ninyong paglakad. ‘Tubó ko'y dakilá sa puhunang pagod’ at mamatamisin ang ano mang mangyari, ugaling upa sa sino mang mañgahas sa ating bayan magsabi ng tunay. Matupad nawá ang inyong nasang matuto at harí na ñgang sa halaman ñg karunuñgan ay huwag makapitas ñg buñgang bubut, kundí ang kikitili'y piliin, pagisipin muná, lasapin bago lunukin, sapagka't sa balat ñg lupá lahat ay haluan, at di bihirang magtanim ang kaaway ng damong pansirá, kasama sa binhí sa gitná ñg linang. (Last Paragraphs-26^th & 27^th- of the Liham)

“Ito ang matinding nasá ñg inyong kababayang si

“JOSÉ RIZAL

Europa, 1889.

“Let’s reflect, take a look at our situation, and reconsider: if these few loose lines are of any help to your given intelligence so as to continue the walk you have begun. ‘Noble is my profit from worked capital’ and I shall gladly accept whatever happens as the usual reward to whoever in our country dares to tell the truth. May your aspiration to learn be actualized and may the Lord, our King, make it so that in the garden of knowledge you may perchance not pick any unripe fruit, that any nipped one be chosen, thought about first, tasted and savored before being swallowed, because here on earth all get mixed up, and it is not unusual for the enemy to plant destructive weeds amongst the seeds in the center of the cultivated field.”

“This is the ardent obsession of your compatriot.

“JOSÉ RIZAL”

Europe, 1889.”

You can check out some complete texts in the following sites:

https://ia700502.us.archive.org/6/items/anglihamnidrjose17116gut/17116-h/17116-h.htm

http://writingsofrizal.weebly.com/women-in-malolos-english.html

http://matikaspilipinas.blogspot.com/2011/06/letter-to-women-of-malolos-by-jose-p.html

LET US NURTURE HOPE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN EACH OTHER

There was a boy named Tommy who had a particularly hard time in school. He continually asked questions, and he never could quite keep up. It seemed that he failed every time he tried something. His teacher finally gave up on him and told his mother that he could not learn and would never amount to much. But Tommy’s mother was a nurturer. She believed in him. She taught him at home, and each time he failed, she gave him hope and encouraged him to keep trying.

Whatever happened to Tommy? He became an inventor, eventually holding more than one thousand patents, including those of the phonograph and the first commercially practical incandescent electric lightbulb. His name was Thomas Edison. He epitomized the idea that when people have hope, there is no telling how far they can go. 1/ Yes, this is the same Edison who wrote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” 2/

How did he get to have this positive perspective in face of successive ‘failures’? No thanks to his teacher, who labored under the constrictions of her limited preconceived notions of what a promising young person should be. And yes, thanks to his mother who believed in him and who gave him the unlimited idea that, in and with hope, there are no limits to what one can achieve.

I respectfully submit, there are no limits to what the Filipino people as a nation, can achieve.

As Ninoy Aquino said: “I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource.”3/

Greatest untapped resource for what?

I submit: for the realization of the democratic ideal, expressed by US President Abraham Lincoln as a “government of the people, by the people and for the people” 4/ and enshrined as one of our constitutional principles, viz: "The Philippines is a democratic and republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them."  5/

With all our government authority emanating from us, the citizens, we hope to “build a just and humane society, and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace”. 6/

The idea that governance emanates from us, the sovereign, is the basis for President Manuel L. Quezon’s bold declaration: “I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans, because however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it.” 7/

And, having the sovereign capability to choose change for the better and to pursue it persistently, we can change our government by fully exercising our rights and duties as the citizens of our Republic.

Modern citizenship has often been looked at as two competing underlying ideas. The first is the liberal-individualist or sometimes liberal conception of citizenship, which focuses on man’s economic nature, and suggests that citizens should have entitlements necessary for human dignity. It assumes that people act for the purpose of enlightened self-interest. According to this viewpoint, citizens are sovereign, morally autonomous beings with duties to pay taxes, obey the law, engage in business transactions, and defend the nation if it comes under attack, but are essentially passive politically, and their primary focus is on economic betterment. This formulation posits that the state exists for the benefit of citizens and has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of citizens, including civil rights and political rights. It was only later that so-called social rights became part of the obligation for the state. The second idea is the civic-republican or sometimes classical or civic humanist conception of citizenship, which emphasizes man's political nature, and sees citizenship as an active process, not a passive state or legal marker. It is relatively more concerned that government will interfere with popular places to practice citizenship in the public sphere. Citizenship means being active in government affairs. An ideal citizen is one who exhibits "good civic behavior". Free citizens and a republic government are "mutually interrelated." Citizenship suggested a commitment to "duty and civic virtue". 8/ According to one view, most people today live as citizens consistent with the liberal-individualist conception but wished they lived more in line with the civic-republican ideal. 9/

From the perspective of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, with its provisions among others on being both a democratic and republican state, national economy and patriotism, as well as social justice and human rights, it seems that we want to straddle both concepts and shift from one emphasis to the other as the national needs may warrant.

We can say that our polity has both economic and political emphases, with highlights on equitable financial opportunities/income distribution even as we enlarge our economic pie, and on optimal political participation for selecting leaders who are statesmen (preferably also philosophers) while ensuring governance with integrity/transparency and the full development of our national capabilities so that the blessings of “independence and democracy” shall indeed be secured for ourselves and our posterity.

We can start with reclaiming belief in and respect for ourselves and our fellow Filipino citizens.

Perhaps, we can follow the principle of finding what you look for. As in general, we find what we seek: the vulture finds the carrion it hunts for; the hummingbird finds the nectary flower it zeroes in. Similarly, let us overlook incidents that give us reasons to disparagingly say “Pilipino kasi, eh!” For by it we perpetuate, without realizing so, the colonial belittling strategy to make the Indio believe he was inferior and unequal to the colonizer. Rather, let us find every cause and reason to say with honor and just pride “Pilipino yata ‘yan!” For with it we reclaim our self-respect as well as respect for and pride in our fellow Filipinos that we are at the least equal to other peoples and have the capacity to work together as a team.

Never mind the momentum of history where we still see many among us displaying the habits of colonials and the conquered. For it has been said: “Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be”. 10/ Besides as the late father of our current President wrote: "I believe that the Filipino will respond to the call to greatness not by coercion but by persuasion, not by intimidation but through the ways of freedom." 11/

It is submitted that our reciprocal respect and respect for us and our nation by others, form the quintessence of Dr. Jose Rizal’s dreams as expressed in the ‘Last Farewell’. Let us then each assume responsibility for the ideas and the thought-emotion clusters we broadcast about our people and our country, that we may do some constructive part in helping to realize Dr. Rizal’s “Dream of my life, my ardent, living, passion and rallying cry” “Ensueño de mi vida, mi ardiente vivo anhelo”, which was to see his “jewel of the sea of the orient, the dark eyes dry, the smooth forehead held high: without frown, without wrinkles, without stains of high color” “joya del mar de oriente, secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente, sin ceño, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor”. For we would, in effect, help build Filipino self-respect, Filipino mutual respect, and respect by others. 12/

And let us do these with courage, the care of a good parent of a family, dignity, fearlessness, being knowledgeable, and the ability to think for ourselves. For these are some of the attitudes and mindsets that Dr. Rizal encouraged the maidens of Malolos to have and to wield. Among others, he wrote: “First, the tyranny of some is possible only through cowardice and negligence on the part of others.  Second, what makes one contemptible is lack of dignity and abject fear of him who holds one in contempt.  Third, ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so is he; a man who does not think for himself and allows himself to be guided by the thought of another is like the beast led by a halter.” 13/

Indeed, we are told: "Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes." 14/ To believe in our own and in our peoples’ capacities to be heroic will save us from the seemingly endless lamentation, as Dr. Rizal put it: “Where are the youth who will consecrate their budding years, their idealism and enthusiasm to the welfare of their country? Where are the youth who will generously pour out their blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination? Pure and spotless must the victim be, that the sacrifice may be acceptable! Where are you, youth, who will embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has left our veins, the purity of ideas that has been contaminated in our hearts? We await you, O youth! Come, for we await you!” 15/

And this belief in the innate heroic capacities of our people and our youth can be realized when we pursue it along the lines of St. Paul’s plea for oneness and respect founded on humility: "If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard (esteem) others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not [only] for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others." 16/

Filipinos! Philippines! a self-respecting nation-state standing with dignity and honor as a valued member of the global community! Because we have hope, self-esteem, solidarity and mutual respect among us; we hold the good and welfare of our country as our motive; and we prove to the whole world that when a Filipino wills something he can always do it. 17/

“May the God of hope fill (us) with all joy and peace in believing, so that (we) may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 18/

________

Notes:

1/Dennis Rainey and Barbara Rainey, Building Your Mate’s Self-Esteem, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 1993 cited in John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan, Becoming a Person of Influence, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 1997, p. 54.

2/ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_a_edison.html

3/ Speech delivered by Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. before the Asia Society in New York, August 4, 1980.

4/ The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

5/ Section 1, Article II, 1987 Philippine Constitution

6/ Preamble, 1987 Constitution

7/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_L._Quezon

8/ Beiner (editor), Ronald (1995). Theorizing Citizenship. J. G. A. Pocock, Michael Ignatieff. USA: State University of New York, Albany. pp. 29, 54. ISBN 0-7914-2335-2, cited in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship#cite_note-tws2Y18-27

9/  Ibid.

10/Quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

11/ Quote from Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.

12/ cf “Of Fellow Filipinos” in http://rizalsignificance.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2012-12-30T01:12:00-08:00&max-results=10&start=1&by-date=false

13/ First 3 of the 7 points Dr. Rizal made to the Maidens of Malolos, in his Tagalog letter “Sa Mga Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Bulakan”, from London, Feb. 1889

14/ Quote from Disraeli

15/ Padre Florentino’s soliloquy in the “El Filibusterismo”

16/ cf Philippians 2:1-4, NABRE

17/ cf Rizal's Speech Delivered at Café Habanero, 31 December 1891; http://www.rizalinfo.net/ MemPolDetails.asp?TableIndex=17

17/ cf Romans 15:13, NABRE