Catanduanes Forum

Taken from Manila Bulletin

EDSA I lessons forgotten?
Manila Bulletin
Manila Bulletin - Saturday, February 27

The story is told about three heads of state making a private audience before God during their terms of office.
"What do you want My son?" God the Father asked the Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
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"After the downfall of Communism, heavenly Father, grant me success to implement democracy in my country." God the Father replied, "I am sorry Boris, but I cannot give you the request you're asking - not in your lifetime. At that, Yeltsin broke down and wept.
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It was the US President Bill Clinton's audience turn, "Heavenly Father, I ask you to convert the whole world to follow the American way of life." The Lord replied: "I cannot do that, Bill. In God's eternal plan that cannot happen in your lifetime." Upon hearing this, Bill Clinton cried like a baby.
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Finally, it was the turn of our President Fidel Ramos. "What do you want, My son?" God the Father asked. "Eternal Father, I pray grant every Filipino the virtues of honesty and unity so my people can achieve 'Philippines 2000."'

"I'm sorry, Eddie," God the Father replied, 'but that cannot happen in MY lifetime." At that, President Ramos wailed unabashly.

This is just a story but it teaches hyperbolically how difficult it is for Filipinos to practice honesty and unity.
We've just commemorated the 24th Anniversary of the EDSA I Revolution. But the question is: Do we still remember the moral values and lessons from that event and, more importantly, practicing them today?
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For instance, the value of honesty. Of what use are our economic gains if some government officials steal from the government coffers through kickbacks, overpricing or on white elephant projects? The Greek philosopher Plato once said: "Poverty consists not in the decrease of man's possessions, but in the increase of one's greed."
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Months after EDSA I, the late Cardinal Sin lamented: "We have driven out Ali Baba and his 40 thieves. Now we have a new Ali Baba and 40 thieves."

Had we really changed a corrupt government of our local Ali Baba and 40 thieves? Or had we merely changed the corrupt officials running it with a new set of corrupt ones?
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It's well known fact that the country's development gains have not really trickled down to the masses. The beneficiaries are the elite cream of society who get richer while the vast majority of the poor get poorer and share the crumbs of the economic cake.

Sharing wealth does not mean dole-out. It means putting wealth at the service of one's fellowmen like providing employment, granting social benefits to employees like SSS or housing depending on your capacity, putting up credit cooperatives, low-cost housing, scholarships for indigent kid, and so on.
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Further, the value of unity, which was manifested in EDSA I, is sorely lacking nowadays. Political leaders can't get their acts together. Their disunity is characterized by intrigues, destructive criticisms, endless political squabblings while people are groaning over the neglect of basic services.

What's needed is a continuing moral revolution which should serve as the foundation of economic development.
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CONVERSION? A corrupt policeman always asked for a bribe (tong). After he took an LSS (Life in the Spirit Seminar), he gave up his old ways. Every time he accosted a violator, he no longer asked for a bribe. Instead, he asked for a "love offering." (A pious term for the same bribe?)