Quid Dicis, Pilipino?

 I am an American, so let’s get that out of the way, right up front. My family has been here since 1899; I arrived with the US Marines in the mid-70’s. We kids were brought up in Wichita, Kansas under the strict catholic oversight of two Ilongga saints – aka, “Yaya’s” – younger sisters of one of my father’s best friends from Bacolod with whom he fought the Japanese during World War II.  Dad witnessed the turnover of the country to President Roxas in 1946, believing independence to be best for the Philippines and the people he and our family had come to love.

As the renowned thinker, writer and author, George Will, so eloquently put it many years ago, “Filipinos are not Asians – They are part of our American family”.  From the beginning, we had high hopes for a bigger, better future here.  In view of current events regarding the flood control project corruption scandals, however, you can probably guess what I am going to write next….

Although neither Albert Einstein nor Benjamin Franklin were in fact ever quoted as having stated, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results”, the commonsense quip was frequently attributed to them. The seminal question we Americans today ask Filipinos is:  Why in the world do you keep voting for the same dynastic family members, only to be disappointed again and again??

Every three years “sino’t alam sino” shows up with paltry “blessings” in barangays and outside ballot stations, compelling you to place an X in the box next to the same names that have been on those sheets for 50, 60, sometimes 70 years.  In 2009, Money Magazine published, “Philippine Politics is the Second Most Profitable Business in Asia”, ostensibly behind gambling (legal or otherwise).  If the ill-gotten sums bandied about in the Senate Investigative hearings over the past few weeks are to be believed, it may have finally ascended to the top spot.

When I ask Filipinos from all levels of society what they think should happen to those now being identified as having profited from government infrastructure contract over-billing, kickbacks or so-called “ghost” projects (where money simply vanishes, Duwende-like, into thin air) the usual lamentation is, “they should all be locked up, but we know it will never happen”.

This defeatist attitude is ubiquitous in both urban and rural settings, having origins in personal experiences most everyone shares of intimidation by private armies, scallywag PNP personnel and online trolls going after any poor soul who might openly complain about hard-earned taxpayer money disappearing into the usual suspects’ pockets. Unable to escape the virtual penal colony that the elites have turned this country into, people give in and tow the line, just to survive.  Speaking out might see an Aswang at your door one night, and Lola simply won’t allow that.

Some continue to wait for a savior or Lee Kwan Yew-like figure to appear over the horizon, but 50 years in on such hopeless anticipation leaves betting folks languishing under the losers’ column.  Others, and not just a few of them, speak in hushed tones of the military “taking over” in a bloodless coup, a’ la Thailand or Cambodia, which would portend a definitive end to dynasties and elite influence, and might not evoke much pushback from an otherwise spiritually exhausted population.

While stationed on Clark during the Marcos Sr. days, I saw how the chant, “Tama Na, Sobra Na, Palitan Na!!” (Stop already, it’s too much, time for change) toward the end of that clan’s reign became louder and louder, ultimately crashing down upon the gritty asphalt beach that became EDSA I.  But that was a cry to oust a single offender and his enablers.  This time the culprits comprise a large chunk of Congress, a good portion of the infrastructure construction industry in the country, and thousands upon thousands beyond who are now reliant upon such profitable boondoggles.  This time, an entire government is under indictment.

For at least the past quarter century, American and other Western diplomats have been referring to the system in place here as a “Feudal Kleptocracy”.   Numerous times have I heard the country described as “a beautiful place with incredible potential and wonderful people, unfortunately oppressed by an elite class that has zero intention of raising the proverbial tide that would float all boats”.  If Filipinos really want change, really want Hustisya, Disciplina at Walang Korapsyon, there is nothing the Western Powers can do to make that happen.   That can only come from within.

You, all of you, must enact the necessary, effective revisions to your government, such as doing away with dynasties, bringing back a Jury System in the courts, and be willing to try, convict and jail elites caught dipping their grubby little paws into the public cookie jar, at the ballot box.   In other words, the proverbial light bulb used as a metaphor in college Psych 101 classes must first want to change before it can be replaced with a new, brighter one.  Otherwise, it never will… change. Until then, whoever you elect to run your country, you deserve.

When my friend and former US Ambassador to the Phillippines, Harry K. Thomas, had one of his very first internal cables back to the US State Department HQ “Wiki-Leaked” – the contents of which causing quite a backlash from the jabbering matrons and patrons of false morality in Manila demanding his immediate removal from the embassy – I was able to ease his upset  by teaching him a little mental instrument that has soothed the nerves of business folks and envoys in the Philippines for decades.   “If you put the thumbs and forefingers of both hands together, close your eyes and tilt your head back slightly in a transcendental meditative position, then chant, “O.I.D.P.” three times in quick succession, all your troubles will simply melt away”, I told him.  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”, he asked, exasperated.  Onli In Da Pilippines… or, “Bahala Na Si Batman” in Taglish.

With that, Harry K. and his team successfully made it all the way through their tour, culminating in his marrying a Filipina.

We foreigners can afford to make light of the situation you all tragically suffer under, because, quite frankly, we just don’t have a dog in the hunt.

It is up to you, and you alone, to make real changes happen.  Now or never, folks – Now or never….