below is my response to a blog by a friend ---- and this is also my stand on the numerous FB posts that spoke about how we, as a people, tend to put ourselves down (even agreeing to how the global world lowly regards us, especially after the recent hostage-taking, and a lot argued that such incidence is not unique to the Philippines anyway.
thanks for sharing (name of friend), and i am one with you in mourning.
but it is disheartening to be reading a newspaper that shares two opposing yet equally strong emotions --- that of pride and shame.
there should have been no grieving, no international castigation nor sudden discrimination of Filipinos abroad, especially in HK if the hostage-taking were handled with speed, together with utmost competence and efficiency.
i will never be proud of the drama that unfolded because it should have been dealt with earlier since it started in the morning anyway. i will never even dare deny our lack of resources (both materially and in human-capacity) and yes, a seemingly lack of oversight and accountability, at the onset, of our officials from the ground, up.
as a people, we, too should feel responsible for what our leaders do, how they are in governing, because it is us who put them in power. (and i am not singling PNoy out. the hostage taking was a function of many Presidencies past.)
as a nation, we should feel as remorseful because we are always of want --- for more investments, for more influx of tourists, for our overseas workers to be treated with respect and be accorded with dignity. yet, we seem to be lacking in safety nets and vision to ensure that what we want are sustainable.
i would rather that we all accept the punches and the hurtful remarks that the world so readily throws at us now. i will take all these like a bitter pill yet we should be ready to bounce back and heal.
while most people assert that we all move on, i think, there is a missing clause in this --- we all move on as we sort out and clean up our mess. and when i say "our", we begin with ourselves by finally stopping to make excuses, and hopefully, this ends with a sweeping, relevant reforms in governance from the TOP.*
(*The Office of the President)
there should have been no grieving, no international castigation nor sudden discrimination of Filipinos abroad, especially in HK if the hostage-taking were handled with speed, together with utmost competence and efficiency.
i will never be proud of the drama that unfolded because it should have been dealt with earlier since it started in the morning anyway. i will never even dare deny our lack of resources (both materially and in human-capacity) and yes, a seemingly lack of oversight and accountability, at the onset, of our officials from the ground, up.
as a people, we, too should feel responsible for what our leaders do, how they are in governing, because it is us who put them in power. (and i am not singling PNoy out. the hostage taking was a function of many Presidencies past.)
as a nation, we should feel as remorseful because we are always of want --- for more investments, for more influx of tourists, for our overseas workers to be treated with respect and be accorded with dignity. yet, we seem to be lacking in safety nets and vision to ensure that what we want are sustainable.
i would rather that we all accept the punches and the hurtful remarks that the world so readily throws at us now. i will take all these like a bitter pill yet we should be ready to bounce back and heal.
while most people assert that we all move on, i think, there is a missing clause in this --- we all move on as we sort out and clean up our mess. and when i say "our", we begin with ourselves by finally stopping to make excuses, and hopefully, this ends with a sweeping, relevant reforms in governance from the TOP.*
(*The Office of the President)
3 comments:
You said it, Tita Pie! Ambassadorial pa rin, as always, pero tagos! :)
sabi nga ni Gang Badoy sa kanyang blog, which i read yesterday --- yes, we will move on but not this time. not yet. dapat daw ang maramdaman muna nating lahat is that of shame.
masakit, mahirap pero ano ba namang magagawa natin? eh sa nagkulang naman tayo eh. i'm just so glad our sseayp was in 2000 when the only controversial issue then was having erap (an actor) for a President. imagine if nasa Ship ka ngayon? i wonder how the PPYs would react in defense of the Phils? *sigh*
That would totally be tough. You can't just say, "I'd rather not talk about that as this is a cultural program." 'Di ba?
Naalaala ko tuloy ang experience natin sa Malaysia, noong hindi tayo pinalakpakan when we were called to enter the hall kasi, 'di ba, sa kidnapping ng mga Malaysians sa may Palawan at that time. Pero after we sang Ako ay Pilipino, palakpak glaore sila. Feel na feel natin, eh. Hehe:)
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