Monday, August 28, 2006
Gulle: A national disease?
By Inocentes A. Gulle
Your Business is Our Business
THERE are so many kinds of diseases in this world, some appeared just recently, others have been with us ever since. There are those that are incurable, there are also some that have become part of our life that they no longer bother us. One of them is deceit, born by the virus called greed and selfishness, of distinct Philippine strain, one that has become our most debilitating national disease. This disease has been with us so long that we don't notice it any more, unless somebody happens to rub on it. Oh, it is also present in other countries but theirs is not as manifest as ours is. Perhaps because they practice some degree of restraint or maybe they just don't shamelessly display it like we do.
I say it has been with us so long because our ancestors had it already when Magellan came to these islands. I read in some historical accounts that when Magellan traded with the natives (our forefathers) metal articles (axes, machetes, etc.) for food, they found rocks at the bottom of baskets of yams, camote and such, obviously to make them appear full. The reason they called the archipelago "Islas de los Ladrones"
It distresses me to discuss such an embarrassing subject, but I think it is necessary that somebody rubs on that one spot to arouse our attention that somehow we'd try to cover it so that others may not see the oozing canker. Maybe some would agree that its atrocity has become so alarming, although many of us seem not overly concerned. It's time we really earnestly do something drastic about it as it could make this nation some kind of a pariah in the community of nations.
Take this alleged "Leakage" scandal during the nurses' licensure examinations. It has hugged the headlines of the national dailies and the national television for days now. We could just imagine the probable negative impact on the integrity of our nurses that, up to this time, has been accorded high esteem in other parts of the globe. As we can see, the people concerned are passing the blame back and forth, seemingly to muddle the issue, until the heat would dissipate in the confusion and then nothing would happen in terms of punishing the culprit, thereby restoring the integrity of the profession's regulating bodies.
Then there is the case of that General who allegedly stole millions from the funds of the Armed Forces. It has been in the prosecution process for these many months now and still there's no sign of its culmination. It is said that the practice has been in that area of the AFP establishment for so long, then why is this one General singled out? Is it possible that the previous officials were honest and this one in the only one dishonest? Maybe the Marines should be told?!
Then there's the case of the First Gentleman's smuggling activities, as alleged by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Is there anybody looking into it? Or was it only the good Senator's way of hitting back at the First Family for the predicament his father, the former President, is in now? Which reminds me, that Erap, according to some quarters from the legal profession, is likely to be found "not guilty" of plunder, the accusation that brought him down from the Presidency. Really?!
What about the cheating (on age) of some players in the last Palarong Pambansa Little League baseball? Reports say that the champion team fielded overage players and subsequently disqualified. What about the coaches and team managers responsible for getting those boys in, are they meted some kind of punishment? I still have to hear what happened to the officials responsible for the same offense in that Little League World Series a few years back (sportsworld people still refer to that shameful episode every now and then) wherein our team was made to hand back the championship trophy. What are our officials doing about that kind of crime?
Oh, there are so many more we can cite here that the pages of this paper cannot contain. Shall we just sit and let the stench go away? Shall we remain like this till the end of time? We are supposed to be the only Christian nation in Asia; is that the way Christians should behave? It so, then I'd rather be a pagan.
God, have mercy on us!
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(August 28, 2006 issue)
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