Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Tantingco: Send out the old, send in the young By Robby Tantingco
BETTER the devil you know than the devil you don't know. This seems to be the prevailing sentiment of Filipinos about GMA, whom they dislike (as the surveys show) but tolerate anyway, because the present gallery of possible replacements is a gallery of, well, political rogues and political freaks.
But that's only because we are limiting our choices among a certain age group of politicians. Filipinos are unwilling to go to EDSA and risk their lives (or give up one episode of Pinoy Fear Factor) just to install a Noli de Castro into the presidency.
They aren't that crazy over a or a President Legarda, which is why, no matter what GMA does or does not do, they just make do with her for the time being, until someone comes along who will capture their imagination enough to put fire in their hearts and make them leave their iPods and cable TVs back home and troop back to EDSA.
But this public apathy is a result of our dissatisfaction with the present crop of presidential alternatives (Noli, Lacson et al.). If we lower our sight to the next batch of political leaders, the younger generation of politicians, we will see better options.
We like what we hear whenever Francis Escudero opens his mouth, or Noynoy Aquino, or Gilbert Remulla, or even the wily Mike Defensor. Actually, the list is long: Gilbert Teodoro, Teddy Casiño, Joel Villanueva, Mar Roxas, Lorenzo Tañada III, and Chito Gascon.
These young politicians belong to opposite sides of the fence but the public listens to them and is enamored by their articulation, their charisma and their youthful audacity. But none of them is ever considered as an alternative to GMA.
Maybe in 2016, but not 2010. They haven't "matured," or "aged," and are still lacking in "experience."
But remember, the birth of our nation was administered by men whose ages ranged between 24 and 34-young enough to be Noli's or Lacson's sons. Gregorio del Pilar valiantly delayed the advancing American troops at Tirad Pass, which cost him his life at 24. Andres Bonifacio was 26 when he founded the Katipunan and started the conflagration that led to the Revolution against Spain. Jose Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere at 26 and was executed at Bagumbayan at 33. Emilio Aguinaldo became first President of the new Republic at 29. Marcelo H. del Pilar was 32 when he led the Propaganda Movement in Madrid. Apolinario Mabini, the "Sublime Paralytic" whose ideas became the foundation of the new nation, was 34 at the time of the Revolution, while Antonio Luna was 29.
Because they are heroes and we have been familiar with their sepia-colored photographs since we were schoolchildren, we often think of them as wise old men whose greatness bordered on the legendary. But actually they were mere kids by today's standards; every reader of this newspaper is probably older than any one of them. They were kids who were caught in a critical period in history and they simply rose to the occasion.
I can give more examples: Sergio Osmeña became Speaker of the Philippine Assembly at 29; today, we would be horrified if Jose de Venecia were succeeded by a 29-year-old. Manuel L. Quezon was 32 when he became resident commissioner in Washington, DC at the time when our lawmakers were negotiating our nation's independence from the United States. Jose P. Laurel was also 32 when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior. Manuel A. Roxas became the Speaker of the Philippine Legislature at age 29.
We know these men by their old faces because indeed, they grew old before they died. But they were kids when they made their greatest contribution to our nation's history. Today, we think twice before giving the car keys to our kids, and we wouldn't trust them to come home from the party by midnight. Only a hundred years ago, Filipinos entrusted the birth of their nation under the care of kids. Where were the parents of Emilio Aguinaldo while he led the war against the United States? Who has heard of Andres Bonifacio's parents? What were Gregorio del Pilar's parents doing while their son breathed his last in defense of this country?
Today's youths have been accused of being materialistic, hedonistic, lazy, spineless, unprincipled, even amoral. Maybe. But only because they haven't been thrust into a situation that will bring out the heroes in them.
The Old Guards have let the nation down. Time to call in the Young Turks.
