CAN we come back from where our rage has brought us? Can we step off the soapbox where many of us have been venting our biases and prejudices even before the outcome of the Senate hearings?
I too have been guilty of anger. I never imagined that I would lose my temper in public but I did. It was not a pleasant experience because I really saw red. After that particular explosion, I didn’t like myself much. I went home still simmering with righteous indignation because the heroism of my hero, the late Benigno Aquino, was belittled. My excuse for my anger? I felt my hero had already died on the tarmac and couldn’t defend himself therefore it was up to me rise to his defense. It was childish on my part but at that time, it was a knee jerk reaction.
Once I got over my rage, my reflection led me to the awareness that we are one of the nations in the world that has abused our freedom of speech. Perhaps it is because we are not imprisoned if we speak out of turn. We sometimes forget our sense of decorum, our sense of pride and even our sense of loyalty. We even forget the good others have achieved.
We vent our biases under the cloak of "Let us respect each other’s opinions. I have mine and you have yours. We can always agree to disagree!" Most of the time that statement has been honored. However, that excuse does not give us license to hit below the belt nor to give dogmatic statements as if it were gospel truths.
Today the boat we are in has found itself in turbulent waters. We are skippered by a person who is trying his level best to steer us to safety. Can we avoid rocking the boat with our rage?
Once we reach land, we can start anew, plant, use our strengths to build a better Philippines.
Today, I have a suggestion to make. Let us not be conjurers of hopelessness and doom. Let those who want our skipper to step off our boat come out in the open and tell us just exactly what they can do better. Let them write down a viable plan about what they feel they are better at. Once that plan is presented to us, then let us individually judge for ourselves if they are worthy and qualified to take the reins of the land. Election time is coming soon. We can wisely choose our leaders then.
The presidency of our nation is not a piece of pie that we will just hand over easily while we are already slowly moving forward. A wrong choice on our part could destroy what we have garnered so far.
Now is the time for sobriety, for people to stop throwing rocks based on faulty premises.
Looking back as far as my student days, I remember the presidents who were loved and the presidents who were hated. However as long as we kept our cool, we survived.
Mother Philippines has given us an identity. We have withstood the test of time and weathered so many storms. We, Filipinos are globally known as industrious and we are as closely knit as a family.
We also have suffered so much. We are able to sleep on pavements, able to scrounge for food among garbage cans because our mettle refuses to give up on life.
As long as the least of our brothers are still able to hope for a brighter future, we cannot dampen those hopes by negative, useless chants of doom just to grandstand?
I have nothing against an exchange neither of opinions nor at agreeing to disagree. We do that all the time with our Ayala Hiking Group. However we do the picking of our minds in the midst of easy camaraderie, jokes, bubbling laughter, and often in an exchange of so many ideas. History, health tips, local and national politics, and even religion are topics easily discussed without tension. I always look forward to being with the group.
My plea for sobriety is for people who enjoy standing on a soapbox and lecturing to anyone like a teacher admonishing a ten-year-old sitting in the corner of a classroom.
Even the ordinary unschooled Filipino can think and weigh ideas on his innate intelligence. Let us not just fill his mind with our rage.