Ang Tunay na Kalayaan ay nasa Paglilingkod sa Bansa

Ang tunay na kalayaan ay paglilingkod sa bansa.

Kailangan natin ang isa’t isa dahil hindi natin kayang gawin lahat ng bagay na gusto natin. Dahil kailangan natin ang isa’t isa, kailangan nating mabuhay kaugnay sa kagustuhan nila at gayon din sila sa atin. Ang kasunduang ito ang bumubuo sa ating mga kaugalian, pagpapahalaga at mga batas.

Ang paglabag sa kasunduang ito ay paglabag sa kalooban ng sarili, kaya ito nagiging mali. Ang paglabag ay hindi lamang ginawa taliwas sa grupo, kundi maging na rin sa sarili, dahil tayo ang pumiling mabuhay kasama ang ibang tao.

Habang lumalaki ang populasyon, lumalaki rin ang pangangailangan ng mga tao, kaya kailangang ang bawat isa ay bumuo ng isang grupong hindi nangangailan na magkakakilala ang lahat tulad ng isang pamilya, at na makukuha ang kaisahan nito mula sa iisang pinagkukunan ng pagkakakilanlan. Ito ay ang bansa, na ang mga miyembro ay may iisang wika, kultura at kasaysayan.

Bakit natin kailangang maglingkod para sa bayan? Dahil ito ang magdadala sa atin ng mas malaking kasaganahan. Kung isang maliit na grupo lamang ang kikilos ay limitado ang maaatupag na gawain, ngunit kung ang lahat ay kumikilos sa iisang direksyon ay maging bundok ay kayang maitulak.

Ang tunay na kalayaan ay nasa paglilingkod sa bayan. Sa tunay na buhay ay napakaraming posibilidad, napakaraming maaaring gawin, ngunit marami dito ay pagkilos tungo sa wala. Ngunit kung sa bayan ang ating pipiliing pagkilos ay maiaangat natin hindi lang ang sarili kundi ang buong bansa.

Iniisip natin na magiging mas mabuti kung tayo ay magiging makasarili at umasa sa mga pampadali ng gawain tulad ng ‘diskarte’ (na pangalan lamang ng iba sa korupsyon) at pagtatrabaho ng labag sa sinumpaan sa kontrata man o sa bayan. Akala natin ay mas mabuti na sumingit sa pila dahil may kakilala, ngunit pinapabigat natin ang sistema kaya lahat tayo ay nahahatak pababa, kahit ang mismong ‘dumiskarte’, dahil hindi naatim ng sistema na kumilos sa pinaka-potensyal nito.

Ang ating bansa ay hindi tunay na bansa. Hindi tayo kumikilos sa iisang direksyon, tayo ay naghihilahan sa iba’t ibang direksyon dahil hindi natin alam kung ano ang gusto nating maatim na adhikain o direksyon. Ang mga nasa taas ay gustong magpayaman lamang sa pamamagitan ng pandaraya sa mga nasa ibaba ng kung ano ang narararapat sa mga ito, habang ang mga nasa baba ay ninanakawan ang pinagtatrabahuhan sa pamamagitan ng maling pagtatrabaho.

Tingnan ang isang kumpanya na ang mga pinuno ay hindi nagpapasahod ng maayos, bumibili ng mahihinang materyales at pinangsusugal ang kapital; at mga manggagawa naman na nagnanakaw ng mga kagamitan sa trabaho at gumagawa lamang ng kung ano ang quota para sa araw o nandadaya sa kalidad ng gawa kung may bonus para sa paglagpas sa quota. Ano kayang klaseng produkto ang ilalabas nito?

Hindi gagana ang isang bansa kung ang mga tao ay hindi maniniwala dito. Hindi natin maaaring ipagpatuloy na mabuhay para sa sariling kagustuhan lamang, dahil kailangan natin ang isa’t isa upang marating ang mga mismong kagustuhan na pinapangarap nating makuha. Lalaya lamang tayo at magagawa ang gusto kung ibubuhos natin ang buhay natin tungo sa pagtupad ng adhikain ng lipunan, ang paggalang ng mga institusyon, pamumuhay ng may karangalan at naaayon sa mga kautusan ng Diyos. Ang tunay na kalayaan ay paglilingkod sa bansa.

Pinoys Need Nationalism

Nationalism has created the world we live in today, in all its wonder and despite all its flaws. It drove man to walk on the moon, to dive to the deepest part of the oceans, to push limits and to strive to become better. Nationalistic competition drives man to make innovations in all fields, which manifests themselves into the rising standards of living in many countries.

However, nationalism also fosters divisiveness, with the needs of a nation often superseding the needs of mankind. Wars, especially with the possible use of nuclear weapons, dangle above us like a specter we can’t get rid of. Powerful nations use their influence to coax smaller, weaker nations into concessions that are against the latter’s interests.

Now, does the Philippines need nationalism? Many Filipinos would probably say yes. But why do we need nationalism?

In the context of nation-states, the Philippines is neither doing really great nor is it doing too poorly. Its citizens enjoy a mostly functioning government and its economy is one of the fastest growing in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world. Most citizens are connected to the internet, and we have a good literacy rate of 98%.

However, the country is weighed down by a corrupt bureaucracy and politics, and a simmering and intermittent rebellion is happening in the south. Murder rates are rising, and the people are divided on how to solve these problems, which is of course a problem in a democracy.

Now, would a higher sense of nationalism help Filipinos? Or would it be better if we just let other countries tell us what to do?

The problems of nationalism only manifest themselves in extreme conditions, and most other countries do not operate in a humanitarian way but rather in a self-serving manner. While it is true that humanity is slowly coalescing into pan-humanism, this is only true for highly-industrialized nations whose citizens have outgrown the needs of a nation-state, and are thus beginning to transcend the need for nations and borders, like what is happening now in the European Union.

What I mean by this is, while nationalism is on its way out already in affluent countries, in order to join this emerging brotherhood, we as a people must first find our roots and become a nation with a higher-than-what-it-is-at-the-moment opinion of itself and of its heritage and culture. This is so that our people will not become a casualty of globalization, which inevitably steamrolls cultures who will not ‘fight back’ in a sense.

Nationalism is important for our people in order to join the future world order with our identity and dignity intact. We are a nation of hard workers, dreamers and heroes. And we, the current generation, are at the forefront of this battle; if we don’t work, sacrifice our lives for the country, then our children will wake up in a world not knowing nor caring who their people were.

Bakit May 'Eternal War' sa Mindanao?

Bago tayo magsimula, kelangan muna nating sagutin, Sino ba ang mga Moro?

Ang mga Moro ay ang mga pangkat etniko sa Timog na pinakakilala sa kanilang pagiging Muslim. Binubuo ito ng mga grupong Maranao, Tausug, Badjao at marami pang iba. Nakuha nila ang pangalan nila mula sa mga Espanyol, na may mga nakalaban ding Moro (Moor) sa lupain ng Mauritania (ngayong Morocco) sa Hilagang Africa. Ang mga Moro ng Africa ay Muslim, kaya't ito na rin ang naging tawag nila sa mga Muslim ng Pilipinas.

Noong panahon ng pananakop ng mga Espanyol, sila lang ang mga grupo sa Pilipinas (kasama ng mga tribo sa mga kabundukan ng Luzon at Visayas) na hindi nasakop ng mga Espanyol hanggang sa kalagitnaan ng ika-19 na siglo. Dahil sa pamumuno ng mga pinuno tulad ni Sultan Kudarat, hindi na-convert sa Katolisismo ang mga Moro.

Fast-forward tayo sa panahon ng mga Amerikano. Simula noong 1920s at 30s ay nagsagawa ng malakihang migration sa Mindanao ang mga otoridad para ma-develop ang Mindanao. Libu-libong mga taga-Visayas at Luzon ang dumagsa sa mga kapatagan ng Mindanao para magtayo ng mga homestead o bagong sakahan. Ikinagalit ito ng mga Moro, marami sa kanila ay pinalayas o napilitang ipagbili ang lupain sa mababang halaga. Higit sa lahat ay ang pagpapakalat ng Kristyanismo sa kanilang lupain. Lumaganap ang mga ‘Huramentado’, mga kalalakihang may dalang itak na lumulusob sa mga Kristyanong komunidad at tinataga ang lahat ng makita hanggang sila mismo ay mapatay, mala-suicide bomber lang.

Noong 1950s at 60s ay lumaki ang pag-aasam ng mga Moro na bumuo ng sariling bansa nang lumaya ang mga bansang Muslim na Indonesia at Malaysia. Ang pinaka-tipping point ay ang notorius na Jabidah Massacre, na posibleng isa sa mga pinakaunang instance ng Fake News sa kasaysayan natin, pero mas tatalakayin natin yan sa ibang panahon.

Pumutok ang isyu noong 1969 nang may isang Moro na sundalong napabalitang tumakas mula sa Corregidor, kung saan may isang grupo ng mga sundalong Muslim na binubuo para manggulo sa Sabah, Malaysia, isang teritoryong inaangkin ng Pilipinas. Ayon sa kanya, nang pinili ng gobyerno na hindi na ituloy ang plano, minassacre daw ang mga sundalo. Nagalit ang mga Moro sa ‘pagsasawalang bahala’ ng pamahalaan sa karapatan ng mga Moro. Kaya sa pumumuno ng isang UP professor na si Nursulaji “Nur” Misuari, nabuo ang Moro National Liberation Front. Nakakuha sila ng suporta mula sa mga mayayamang tao sa Malaysia at Indonesia, at maraming miyembro ang nagsanay sa Libya sa ilalim ni Muhammar Qaddafi.

Sa ilalim ng Martial Law ay mas umigting ang labanan, at ang Mindanao ay nahati sa mga balwarte ng MNLF pati na rin ng mga Komunistang NPA (again, sa isa pang episode). Naging battlefield ang Mindanao kung saan maraming paglabag sa karapatang pantao ang naitala sa hanay ng mga rebelde at ng militar. Ang mga Lumad (mga pangkat etniko sa kabundukan ng Mindanao) ay isa sa mga pinaka-naapektuhan kung saan maraming kalalakihan, bata o matanda, ay pinilit isali ng dalawang kampo sa kanilang hanay.

Nagbago ang takbo ng sigalot nang nakipagkasundo ang MNLF sa pamahalaan noong 1990s kung saan pumayag na sumuko ang mga rebelde kapalit ang pagbuo ng isang Autonomous o mapagsariling rehiyon para sa mga Moro, ang ARMM.

Sa kabila nito, natuloy ang away dahil sa mga hindi natupad na pangako sa magkabilag panig at di pagkakasundo na rin sa loob ng hanay ng mga Moro, partikular sa pagitan ng mga Maranao at Tausug. Kaya sa pamumuno ni Hashim Salamat, isang komander sa MNLF, tumiwalag ang grupo niya at bumuo ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Ngayon naman, habang pasuko na ang MILF, may nabuo namang grupo sa ilalim ni Umbra Kato, ang Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. At nadagdagan pa ang banta sa kapayapaan nang makisali ang Islamic State at nagpadala ng suporta at tauhan upang ‘tululungan’ ang mga Moro sa Mindanao.

Nauulit lang ng nauulit ang away dahil hindi pa rin nalulutas ang pinaka-problema: feeling mga Moro ay hindi sila parte ng Pilipinas. At yan na mismo ang dapat solusyonan. Kailangan nating matutunang mabuhay ng magkakasama at alisin ang mga masamang kaisipang bunga ng kasaysayang masalimuot. Tanging doon lamang magkakaroon ng kapayapaan.

Kapag Nilusob Tayo ng Ibang Bansa, Ganito ang Mangyayari

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Paano nga ba ang mangyayari kung lusubin tayo ng ibang bansa? Una, kailangan nating maintindihan na magastos para sa kahit na sinong bansa ang makipagdigma. Nangyayari ang digmaan kung mas malaki ang makukuha nilang ‘return of investment’ sa pakikipagdigma kaysa pakikipagnegosyo na lang.

Maraming maaaring maging dahilan para lusubin tayo ng ibang bansa, pero magfocus na lang muna tayo sa kung ano ang mangyayari kung sakaling mangyari ang wag sanang mangyari.

Una: Kuryente, Internet/Telepono at Tubig

Sa simula ng deklarasyon ng digmaan, ito ang uunahing subukang puntiryahin ng kalaban. Maaaring sa pamamagitan ng pambobomba ng mga eroplano o mga espiyang nasa loob na ng bansa, pati na rin ang cyberattack (mga hacker), ang pinaka-unang gagawin ng isang bansang lulusob sa atin ay ang guluhin ang ating komunikasyon at kuryente para mas mahirapan ang ating pamahalaan na labanan sila. Isa rin sa mga epekto nito ay mawalan ng contact ang mga unit ng militar sa isa’t isa, kaya’t mas mahihirapan silang labanan ang mga papalapit na kaaway.

Ikalawa: Mahahalagang Asset ng Militar

Mga ilang minuto pagkatapos ng naunang atake, sunod ay ang pambobomba sa mga eroplano at barko natin habang nasa base pa lang sila upang hindi na sila magamit para depensahan tayo. Maaaring ito ay sa paggamit ng missile o bomba galing sa mga eroplano, barko at submarine ng kalaban. 

Dahil sa kasalukuyan ay mahina ang ating early warning system at karamihan ng radar ay civilian-owned, isama na diyan ang kawalan natin ng anti-air at anti-ship missiles, mahihirapan tayong protektahan ang mga asset militar natin.

Isa sa mga rule ng makabagong digmaan: "Kung sino ang nagmamay-ari ng himpapawid ang may kontrol ng digmaan."

Ikatlo: Amphibious at Airborne Landing

Kung hindi pa rin tayo sumuko sa mga ginawa nila, sunod ay ang pagpapadala ng mga sundalo (Special Forces) upang kunin ang mahahalagang pasilidad tulad ng airport at dock na maaari nilang gamitin upang makapagdala ng mas maraming sundalo sa bansa.

Sa pamamagitan ng Amphibious (galing sa barko gamit ang mga bangka at landing craft) at Airborne (galing sa eroplano gamit ang parachute o helicopter) na paglusob, kukunin nila ang mga pasilidad tulad ng airport, daungan, mga estasyon ng TV at radyo, atbp. sa iba’t ibang panig ng bansa.

Ang tatlong step na ito ay maaaring matapos sa loob ng 3 hanggang 12 oras, depende sa bilis ng kalaban.

Ikaapat: Maramihang Paglusob

Dito na ngayon dadating ang bulto ng pwersa ng kalaban: mga tangke, helicopter at bata-batalyong mga sundalo. Sa puntong ito ay maaaring watak-watak na ang mga pwersa natin, at sumuko na rin ang pamahalaang sibilyan o nahuli na ang mga lider. Ang mga hindi pa sumusuko ay nagtatago na sa kabundukan o lungsod upang labanan ng patago ang mga lumulusob.

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--CONCLUSION--

Ang tanong: Kaya ba natin depensahan ang bansa natin?

Ang sagot: Sa ngayon, isang malaking HINDI. Masyado kasi tayong nagpokus sa mga rebelyon at umasa sa United States para depensahan tayo laban sa kung sinumang bansa ang gustong lumaban sa atin. Ngayon, hindi na maaasahan gaano si US tulad ng nangyari sa Scarborough Shoal noong 2012. Kaya panahon na para magising tayo sa katotohanang tayo ang responsable sa bansa natin.

Education, Martial Law Babies, and the Return of the Marcoses

How have the Marcoses managed to make a comeback? I mean, come on. They plunged our country to chaos and poverty through misguided and self-serving policies which made us the 'Sick Man of Asia'. Yet 30 years after being kicked out of the country they're once again near the top. WTF? Is it reallly just a case of "kalimot", of the Filipino people's notorious propensity to be forgiving, and forgetting any previous faults? Or is it something else?

Let's look at the current demographics of the country. Today's institutions and businesses are run by the generation dubbed as "Martial Law Babies", either born during or had their childhood in the Martial Law years. These children grew up indoctrinated in the Bagong Lipunan program, where the all-powerful President Marcos, so the narrative goes,  is the man responsible in keeping the country safe from communism and other 'bad' elements of society, in making the country an economic and military power in the region, and in keeping the Philippines a "bastion of democracy in the East."

These children came to see their younger years as a 'golden age' full of progress, with society orderly and disciplined thanks to their beloved President. Then in their teens and early adulthood saw the upheavals of the 1980's: the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, the chaos in the streets, People Power, then the various 'Kudeta'. For a kid growing up, it certainly is a far cry from their 'orderly and disiplined' childhood.

This presents the genius of the man that *almost* made the Philippines a military and economic power in the region. Perhaps by design or by accident, his schools produced a generation who saw him as a strong leader who kept the country strong by discipline. No wonder why in 2016, these same people voted for another 'strong leader' hoping he'll keep the country strong through discipline, without seeing that for these two leaders, discipline means a creating a culture of fear though military rule and violence.

History is indeed written by the victor. By controlling what the schools taught he was able to instill loyalty to his regime even from beyond the grave. Education is the most powerful influence to society. Today, we pay little mind as to what is taught in our schools and so are open to the influences of the political agenda of certain groups. And dangerously so. What generation are we molding right now? We still have to see.

Pinoys, Shortcuts and Due Process

Everybody wants a shortcut. If we can find a way to make any process in our lives shorter or easier, we would do it.

Just take a look at what’s happening in our country today. Yes, we recognize that we indeed have a lot of deep-seated problems, but let’s focus on the most recent one: The Drug Menace.

Granted, we didn’t know the extent of the problem until six months ago. It is true that most drug cases get thrown out of court because let’s face it, drug dealing is a very lucrative business, and in our country, those who have the most money gets the most “justice” in our oxymoronic justice system.

So again, we resort to shortcuts. Instead of fixing the real problem, the criminal justice system, we elect a guy who bypasses the rule of law in favor of killing anybody that is ‘suspected’ (we say this because we believe that everybody is innocent until proven otherwise, which most of them are) of being involved in the drug trade.

Now we laud the efforts of President Punisher, but have we ever asked, what’s the basis of those killings? How did they get their ‘hit list’ together? Did they research on it? Did they get it from the TokHang campaign? And are all of them really in the drug business, or just happened to be too vocal a critic to this (*cough* De Lima *cough*)?

The indignant activists shout that “Everyone could be a drug pusher”, that some people may find the drug war an opportunity to kill opponents without the risk of being caught or punished, as long as they keep up with the premise that everyone killed is ‘a tentacle of the drug octopus smothering our society’.

To top it all, there is little, if any, public outcry over this! We rationalize, saying “at least something is being done about this” and “at least it’s mostly drug addicts and pushers.”

I teach history. And if there’s one thing that history teaches us, it’s that when a government acts without any checks and balances, when a single powerful entity acts without accountability to others, that’s when the problems arise.

For me the best historical parallel of this would be Maximillian Robespierre, the infamous head of the Committee on Public Safety during the French Revolution. He was an honest man, and believed that he had truth on his side. The committee’s name is a bitter euphemism whose real goal was to secure the ‘safety’ of the Revolution by rounding up and beheading by guillotine those who are or might be a threat to the newly founded Republique Francais. In the end, almost 40,000 people died throughout France through the blade of the guillotine or any other means. Ironically, the last to be beheaded would be Robespierre himself, a victim of the very device with which he judged the people. This horrible time in history is referred to as the Reign of Terror.

Robespierre believed that he had the mandate to act in the interest of the State, that he had to do whatever it takes to impose order and peace among his beloved country. He was a patriot, a zealous one at that, but his zeal took things too far. Too many people executed on little to no evidence, too many intellectuals and artists and merchants left France, bringing the country’s already ailing economy in ruins. The Reign of Terror ended and stability only came to France when Napoleon took over and re-imposed the rule of law, which he ironically went against when he tried to take all of Europe, but that’s another story.

The highly inefficient and dubious justice system that we have had eroded the public’s trust on lawyers and judges. In a society where almost every official takes bribes that it became a subculture entirely, it’s no wonder why the people elected a wrecking ball of sorts to demolish the structure that’s supposed to shelter society from the winds and rains of injustice. What the structure really needed was a cleaning up, a reorganization of the stuff and the people in it.  We have one of the best –written constitutions in the world, but it’s in the implementation that we fell short on.

It is a lot easier to blow up bridges than to make trains run on time, but wrecked bridges won’t help anyone. If we blow up the rule of law, it might be good in the short run but ultimately will be the ruin of all of us.

The Filipino Loves To Be Told What to Do

The Filipino loves to be told what to do.

Think about it: why do Filipinos seemingly work harder for foreigners than for his or her countrymen? Could it be due to colonial mentality, that the white man’s words are better than his own?

By adopting this thinking, we neglect other aspects of the problem. We have a behavioral problem as a people when it comes to work. We love to slack off, do only what passes for a job done (the culture of pwede na ‘yan), and ‘celebrate’ after a “hard day’s work.” We have been criticized for our mediocrity – our work, our products, are crude and lack sophistication. We keep machines running as long as possible even if they are no longer running efficiently.

Why? Because we lack innovation. Don’t get me wrong, adapting to circumstances is one of our most cherished values. Our resiliency even in the face of disaster proves that. Even our word for it – DISKARTE – has no equivalent in any other language. However, in a globalized world, making do with what we have simply won’t cut it.

Our industries remain primitive (handicrafts still dominate our home-grown products), resources are under-utilized and most importantly we are outperformed by our neighbors in even in agricultural production. What industries that do perform well are those owned by multinational corporations.
When it comes to working for foreigners, we Filipinos are the best. We tolerate low pay, long hours in exchange for a pat in the back. We don’t complain, we perform well. In other countries, the Filipino has become synonymous to low wage worker. And yet we love it. Every year more and more people go abroad to work for Arabs, Americans, Europeans etc. At home, foreign companies use Filipino labor for production of intermediate goods such as semiconductors, used to make consumer electronics that we love to buy.

Is it such a bad thing that Filipinos are working for foreigners? Economists might say no, for their precious labor and remittances have kept the Philippine economy afloat for almost three decades now. BPO jobs have dominated the semi-skilled labor market, giving jobs to college graduates that failed to get jobs due to the already over-saturated market.

So how does this become a problem?

You see, we were raised to be workers. When the Spaniards came they reduced a free and peaceful people into their own servants and workers in a medieval sense, tied to their lords. Under the Americans, those servants and workers became servants and workers still, but in the industrial sense, treated as a factor of production and given wages that barely sustain a living. Those that did get an education replaced the colonizers when the latter left.

We were taught to do what we’re told to do, and not how to do stuff ourselves. We import t-shirts, TVs, automobiles and other industrial products without ever learning how to do it ourselves. Our biggest businesses are malls that sell these stuffs. Sure we try to create it ourselves, but our products always comes more expensive than cheaper imported (and in many instances, smuggled) goods.

The result? We have no control over our destiny as a people. We are swayed by the ever-changing tides of the global economy. We remain poor while making other nations rich though our work. Everyday Filipinos abroad sing the Star-Spangled Banner (or whatever anthem they sing in their adoptive countries), shedding their allegiance to our country. In politics, we elect people that will tell us what to do, not those that urge us to do stuff ourselves. We let them stay there even if we know they steal from us, just so we don’t do the running of the country ourselves. Marcos stayed in power for two decades not because of Martial Law but because we as a people wanted him to. Now we have a potential dictator in our midst, duly elected by the people…

We as a people can never achieve greatness if we wallow in mediocrity and lack of accountability for our nation’s fate. If we keep on saying “it’s not our fault, the Spanish did this to us!” then a time will come when our worthiness as a free people will be tested. Would we fight for it, with all our might? Or would we simply retreat in meek subservience, as our forefathers did?

The question every Filipino should ask shouldn’t be “Why should we love our country?” but HOW.