Guest Column
Where do we go?
Do you remember Diana Ross? She made famous the song "Do you know where you're going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you. Where are you going to? Do you know?"
As an answer to these questions, I really do not know where we Filipinos are going to. As I observe how things are going on, our destination as a nation is not as bright as it should be. Pardon me if I do not sound optimistic.
While people of other countries are advancing on science and technology, we are busy doing things for the Guinness Book of World Records. We are proud to announce that we hold the record of having made the biggest rice cake, the largest hat, the lonnnngest lonnnnganisa and so on and so forth.
Back in the 1950s we rushed to South Korea to help them in their fight against the communist North but more than fifty years later, they invade us with their exports. They already have their fast and quiet bullet trains while we still continue to reinvent our noisy tricycles and smoke belching jeepneys.
In the 1960s we put up the International Rice Research Institute to let our Asian brothers learn how to plant rice although we used to sing "Planting rice is never fun." What is really funny is that starting a couple of decades later, we already imported rice from them.
In the late 80s when our Asian brothers realized the importance of English, we shifted to bilingual method of instruction instead of improving our English proficiency by using it as a medium of instruction. The result is obvious.
We host the SEAFDEC, here in Panay to improve our aquaculture industry by conducting a lot of studies and intensive research together with our neighboring countries. What an irony! We can now hardly compete with them in producing and exporting prawns, groupers, shrimps, and milkfish.
Now we rather dedicate our time in conducting festivals and extravagant celebrations. We are going back to the Moriones festival, the Ati-atihan or Dinagyang, Binirayan, Maskara, and even to the extent of pigeon festival, lechon festival, and what have you. What do we get from them. Expenses, loans, debts, sometimes death!
Are we going backwards? Standing still? Or forward?
Shall we continue to denude our mountains, destroy our forests, or cut down all the remaining trees? Our marine resources and natural wealth are fast depleting. It is as if we are destroying the earth so that the future generation can no longer live or eat.
Our whales and turtles are dying but what a surprise! Snakes are everywhere from Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon. In Manila, Quezon City and even in the halls of Congress!
Our elections take one month to count the votes and proclaim the winners. Our neighbors do it in one day or one week and after that they do not talk anymore as they forget politics. In our country, we always have election protest that takes almost the term of the protested incumbent.
Filipinos are intelligent! But many are still functionally illiterate. A Filipino designed car ran by just plain water but out government did not give a damn. The result is we are all suffering from the effect of energy crisis.
We are known for our chefs, even to the White House and Buckingham Palaces but right here in our country children are malnourished.
To survive from economic hardships and unemployment, we resort to going abroad to earn dollars. Our brothers and sisters are all over the factories of Taiwan and Japan, in the farms of New Zealand and Australia, in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, and caretakers of many homes in Europe and America.
I know they contribute much to the country's economy but in exchange for what? How far and where do we go next? Are we becoming the modern wandering Jews in this diaspora?
Can we do something? What shall we do? What is the role of the people, the government leaders, the academe, the business community, the church, the media, The Kalantiao Toastmasters Club? What shall we do?
Shall we speak like Patricia Evangelista, fight like Manny Pacquaio, teach like Josette Biyo or just watch Darna? Are we determined like Oracion, Emata, Garduce or Abonejar?
We have proven to the world the great things done and the greatness of the Filipino. We have proven our bravery since the time of Lapu-Lapu. We demonstrated our patriotism as shown by del Pilar and Bonifacio. We are proud of the ideals of Rizal and Ninoy Aquino. But where have all our heroes gone? What shall we do?
Are we in the right direction? Where do we go? Do you know?
(Speech delivered by the author during the regular Kalantiao Toastmasters Club Meeting 02 June '06 at the second floor Bread n Butter plaza branch.)