Accents
Elections afterthoughts: ‘To thine own self be true…’
To all who will be taking oath of office—from President of the Republic to Barangay Councilor—, I say: “To thine own self be true.” We the People will take you to task to work on your promises faithfully and well. Otherwise, your conscience (if that is not yet calloused) will haunt you or karma will do its own accounting.
Heed what my friend Bill S. (Shakespeare anyway) has to say: “To thine own self be true.” Here’s the quote in full (Polonius to his son Laertes in Hamlet): This above all: to thine own self be true,/ And it must follow, as the night the day,/ Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Were the speeches you made all palabas in the entablado? High sounding empty words to wheedle the voters? And majority swallowed, no questions asked. Still, there are those who continue to doubt, and it is this segment of society that you have to be wary of. These are the ones who won’t take your misdemeanors lying down. Be on your guard in case you are tempted to break the rules. Every word in that oath of office you’ll swear by very soon means a sacred mandate for country and people.
In the elections of three years ago, I recall a woman who asked after dropping her ballot: “Can this fellow I voted for make good his speech made during the campaign trail?” A very typical question that should be asked of the winners in the elections just passed. How was that lady’s question answered after the elected official’s three-year term was over? Was it the fulfillment of a promise or the breakup of a covenant between candidate and voter? Did she end up in utter disappointment over the shameless performance or nonperformance of the official she helped install in office? Did she vote/choose right? I wonder…
We are on the stage of uncertainty whether or not the winners of the May 10 elections will prove true to their campaign promises. Time will tell, it is said. Nevertheless, as early as now, it is within us, the people, to steer the course of events in our favor. Above all, the people have the media for ally. We must exhaust all media resources to make government officials do what needs to be done. Mr. President, Mr./Ms. Senator/Mr./Ms. Governor, et al. have your job descriptions handy. Failure to perform as specified therein is a ground for severe censure. Be forewarned from the wrath of the people. The octopus that has gripped the country with its tentacles of corruption must be hacked to death, or else… You know what’s currently happening in Thailand. Do not let the Philippines grab the headlines from Thailand.
I pause to congratulate and extend well wishes to those who won fair and square. For the life of me, I cannot congratulate those who won by fraud or went into massive vote-buying. Manny Pacquiao must have flooded Sarangani with his millions to ensure his congressional seat. I used to say a short prayer for our country’s boxing hero every time he entered the ring, but I just can’t congratulate him for his victory in the political arena. Pacquiao reminds me of Dolphy, who at the height of his career in moviedom, was enticed to run for Senator. Dolphy refused with this reply: “Anong gagawin ko doon? Magpatawa?” Pacquiao, on the other hand, didn’t say, “Anong gagawin ko doon? Magboksing?” Oh, well…
From a distance (Rudy and I are presently staying with our daughter’s family in South Carolina), I campaigned through email for my close friends to vote for Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, Risa Hontiveros, Ariel Querubin, and Danny Lim. All didn’t make it to the so-called Magic 12. Satur, the one strong advocate of social justice was far behind the movie stars duo of Bong Revilla, the topnotcher, and Jinggoy Estrada, and still behind Manuel “Lito” Lapid, who also banked on a movie star connection. As of this writing, May 19, Risa Hontiveros remains a cliffhanger.
Friends asked why I didn’t have a presidential bet. At the start of the airing of platforms, I was inclined to go for Gibo Teodoro, young and brilliant that I believed could pull the country out of the quagmire of poverty and corruptions. Early on, however, I found the fellow no stranger to dismal politics. I didn’t take too kindly to Teodoro’s choice for running mate. It was pure and simple politicking. In the event both are victorious, would you be comfortable with Teodoro’s vice president, who is just a heartbeat away from his Malacañang seat just in case…?
May I say that it behooves every Filipino to make Noynoy Aquino bear the full brunt of criticisms and suffer the consequences once he veers away from his platform. Excerpts:
“Our first priority is to re-establish the principle that public leadership must be based first on integrity and honesty. Without integrity and honesty, we cannot have clean and honest government that is free from graft and corruption. It starts above all at the highest levels with the personal example of the President, his family, relatives and friends. No one is above the law.
“A good president is indispensable to our nation’s progress because he generates collective good will, hard work from everyone and unity in purpose in the whole nation. A bad president, as we have learned, is a curse because she creates constant suspicion, political divisions, conflicts and widespread alienation of citizens from their own government. We must have a President whose picture we can be proud to display in all the classrooms where our children study and learn and at all the offices where our people transact business with their government. The Office of the President should henceforth be the headquarters of exemplars for good governance, not the main hideout of cheaters, cover-up artists, liars and thieves.
“We shall lay the foundations of a careful and substantive process leading to a negotiated peace with the Bangsa Moro people and the CPP-NPA-NDF insurgents.”
I get misty-eyed every time I hear Freddie Aguilar sing Bayan Ko. A beautiful song beautifully worded in our own sariling wika. I just fervently pray that in the course of Noynoy Aquino’s presidency, when I hear or sing the song again, my eyes would brim with tears of anticipation of a bright future for the beloved homeland — because this is one guy determined to stand by his platform. I nourish high hopes.
(Email: lagoc@hargray.com)
