Emmanuel B.

Catabas Page 1 11/13/2008

Redeeming The Filipino Elusive Dream

We all have dreams; that inner desire for something we believe that will make our lives
more progressive or for achieving something better than what we currently have.

To achieve that aspiration, we exert all our effort the best way we can. There is no stone
unturned that we shall not turn. There is no narrow path that we shall not tread on. There
is no rampaging river that we shall not cross. All for the sake of that elusive dream that
strengthen us all – a better life and a bright future.

Whether it is of our own personal aspirations, that dream will merge with the dreams of
other Filipinos. Even if we do the chasing of that elusive dream individually for personal
interests, in the end it will touch the lives of many citizens of our nation. Our lives are so
interconnected with each other. Our self-interest will somehow also be the interest of
others. A success of one individual will also mean one more victory for the Philippines.
All of us have a role in turning the wheels of the Philippine economy – as the market or
as the producer; as an employee or as an employer; as a builder or as an architect. We all
have a share in the building and shaping of our nation. Not many of us realize this.

It is therefore of much import for all us to look beyond our self-serving interests. We
have to realize that in every task we do, legal or illegal, legitimate or illegitimate, it
affects another Filipino. Our future is the future of our country. Our failure is its failure.
If we want to change our lives, we also must persevere to effect that change our country
needs most.

However, our country needs not only a change but a transformation – of its ideology; of
its politics; of its culture. The country is in deep mire. Slowly, we are losing our dignity
as a people. A people moving in the highways of globalization without a common vision
nor a common mission.

We are lost in the jumble of the right and left ideologies; conservatism and liberalism;
faith and secularism; administration or opposition. Most of us do not even understand the
meaning of these opposing poles or of what they are standing for. What matters for most
of us is to get by our daily business without fears for our future. To find jobs or to build
businesses without the hassles of bureaucracy. To live our life peacefully and decently.

Our politics need a very radical transformation. Sadly, most of our politicians could not
present to us any new ideas of how the country should be governed. All we hear are the
rhetoric of repackaged personalities. For that is what our politics has turned out to be – a
politics of personalities; politicians who do not have any clear political agenda –
economic nor a worthwhile idealism. Our political system, sadly, are in a state of
disarray. Party loyalties bounded to a common ideology are missing. They do not even
have a strong vision to guide the nation; except for their shortsightedness of gaining
power.
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It is very sad to say that our culture has been heavily damaged by corruption. In every
level of the citizenry, this scourge has been permeating its ugly head. Devouring
whatever little hope we still have. We are losing our core values of discipline,
temperance, self-reliance and honesty. Our communal value of social responsibility is
being forgotten; pushed behind our self-consciousness. Thereby producing a deficit of
empathy in the country.

But whenever we feel disheartened, we must gather our wits and continue to fight not any
external foes, but ourselves. We need to cultivate that attitude of communal activism
girded by persistence and empathy. We can only transform our world if we can transform
ourselves back to our core values - from apathy to empathy; from passivism to activism.
We need to redevelop our communal values that will bring about social justice.

We have to effect that transformation we need ourselves; no one will do it for us. We
have once shown to the world that we, as a people can do it peacefully when we
dethroned a detested dictator during the first EDSA revolution. We have revolutionized
revolutions – transforming them from being bloody agents of change to being peaceful
agents of change. Our example led to the downfall of many communist regimes in
Europe.

We can still do what we need to be transformed. It is still not too late to redeem that
elusive Filipino dream. However, this time the political transformation has to be done not
in the streets but in the way of the democratic processes – the prudent use of our power as
a transformed electorate to select the best people that will run our government based on a
clear platform of governance.

The people of Pampanga have shown to us how they were able to organize themselves to
use that power. The people of Isabela have proven to us that it is possible to choose a
leader worthy of their trust. They have had enough of political dynasties and they wanted
change. Change they got. The Filipino also wanted a transformed Philippines – culturally
and politically. And we can do it!

There are many ways how we can do it. There are already many reliable organizations
that we can extend our time, talent and expertise, as well as money. They can help us
organize the way for our social and cultural transformation – for poverty alleviation and
community organizing, there is the Gawad Kalinga (GK); for crime watchdog, there is
the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and many others, each an expert in
their chosen fields. Let us volunteer in any of these legitimate organizations, we need to
make sacrifices and pay a price for our values. This is the only way we can show that we
believe in those values.

We do not have to wait for an Obama to lead us through our miseries. Let us use our
communal values to scrutinize the character and ideas of each politician claiming he or
she has or is the answer to our nation’s problems. These kinds of people are the problem
and not the solution. We already have too much of them in government, we do not need
another one. Let us not be deceived by their empty promises and eloquent oration. Let us
Emmanuel B. Catabas Page 3 11/13/2008

not be deceived by their great smile and scripted public appearances. Let us organize
ourselves and demand from them their clear cut agenda and ideas. Let them prove their
worth not only by their previous works but on how their characters were shaped by their
work and position.

Obama did not become the phenomenon of the recent U.S. election because of his
intellect nor personality nor race. He is a product of new ideas and the urgency of the
times. His people needed a change and so they organized themselves to effect that
change. There are many lessons we can learn from his historic election as a leader of the
democratic world. Evidently, the most important of these is the power of the electorate to
demand from him his ideas and how his character was shaped by his environment.

Five of our respected bishops have recently issued the call for a change. Hoping for
liberators that will start the radical reforms our country needs. We need not look far or in
the future. We ourselves are that liberators. Do not expect our politicians to change by
themselves. It is a hope against hope. Only a determined and transformed electorate can
force that transformation from our politicians. Let me also quote whom our bishops
quoted “Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog ng ating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating
baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon, kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at
pamumuhay.” (Apolinario Mabini)