|
Three bad national habits have surfaced in the last
weeks, prompting me to believe that the lessons of the past have not
been learned, have been unlearned or were never remembered, setting
up the scene for their repetition. Repeating mistakes is the road to
stagnation, deterioration—even perdition.
First and most immediate for its
deadly consequence is the reported hazing case from the University
of the Philippines’ fraternity Sigma Rho. After all the mistakes
of the past, the judicial processes and the convictions, the careers
put on hold, the jail time, the pain and loss to the victims and
their families, the moral degradation that violence and cruelty that
the custom of hazing is doubtlessly the cause of, it revisits us
again.
In our society, being a member of
an elite fraternity from an elite school takes the place of all
other moral systems. Good and bad, right and wrong, are now seen
through the prism of the fraternity behavior. What the fraternity
practices becomes good, what it frowns on is bad.
Since the ultimate end of joining
a fraternity is a career move, particularly in law, business and
politics, and we are presently saddled with a problematic judiciary
as well as shyster lawyering, corrupt business practices and moral
shortcuts, not to speak of the abominable discourse in our politics,
the whole scenario is quite unsettling, not just for morals but for
morale in citizenship and in governance. Simply, if a fraternity
condones, promotes and defends hazing, it implies that it condones,
promotes and defends violence, murder, violation of human rights,
anti-intellectual practices, illegal means and lawbreaking. With
this latest case, we need no further proof of the moral turpitude
that fraternities encourage.
Second is the reported breakup
and public fragmentation of a very good and inspiring program for
reaching out to the poor by building communities and houses, the
Gawad Kalinga and the Couples for Christ cooperative effort for
addressing social problems, such as homelessness, poverty, absence
of education and a positive value system. Any human activity comes
up with its own problems for which it should try to successfully
find solutions or compromises without destruction, injury, or taking
so many steps backward that whatever level of progress has been
reached has effectively been cancelled. We are all aware of this
national failing of egos within an association getting in each
other’s way for which the next step is for a split to take place
and their credibility to become compromised. It is such a waste, a
pathetic spectacle that is unnecessary at the very time when they
have reached their stride, delivered their good works and received
public acclaim from those they have inspired.
Last, but not least in
wrong-headedness is the constant and repeated renaming of streets
that have already been named, recognized and remembered. The latest
move which Congress will have to address is the proposal to rename
Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City to Cardinal Jaime Sin. This is
not acceptable, considering that it is a major public thoroughfare
and appropriately named after a philanthropist, William Shaw. Shaw
founded the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club (located off Shaw
Boulevard) to fight discrimination against Filipinos then existing
in Philippine golf clubs. His philanthropy is responsible for a
foundation, the Shaw Foundation, actively engaged in donations for
Philippine education. I doubt if Cardinal Sin, himself, a modest and
spiritual personage, would approve of having a street named for him
that belittles the considerable contributions of someone to
Philippine society.
The indiscriminate renaming of
streets is antihistorical and against national interests. It changes
the landscape that we are familiar with, that we have accepted and
that we have a right to expect to be there over time. With the
substantial number of Filipinos working abroad for long absences, it
is unfair that when they come back to their country, the remembered
details of its being are erased, making them feel strangers in their
own land.
All of the above require a period
of definition and reflection, followed by rectification. Let us move
forward with a better vision of how to do so without repeating past
mistakes that take us nowhere.
|
