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AT the break of dawn on weekends, I take a long walk
from my house to a secluded spot in Barangay Molino in Bacoor,
Cavite, some five kilometers away. The place is one of the remaining
enclaves of greenery with old trees and clinging vines that you can
find in a Manila suburb.
This lush greenery is part of the
abutment of a reservoir built a long time ago by the National
Irrigation Administration to capture the waters from the surrounding
creeks and drainage systems of nearby subdivisions. At this time of
the year, the dam overflows and you can hear the somnolent sound of
the water as it cascades down the spillway to the ravine and to that
watershed below.
Not many people in the area have
discovered this place, which I call my “Little Paradise.” When I
am there, I would sit alone at the elevated embankment and as I
feast on the hauntingly beautiful surrounding, I could hear nothing
but silence, which is accentuated by the melody of the cascading
water and the serenity of the place.
And I thought that silence, a lot
of it, is what we really need in this country today.
Paul Kennedy, director of
International Security Studies at Yale University, in his recent
article in the International Herald Tribune tells us how verbal
skirmishes, both oral and written, have contributed to the world’s
troubles.
He pegged his article on the
admonition late last year by Spanish King Juan Carlos to Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez during the summit of Latin American leaders in
Santiago, Chile.
“Why don’t you just shut
up?” the Spanish monarch blurted out to Chavez after he launched a
personal attack against former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar.
Kennedy says the idea is a good
one. “Wouldn’t it be a relief if politicians reduced the amount
of comments they offer in current affairs?” he asks.
According to Kennedy, the
greatest sinners are probably the Americans, citing the electoral
charade in the United States and the amount of political noise
generated by US presidential candidates even before the first
primaries were held.
In the Philippines, the situation
is even worse. It is still more than two years to 2010 but our
presidential wannabes can’t seem to hold their tongues in
commenting on all issues that come their way.
You can hear Senate President
Manny Villar being interviewed on radio on almost any topic. If you
have listened to the jingle, purportedly for the centennial
celebration of the Nacionalista Party, you cannot mistake it for
anything except as an undisguised campaign material for his
presidential bid.
The other early contender, Sen.
Mar Roxas, has also been appearing in talk shows but only to say
that nothing is firm on his plans for 2010 and that “the need of
the hour is to work together to solve the country’s problems.”
Lately a lot of new names have
cropped up, all wanting to succeed President Arroyo, including MMDA
Chairman Bayani Fernando whose entry into the fray has given a comic
relief to what seems to be an orgiastic preparation by some of our
politicians in their bid for 2010.
Actually, the Senate is the
biggest source of verbal pollutants. Our honorable senators, except
for one or two, seem to have something to say on any subject just to
remain in the limelight.
Joseph Estrada, after being
silenced for six years can’t seem to remain quiet. He too has
appeared on television talk shows, repeating for the nth time his
nauseating refrain, “Maski isang kusing wala akong ninakaw sa
kaban ng bayan (I have never stolen even a single centavo from the
government’s coffers),” never mind if he has been convicted of
plunder and has never proven his innocence in court. He is the
single biggest contributor to the political blabber after he
threatened to run in 2010.
Kennedy says: “Talking too
much, and acting too often, simply reduces the credibility of what
you wish to achieve.”
Abraham Lincoln once said that
“it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open
one’s mouth and remove all doubts.”
Our politicians should learn from
the Chinese who have perfected the art of getting their way by
keeping their mouths strapped.
In the broadband contract
controversy, for example, the Chinese government never issued any
official comment although it was evident that it was hurting.
Beijing did not say anything about the alleged payoff. And when the
administration decided to abort the project, the Chinese quietly
accepted it, no ifs and buts.
Since our grade school, we have
been told that “silence is golden.” Will our politicians make
this rule part of their new year’s resolution for a change? I
doubt it.
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