“Dangal”
By Minguita Padilla, MD

Only the most callous person could have been spared from feeling some degree of outrage in the light of successive instances of blatant corruption that assaulted the nation’s collective psyche the last few months. The ZTE NBN Senate Investigation, while far from being over, has already convinced even the most simple minded of individuals that the Filipino people would have been robbed of billions of pesos in kickbacks to shameless high ranking government officials had the would-be thieves not been stopped in their tracks.

Hardly had the revelations from the ZTE-NBN investigation sank in when we were again jolted by what could have been a scene from a very black comedy;  paper bags of various colors and sizes with crisp thousand peso bills amounting to up to P500,000.00 each being blatantly distributed to government officials in the grounds of Malacanang.  So laden with arrogance and impunity was the incident, so lacking in any attempt at subtlety, so brazen, that even Secretary Eduardo Ermita was appalled. And true to form, almost as certain as the sun rises in the East, the cover-up that ensued was worse than the crime; utterly insulting to our intelligence, reminding us again of how little regard some of our top leaders have for our dignity.

Then came the Glorietta tragedy. So distrustful have our people become of government that the initial thought of many when the terrible explosion occurred in Glorietta 2 was that Government had a hand in it, a convenient diversionary tactic gone wrong, with more lives lost and damaged than planned.  It did not help any that initial reports of C4 components surfaced, only to be drowned out completely in the days that followed. So deep rooted is the skepticism that despite the reports of the PNP pointing to a gas leak, many people still believe otherwise.

Finally, coming at the heels of all of these, like the an episode in a “telenovela” whose ending is still unknown, President Arroyo pardons Erap in a manner strongly criticized even by her allies for its haste and timing.

True, the peso has improved; investors are starting to take notice. Yet it has become more and more painful to remain a “thinking and feeling Filipino”. Because of the pain it is tempting to simply “tune out” and develop a defensive indifference to the intangibles that count as much, if not more, than money. But I am grateful for the pain; especially that brought about by the events of the last few months. Why? Because palpable around us now is a renewed sense of outrage where before there was none. Because more and more, we are hearing people who have straddled the fence say that they can no longer remain indifferent; that they must do something; anything!  Because the crimes have started to hit close to home; and it has become clearer to even the apolitical and apathetic that the bells toll for them too.

That the pardon and the subsequent crumbling of the artificial divide between Gloria Arroyo and Joseph Estrada came in the wake of all the blatant corruption going on around us, is something to be grateful for. Suddenly things are much clearer for all who are thirsting for true reforms.  Now many of us can say that we are not for or against either one of them as persons. We are against the kind of politics they represent; a politics that of late has morphed into a monster unrecognizable from what it should be; an almost purely transactional politics, one where personal survival takes precedence over all, where the limits of decency are regularly crossed without even blinking an eye; where the cloaks of honour and integrity have been discarded in favour of vestments soiled by greed and arrogance as they worship in the altar of impunity.

These are the worst of times. These are also the best of times. It is a dark chapter in our history.  It is also a time of epiphany. And one word seems to shine brightly in the consciousness of those who are experiencing this rebirth, for it represents one important value or virtue now lacking in almost all aspects of our collective lives. The word is “Dangal”.

“Dangal” is a Filipino term that cannot be translated into one English word. It is honour, integrity, dignity, self-respect, principle, even nobility all rolled into one. And it must be brought back into our political life so that it can find its way back into all other aspects of our lives. Just as a fish starts to rot from its head, there too should reform start. But for this to happen, we, the people, to whom our public officials are accountable, must be catalysts for change. We must come to terms with the need for it in our lives then demand it from them. We must reject those who cannot or will not become the leaders we deserve, and embrace those who still hold this virtue within them. Perhaps then, a true and worthy opposition will emerge, one that truly represents the people’s aspirations for positive change instead of more of the same old, tired, ineffective, and self-serving type of politics we have suffered through for so long.

There are still many government leaders and members of the bureaucracy who embody “dangal” in the true sense of the word.  They suffer along with all of us who are still capable of shame. There are also many Filipinos out there who are but waiting for the right signal from the citizenry that the time is ripe for a new breed of leaders to emerge. But many good people are unable to thrive or shine, and are in danger of being suffocated by those who will stop at nothing for darkness to prevail.  We owe it to these good men and women; we owe it to ourselves, to make a concerted effort to bring some good back into our political life. The last national elections have shown that we are not helpless to effect change. We must put our minds and hearts into bringing “dangal” back into politics. The time is now. The possibilities are endless.

 

Dr. Minguita Padilla, an ophthalmologist, is president of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines and the Drug Abuse Research Foundation. She, along with other like-minded citizens, formed a group whose primary aim is to bring honour, integrity, and dignity back into Philippine Politics and Public life through simple, practical, sustained efforts by the citizenry. For more information on how one may join the movement, write to  balikdangal@gmail.com

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