Wednesday, September 27, 2006

War in the Philippines, War on Poverty, War on Crime

Driving home from work today, I saw a yellow Hummer 2 right next to me with a huge sticker on its tinted rear windows just above the spare tires. It read: Today! A soldier died so you could keep your freedom.

My immediate response was: Today! A soldier could have lived so he could enjoy his freedom.

It's ironic that a gas-guzzling vehemoth of a vehicle they call H3 would display something like that, for many people now believe that we're in the war in Iraq for oil and petroleum, and not in the name of freedom. We bomb Iraq and the other Middle East nations just so we could get some kind of control over the oil. After all, the US is the biggest energy consuming nation in the world, not to mention, the most wasteful as well. But as far as that sticker goes, it's partially true, because that soldier can no longer enjoy the freedom he himself was fighting for.

I am a pacifist, as I prefer dialogue and dimplomacy until all those involved turn blue in the face. Unfortunately, if you have power, like the US, war is so inevitable, and we will wield are super police powers over anyone we think is trying to violate what we think is right. But then again, who really is right, right?

I pay respect to the soldiers that have lost their lives in the war, in any war for that matter. Each soldier has face, a family, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a husband, a wife...a story. Each story is different. With each story, is a life, a human being. But in the end, the only people that will see the end of this war are the dead soldiers themselves. How unfortunate.

I am not going to attempt to connect this story to the Philippines. The only connection I can see right now is the war within the Philippines itself. It's a war on poverty. A war on corruption. These two wars in themselves make up different battlefields. Battlefields of political corruption. Battlefields of environmental destruction as seen with illegal loggers and death of the inhabitants. Battlefields of unfair employment. Battlefields of dirty streets. Battlefields of homelessness. Battlefields of human trafficking.

Many Filipinos fight on these battlefields every single day of their lives. They are the modern day Jose Rizals. But there are so few of them. There are more corrupt cronies. I am hoping that one day, the nation will wake up, and rise to its potential, where the Filipino people will no longer tolerate corruption, where they can finally say: I am sick and tired; I am going to make a change. This change may not be big. But I am going to make a change one person at a time. One person at a time. That's all it takes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you're planning on making a change, now will be a good time as any since there will be another election next year. You should start with those stupid voters who keep electing actors and actresses and sports figures into office.

Anonymous said...

The thing with a lot of Pinoy voters, especially those coming from the far-flung barrios and even in the urban slums, is that they readily believe the characters these actors/candidates play in the movies as their real persona. That they always fight for the downtrodden and are incorruptible, blah blah blah. In short, a hero for the masses. That's why FPJ almost won, or won depending on who you believe, in the last election.

Some people in the media are attacking the issue. Sadly, it seems to be falling on deaf ears because, as I have mentioned in one of my blog entries, several "artistas" have already made known their intention to run in the next election.