Culture of Hypocrisy

I've nearly lost all faith with the political system in the Philippines. My parents have used the Philippines' hopelessness to elect good leaders and correct its errors as one of their main reasons to migrate to Canada. Bit by bit, I'm starting to hold the same sentiments on the state of the country.

Everywhere I see ads on youth empowerment and voter's education. Media outlets and school officials all say that Filipinos are better equipped to elect good leaders. Even my own political party in my university believes that "Man is naturally good" and that in the end, as long as the system works, the nation will progress. Everywhere you look, you are bombarded with statements saying that the future looks bright. For instance, ABS-CBN has its "Boto mo, I-patrol mo" campaign which strives to educate the Filipinos and empower the people, especially the youth, to be more active in politics and choosing the best leaders for the country. Then there's BLSP, or "Boto Lasalyano, Sulong Pilipino," a major project in my university, which aims to empower the students to be aware of the state of Philippine politics and be involved with choosing better leaders to make our country better off. While all these seem encouraging, the truth does not look nearly as good.

There was a presidential forum last Friday in DLSU. My friends and I were all excited to be part of the forum and participate so that we would better know the candidates for presidency and have an informed vote. Plus, it was a grand event so everyone wanted in. We arrived a bit late since we had an retreat orientation, and some of us went to the back of the line, which stretched a long way from the theater entrance. After a few minutes of hopelessness, I went near the entrance to look for my friends and to check out the line to see if we had any chance at all of entering the 1000 seater theater. I quickly figured out that there was none - the line was very long and there were so many people converging at the entrance. Why were there so many people? Simple. People were blatantly cutting the lines. SUMISINGIT LAHAT! The lack of discipline and social ethic just pissed me off a lot. Apparently it pissed off some of my friends that much more. I had friends who were in line as early as 7:30 in the morning who were so close to the entrance that weren't able to get in and had to settle watching in the conservatory. It was THAT crazy. So many people were cutting the line. It was so ironic that we were watching a presidential forum in order to elect a leader that was pure and far different from the "trapos" in office today, and yet people were acting much like the "trapos" themselves! That must say something about how Filipinos' characters look like. As my friend Lawin says, we all want the best leader possible, but the question is do we deserve the best leader? If what we want is change for the better, then why act like the very people we despise? Are we inherently immoral and unethical? Are we always self-serving and tactless? Imagine. Students from one of the top universities in the Philippines - the thinktank which the future leaders of the country will come from - have the same characteristics as the leaders we all call out and curse everyday. What we need to look at is ourselves. Are we acting like the people we want to elect? I think Filipinos need a major character overhaul. Maybe everyone needs to try a little bit of soul-searching and self-reflecting.

My friend Francis came up with the title of this entry. I believe that there's indeed a culture of hypocrisy in the Philippines. It's not just in the adult world. Even in schools and universities, the culture thrives. Going back to the presidential elections this coming May, there are so many eligible voters in my university, and even in my circle of friends, who aren't voting. There are so many potential voters who wouldn't be able to vote this coming May! Why? Because they were not able to register. Now it'd be okay if this were due to the fact that they just had no chance of registering. But no, that's not the case. Most of them just didn't have enough effort to fill up a form and register. That simple task could've made a difference in the elections. Let me be honest now and say that I'm a Gibo Teodoro supporter. Most of my friends are Gibo supporters as well. During the forum, so many of them were wearing the "Para kay Gibo Ako" shirts. It has come into my attention that most of them didn't register. I mean, COME ON! What's the point of our support if we won't even be able to express our right come this May. What's the point, really? We watch forums, we make our opinions, we debate about the sad state of our country and who's fit to lead us in the future. All this is so that come election time, we could decide who to vote for and make our vote count. But come on! Not registering should be a sin of omission. Sobrang sayang ang mga boto! What's the point of forming our opinions and choosing the best leader when we can't even vote anyway. We complain for so long about how Filipinos are so stupid when it comes to choosing the right leaders. Eh kung ikaw naman hindi man lang sumasali as eleksyon, what gives you the right to complain?! Kung ganito rin lang naman pala, edi we deserve the fucking incompetent and corrupt leaders we get! It's our fault! Kaya't kung ika'y eligible but you're not registered, then I suggest you nut up and shut up!

This is the Philippines. Home of the culture of hypocrisy. Fun times, fun times. :|