Episode 5: A New Hope

Initially appeared on vox.com on 6/30/2010.

As the fifth President of the Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos, Benigno Aquino III - "Noynoy," or "P-Noy" faces the daunting task of restoring the Republic to its former glory.  An entire nation - 90 million strong in the motherland, plus another 11 million overseas - waits expectantly to see how he will single-handedly wipe out corruption and bring about peace and prosperity.  And therein lies the rub, because the simple truth that no one will admit is that it is not only our government that is corrupt, but our culture.

Many of the same people who voted for this candidate who promised to stamp out corruption would not give a second thought to everyday corruption and indiscretions.  Palming out a hundred pesos and name-dropping "friends in high places" to avoid a traffic violation.  Giving out a "bonus" for "special treatment" getting a driver's license or similar permit.  Asking for "recommendations" from padrinos (sponsors) to land a good position.  Lying to get a US visa.  In matters of scale, a hundred pesos is different from a hundred million, but in matters of principle, it's exactly the same.  Some people say that they're doing it "just this once" or that the end justifies the means.  This of course is a load of crap.

For all our rhetoric about how we should all be equal, many of us dream of the moment when we can browbeat a lowly security guard with "Hindi mo ba ako kilala?!" ("Don't you know who i am?").  And which of us wouldn't love to have our own "wang-wang" (siren) to be able to get through rush hour traffic while other mere mortals watch enviously?  Corruption's a bitch, except when she's helping us get our way.

For there to be any meaningful change in our country's direction and destiny, the change has to come from the ground-up.  If all 90 million Filipinos decided not to give a tong (bribe), i don't know how long the practice would last.  If on the other hand President Aquino yelled that tong is wrong and immoral until he was blue in the face, but 90 million Filipinos decided to it "just once," and "for good reason" - i guarantee that it would last until eternity.

And so begins the dawn to a new day.  But as long as we look to a messiah to save us from ourselves and refuse to see and change our own behaviors, it looks just like any other.