The country is greater than its presidents
By Julia Carreon Lagoc
June 14, 2018
Did we ever have a President who upheld the good of the country rather than his own? Look back into our array of past Presidents. What caliber? What sacrifices had he/she undergone for the general welfare? Was it “I, myself first” over and above the common good? Over all other considerations?
Many young voters are not bothered by the above questions. Maybe some of the millennials do scrutinize issues involving the general welfare aside from their own private interests — especially those who have political inclinations or taking up political science as a required subject for graduation. I recall earlier in college, we were so proud and hopeful in wearing the pin Magsaysay is my guy! But the promise of a new era in Philippine politics was cut short when we lost Ramon Magsaysay in a plane flight gone awry.
Nowadays, the young are into the thick of digital preoccupations. Nonetheless, young feminists take pride that the Philippines had two women Presidents: Cory Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The former was known for blending with the curtains and coming up with a hot cup of coffee for her husband Ninoy whose death in the airport tarmac ushered in the historic EDSA People Power Revolution. After the tumultuous Marcos years, Cory Aquino went about her presidency in quiet, humble dedication. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had a doctorate in Economics which proved to be of no avail in bringing about economic stability in the country.
Throwback to the U.S. of A. Hillary Clinton should have been the first woman President of the United States after garnering more than a million votes over that of Donald Trump. Like they say, the Donald must thank the antiquated Electoral College for his presidency.
I might be far from the madding crowd (read novelist Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd) — being here with my daughter’s family in the United States. But I’m not at all estranged from the goings-on in Bayan Ko, thanks to the internet.
Speculations are rife that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, or Digong as he is popularly called, has the makings of a dictator. Right now, I’m leafing through TIME magazine, September 26, 2016, that my daughter had bought, attracted by the big headline on the cover: Night Falls On the Philippines subtitled: The tragic cost of President Duterte’s war on drugs written by Rishi Iyengar. The pitch-dark cover carried a corpse said to be that of “an alleged drug dealer.”
The internet showed photos of the victims of Duterte’s war on drugs. One that sticks in my mind is that of a mother holding her slain son on her arms, recalling the Mater Dolorosa in Rome’s St. Peter’s Church: Mary with the lifeless Jesus on her arms. The same lifelike bronze replica is installed in the Oakland, California Cathedral. Be it in photos or statues, the faint-hearted has to hold back the tears, feeling a mother’s unfathomable grief.
What more can I say? The country has survived the evil dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Nothing can be worse than that. The Duterte presidency should not deviate to the dark era of the Marcos years. We live in a civilized society, and extra-judicial killings have no place in it. Everyone deserves a day in court — as my husband Rudy, a human rights lawyer, had strongly, bravely advocated in his lifetime.
To all officials of the country, from the President to the smallest Barangay Official, ponder on this quote from the iconic journalist Dan Rather: “We are a nation of laws and not of kings”. Our stated creed is that we are equal before the law, all of us. Of course we fall far short of that ideal in many ways. It's usually the poor, the marginalized, and dispossessed who suffer the greatest injustices. But even the most cynical of plutocrats in our nation's history have at least largely paid lip service to this idea.”
More than lip service, as succinctly pledged in the Oath of Allegiance in flag ceremonies, let the law be followed “in thought, in word, and in deed.” (Comments to [email protected])