 |
| Photo taken from Wikipedia |
Boarding the southbound Light Rail Transit (LRT) at Blumentritt station, I overheard a barong-clad man (the type of barong that lawyers usually wear) talking on his cell phone. He was really loud and everyone could hear him, but what caught my attention was not just the way he talked, but more so what he said. “Nasa MoA na po ako” (I’m already at the Mall of Asia). He said this while on the train in Blumentritt, Sta. Cruz, Manila, ten stations and a passenger van ride away from the mall at the south end of EDSA in Pasay City, more or less an hour-long commute. He said it so naturally, as if he really was there, not even thinking twice before saying it. He didn’t even mind the other people who were there. As I was hearing his end of the conversation, I remembered a hundred other similar instances – my relatives, my friends, my classmates – a lot of them do the same thing. This led me to ask myself: how many Filipinos casually lie about where they actually are? What else do we lie about? Does truth have any value at all these days? Does anyone ever feel guilty anymore?
It’s shocking how casually we lie, even to the closest of people. It doesn’t even seem wrong anymore. Of course, in the case I cited above, it simply means that our punctual friends are going to have to wait a lot longer than they expected. But everyone knows that the lying doesn’t stop there. It trickles down, or should I say up, to lying to your parents about where you went last night, to lying to the traffic enforcer about connections with high-ranking officers, to the top government officials denying they got a cut from a shady deal. Yes, indeed, we are a nation of liars, and no one seems to mind.
It would seem that we already forgot the all time best policy – honesty. What’s so sad about it is that we metaphorically crucify our leaders for doing the exact same thing, when really, we are all guilty. One person may have a bigger sphere of influence than the other, but it’s all the same. Each time we tell something contrary or a deviation of the truth, we contribute to this twisted culture. It all adds up until each one becomes a veteran. Suddenly, it’s no surprise that politicians can tell the people untruths with a straight face. Lying permeated our culture and it became as much a part of it as adobo.
We complain left and right about the government, about all the money they have stolen, about all the lies they used to cover them up, but in the end, how different are we civilians? Yes, they steal, yes they leave a massive trail of evidence, and yes, they still have the audacity to deny it. What we can’t deny however is the fact that this happens practically anywhere in one form or the other. Whether it’s treating your professor to his favorite restaurant for a higher grade, manipulating income statements, using substandard raw materials for manufacturing, we are all corrupt in one way or the other. We do it as openly as they do, even talking about it as if there’s nothing wrong with it.
Now, how can we blame others for lying upfront when we do it ourselves? We can’t. If we want them to stop, we must stop ourselves as well from lying, and its dark derivative: corruption. While some may argue that this is merely a case of moral degradation which is happening all over the world, it affects the country to a much greater extent. The nation’s poverty is worsening, and the line separating them from the rich is broader than ever. Those who have nothing continue to have nothing while the chosen few at the top of the social pyramid do little to alleviate it. We all want things to change, but only a few, if anyone at all, seems to be taking the initiative. We all want our country to progress, but we are the ones hindering it.
While a revolution is not likely to arise from reading this column, at least we can take a few little steps towards it: maybe you can start telling your friend who’s waiting for you he’s going to have to occupy himself for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment