“Losing faith, holding on to dreams.”
I have lost faith on our leaders.
During elections we see people who have qualified to run for offices vie for the favor of the Filipinos by blabbering their ideas for the common good of the Philippines and the entire Filipino populace. The people would listen, decide and finally cast their votes. The people trust their judgment in choosing their officials based on what can be used as proof or evidence that these officials are worthy of the position but most of the time the people’s judgment is wrong because these officials are masters of hypocrisy; at the end, some live up to the expectations and have a promising career, some would end up being 1) ousted through revolutions, 2) the reason for mass demonstrations of people and different groups on the streets 3) on the front page of the newspaper looking hideous and not worthy of sympathy despite of their condition and 4) on a hospital arrest because they were not granted permission to leave the country even if its for health reasons. All of these and many more have been just a response to graft and corruption being committed by the people who were supposed to forward the interest of the Filipino populace through effective governance but never did; never even tried to do it.
Graft and corruption are crimes committed by those people who are practitioners of fraud and illicit activities through power tripping. These people are usually those who possess a limited vocabulary and consider INTEGRITY and HONESTY foreign terms, have superior ability in lying, amazingly thick-faced, unbelievably shameless, and despicable in every sense of the word that upon being elected in office would start planning on how to increase personal wealth and lavish on the prestige, privileges and power that their position offers and these kinds of leaders are the ones who inflict more damage to our country.
The damages being inflicted by these people are so grave that they ought to be hanged or be guillotined for the crimes they have committed just like what peoples of other nations do to those leaders who have brought nothing but misfortune to their country because of selfish interests but the Filipino people have always been emotional in decision making that justice is undermined because of their pity, their belief of forgiveness and the benefit of the doubt they give to these wrong doers thus these vile creatures we call officials have a lot of nerve to succumb to moral perversion and betray the people’s trust.
These corrupt officials rob the people of a multitude of opportunities which could have been provided only with effective governance.
These corrupt officials kill people who have trusted them.
These corrupt officials have laid the Philippines prey to those exploiting foreigners.
And these corrupt made the Filipinos turn their back to their country and bow their heads in shame.
It’s unbelievable to think that a few people can actually bring this kind of suffering to an entire nation. But then again, it’s what power does to those who are weak enough to succumb to its temptation and for several years, decades, the Philippines has been falling victim to these kind of people. It’s a pity to watch a country which promises a lot of potential to stagnate rather than to develop.
That’s why I have lost faith on the present.
In Egypt, Mubarak was tried publicly despite of his health condition. In Libya, Qadhafi was killed. The officials were held accountable of what they did and the people make sure that justice will be served.
In the Philippines, the former President who has committed cases of graft and corruption is now a congresswoman and escapes charges that are being filed against her and the people can’t do anything but pressure the government, which seems to be under her clutches, to do the right thing.
That’s why I have lost faith on the system.
I have always thought that the situations will change. I have always believed that someday a philosopher king or leader would bring our country back to its former glory: glory which at some point we have experienced in the past, glory which stimulated the potentials of our country but as years pass, I began to doubt this. An average youth losing faith because of what the current leaders are doing… and it pains me to admit the truth that at some point the youth right now, yes the youth which are the future of the country, are falling into passiveness… they have stopped caring all because of these offenders whose crimes are paraded in public yet are still unpunished because of the power they hold. The greatest shame a youth could witness is a failing justice system because of corruption because it takes all hopes away and when that hope is gone, no one will aim for change.
What troubles me is the threat of the youth of today following on the footsteps of corrupt officials. With the existence of the Sangguniang Kabataan where young leaders are being educated on graft and corruption and if that young man or lady does not know better, he or she will probably end up being dishonest.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream of equality and freedom. ABBA had a dream of a song to sing. Well, I have dreams for my country; dreams which could not be taken away from me even by the rampant graft and corruption cases that plague our country. I have a dream of not hearing any insults directed to my country men. I have a dream of living in a country which lives up to its potentials. I have a dream of a justice system not being monopolized by powerful wrong doers. I have a dream of having a leader to look up to and would lead this country into progress. I have a dream that maybe I would be the one to fulfill these dreams. I have these dreams and I’ll continue dreaming until these dreams turn into reality.
I have these dreams. And that’s why I have to recover my lost faiths.
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The topic was about Government Officials in the Philippines(not sure). My piece for the elimination round-Nov. 28, 2011.
--D.B.R.S
