Going for the Jugular ... continued

Must we act only after somebody gives us permission or tells us to, otherwise it's dyahe? It's not enough that we have a functioning society. We need to catch up with the rest of the world that is fast hurtling forward, and only by being self-starters and go-getters can we ever do so.

What to do?

With dyahe gone, we are ready to speak up. If we don't, others will speak for us! Yet if we only talk among ourselves, it is just being incestuous and quite limited. But thanks to the Internet and advances in communication technology, we can leapfrog because our voices become more resounding and far-reaching, hastening change much faster and more effectively.

We also need to talk to Gabby Lopez, Lisa Gokongwei (and other) esteemed media magnates, about participating. (I really should have done this a long time ago. I promise I will get to it.) They have the power in their hands (vested in them by us) to reach and change the enslaved mentality of EVERY Pinoy in the country. We entrusted them with the airwaves and the presses not just to entertain us with more than enough local and foreign trash, but to serve as a true vehicle for the public good with programs, movies and publications that are patriotic, socially redeeming and most encouraging of the traits and the discipline that we need to move forward.

Oh yes, the movie industry, the other broadband pipeline to the masa. Can't we get our subliminal messages into every film it makes? The CIA, the US State Department and Tobacco Institute do it all the time with Hollywood. And what about the Church? I don't go to church so I don't know what they say or do there regarding the more immediate and temporal concerns of life here on earth. But from what I see and don't see in our society (other than toppling governments), there's still much to be desired from this perhaps most powerful institution -- like family planning, if they truly love the poor, that is.

Oh, yes, the schools. I don't know about the public schools, but when I was in Ateneo our obligatory Bayan Magiliw was karaoke before there was karaoke. The Irish-American Jesuits mostly from the Bronx (of all places) every morning at assembly rushed us to listen to our very patriotic and most beautiful of all national anthems WITHOUT the words! They sure did a job on us. That is partly why we are what we are and where we are. Well, at least I know the tune.

We never read any Rizal but we were certainly well versed in Shakespeare, and were so proud of it! Little brown Americans we were. Now, little brown Republicans even! Heck, the Japanese, the Chinese and the Koreans read no Shakespeare and are doing just fine, thank you. I wonder if the Pinoy Jesuits are still perpetuating the mental slavery our generation went through. Really, how can we even begin to talk about progress for our beloved Philippines if in schools and at home we are never taught to become patriots, to LOVE our own country, our own language, our own people?

The task is enormous, but not insurmountable. Every great nation has gone through similar phases, many of them many times over! As you can see it really boils down to software, i.e., the reprogramming of the Pinoy mind, reinventing of ourselves from the current easy service economy as a nation of maids, nurses, caregivers, entertainers and order takers -- unarguably all heroes -- to Pinoy Version 2.0, a race of hard-nosed, independent-minded storekeepers, shopkeepers, traders, craftsmen, artists, artisans, bankers, engineers, writers, scientists, musicians, doctors, educators, actors, professional public servants, agriculturists, manufacturers, etc. etc. par excellence!

And this Renaissance, this Reconquista of mind, attitude, and spirit gone soft and astray, which I call the Reinvention of the Pinoy, is doable because we do have a telecommunication and media infrastructure that is greatly improved and moving forward, and our social institutions, albeit crumbling, are still in place and make a good conduit. Most importantly, we still have millions of enlightened Pinoy patriots, though quiet at the moment, ARE for Pinoys realizing this.

When you think about it, there's really not a whole lot to inculcate. Twenty one hundred years ago the liberal Hillel was asked, 'Rabbi, while standing on one foot, what is the essence of your religion?' He replied, 'What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow man: this is the whole Law; the rest is mere commentary.' Confucius said basically the same thing three hundred years earlier. And, of course, much later Jesus phrased it positively with, 'Do unto others as you would others do unto to you.' Even more recently, and while not of the same stature, Robert Fulghum wrote his equally sensible 'All You Need to Know You Learned in Kindergarten.' In short, civics, duty, discipline and excellence are the simple basic stuff -- nothing fancy -- that make a nation prosperous.

Pray!

I have nothing against praying which the good Jesuits et al are wont to advise, i.e. pray for this, pray for that. Pray for the country's salvation as Fr. Reuter and lately Cory exhort us! E, pero abuso na 'yan, katamaran at selfishness at ginugulo laang natin ang Diyos! Kung sana Ateneo-LaSalle basketball championship! E, ibang usapan na 'yan! Pati ako magno-novena, not mañana, but right now!

As Juvenal said, and I agree with him, the only thing we should pray for is a sound mind in a healthy body. For everything else we should roll up our sleeves and take care of ourselves from the sweat of our brow and not rely on God, our leaders or anybody else! Blessings of health and intelligence, dogged hard work and tenacity on our part individually and collectively are all we need to have a great nation.

Furthermore, we must change this naive faith that there's a lone savior in a white shining armor to rescue us from our socio-political-economic mess. The sad truth is that many of us are still like the two characters in that famous play of the theater of the absurd, Waiting for Godot. Like them we put too much emphasis on a messiah to cleanse our sins and lead us out of this wilderness to the Promised Land.

And all the while we are all polarized and paralyzed as we forever wait for him or her to come and save us, instead of acknowledging our individual and collective guilt and redeeming ourselves by re-inventing, changing and bettering ourselves, by helping each other right now, ahora mismo and pronto with the bootstraps we already have.

It is us alone who can help ourselves. We don't need any expensive imported hardware or software with all those hifalutin' unnecessary bells and whistles. Worse yet, many of them contain Trojan viruses! We simply need to change our mindset and our worldview!

Like the Jews with their eternal touchstone question, 'Is it good for the Jews?' we should be asking and requiring an affirmative answer to the one paramount question, 'Is it good for the Pinoys?' before moving forward on any issue of national and international importance and the hell with what other countries may think.

“Finally, writing mere commentaries is a far cry from doing. Can we bridge the gap and deliver? With constant education from the media and all the institutions, it will take at least a generation to see results. But by the way, Hillel also said, "If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? [But] if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?"

Here are the email exchanges among Gus, Sylvia L. Mayuga of INQ7.net and Louie Fernandez (author/guest columnist for Sylvia):

Gaspar Tutanes wrote:
Dear Ms Mayuga,

i like this piece and i wonder if only the critical mass of our population or at least most of our leaders in govt. service have this kind of mentality then our country could have been a lot better than what we are now.

would it be possible to post this kind of article or similar articles that could have a positive impact into our citizen's psyche in our community website - www.viganon-online.blogsite.com?

thank you and just want you to know that i don't miss your column.

warmest regards,

Gaspar Tutanes
-------------------------

From: Sylvia Mayuga
To: Gaspar Tutanes
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 02:46:11 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Going for the Jugular

Dear Mr.Tutanes,

Thank you for your kind words. As to the permission to reprint, if it were up to me alone, I wouldn't
hesitate to say 'yes.' But you'll notice that the author is not I, but Mr.Fernandez. His e-mail address
is in the CC box. Please do correspond with him directly. He's well worth knowing.

:) Sylvia
-------------------------

From: Gaspar Tutanes
To: lfern945@optonline.net
Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2006 8:13 AM
Subject: Going for the Jugular


Dear Mr. Fernandez,

I read & like your subject article which appear in the column of Ms. Mayuga in the Inq7.

Can i possibly post it in our community blogsite.

Thanks & regards,

Gaspar Tutanes

--------------------------

From: Louie Fernandez
To: Gaspar Tutanes
Date: Sun, 08 Jan 2006 21:54:02 -0500
Subject: Re: Going for the Jugular

Dear Mr. Tutanes,

By all means, please do. And thank you.

Louie