The Japanese culture is a silent but proud culture. They are a formal and disciplined people compared with Americans and Filipinos. America is a welcoming and open nation (prior to 9/11), Japan is more restrictive, while the Philippines seems not know which way to go.
In many Japanese towns and cities, they do not have those istambays, the lazy habit of congregating in front of a store or house and gossiping. The Japanese people are more industrious. They are like ants while Filipinos are like butterflies; they love to work, while Filipinos prefer to talk and have fun. This national trait explains that despite the Herculean tasks the Japanese had to overcome after World War II, their country has dramatically recovered while we are still at a lost on how to solve our problems.
The two main factors that determine the progress of a nation are its land and its people. Although the Philippines possesses a lot of natural resources and fertile land, our people are indolent, as observed by Jose P. Rizal over hundred years ago. They are not disciplined and united to work collectively for nation building. As many provinces or islands are independent from each other, our people also exhibit selfish regional tendencies.
The making of a great nation has not been the top mission or vision of many of our past Filipino leaders. It started when the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth, Manuel L. Quezon, said something like, "I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos than one run like heaven by Americans."
Although many presidents after MLQ tried to make the Philippines great again, they failed because of lack of a sustained vision. Energies were instead invested towards the perpetuation of their political dynasties and increasing their family’s wealth. Most wealthy families in the Philippines, unlike in America, often go into politics to protect their economic or business interests. Political campaigns and vote buying are capital expenditures that can yield hefty dividends once the candidate is elected into office. Politicians become filthy rich once they are in office but what really adds insult to injury is that they are even idolized by the masa. Where is the moral outrage over "instant wealth"?
The Philippine political system is embarrassingly flawed and it has become a vicious cycle. In America or Japan, politicians are not expected to become wealthy. Many multi-millionaires in the private sector almost always make less money when they enter government service, which seems to be the exact opposite in Philippine public offices.
People who have no vision shall perish, the Bible says. I believe that in the last 30 or 50 years, the Philippines never had a real visionary and selfless leaders in the caliber of Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Golda Meir, Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher or even John F. Kennedy. These leaders were not only visionary, charismatic but also decisive in many of their bold decisions. Strong leaders make the unpopular decisions, weak leaders make their decisions based on "social weather" surveys.
Leaders are supposed to be like eagles, they don’t go where the turkeys are but they soar high in the heavens and often think and suffer solitude during their serious reflections.
Philippine presidents from Cory Aquino to Fidel Ramos to Joseph Estrada and now Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have become presidents by sheer accidents of history and were never tested in the mantle of leadership like Eisenhower. Compared to many great leaders of the world, many Philippine presidents just turned on the cruise control and whiled away their term of office, managing bureaucrats but not really leading the Filipino people to their full potential. Poor leaders, poor followers. We can never have a strong republic with weak leaders. We will always harvest what we sow. That’s the simple law of the farm.
The Overseas Filipinos particularly those in North America and in the Middle East are getting frustrated with the current Congress not passing the Absentee Voting Bill this year to be on time for the 2004 presidential election.
Although this right of suffrage was already allowed in the Philippine Constitution, Congress for over l5 years has been procrastinating in approving and providing the mechanism to allow millions of Filipinos working overseas to vote.
They call our overseas workers "Modern Day Heroes and Heroines" yet they are taken for granted. Politicians, it seems, just want them to be the milking cows of a bankrupt government.
What can overseas Filipinos do to demand their constitutional right to vote? They can warn their congressmen and senators that they will never be forgotten for their opposition to the AV Bill. Overseas Filipinos must influence their own relatives and family living in the Philippines to vote wisely, that they must never allow their votes to be bought.
It is also imperative for OFs to put some money where their mouths are by contributing to finance and hire an effective lobbying firm to shout their concerns. Anywhere in the world, money talks and without money allotted to advertising and lobbying, the cries and laments of the OFs will never be heard more than a few yards away.
Also, consumer power can be harnessed to influence government policies and strategies. They can use e-mails and texting to communicate their frustrations. It can be done with the help of experienced coordinators that can be hired with money contributed by overseas Filipinos. Money can provide the missing link. OFs, for instance, can contribute $50 each to influence and help chart a new political landscape of the Philippines.
Finally, let it never let it be said that the Overseas Filipinos in 2002 belong to NATO (No Action Talk Only) Club! It will be a shame that we overseas Filipinos would lose by default.