Being true
Last weekend, being Mother’s Day and an election weekend, I had some much-valued free time. I slept longer than usual. I ended up turning on the TV set. I haven’t done that in literally months. I was surprised to see that American Idol was already down to the final three! There was a surprise upset when Angie Miller was booted out. It seems the American public took to the genuineness of Kree. In her visit to her hometown, she went to the house she grew up in, looked at the bedroom she had as a kid, reminisced and shed some tears. Her parents have since passed away. There was something very real and touching about the experience. Despite the fact that her opponent has the better voice, the public voted for Kree to stay on.
Over the weekend, the discussion with my kids was on basketball. It’s the NBA playoffs — and that’s almost like a “religion†to my younger son. It is super-difficult to get him out of bed. But he will wake up at 3:30 a.m. to watch the playoffs. His favored team is the Golden State Warriors. So is mine. Both my sons are very knowledgeable about basketball. This weekend I found out about Hakeem Olajuwon — this amazing Nigerian who in one season won Best Defensive Player, MVP and Finals AVP. When I watched the videos of him on the court, I found it quite spectacular. Especially his “dream shake†where, through, a series of moves he totally confuses his defense. But what impressed me was his genuineness. I heard him talk when he was elevated to the Hall of Fame and there was something very real about him. When I look at the basketball players I have a soft spot for, it’s something real in their persona that touches me.
Genuineness. This is so important. I look at the electoral returns. Grace Poe is number one. I have never met her personally but my distinct feel about her is genuineness. It’s being true and being able to project that essence to the public that seems to be key in political life. Erap, for whatever his failings may be, is very real. People feel him — and he has been able to project that to the public. I talked to a friend whose father was the classmate of Erap in Ateneo. He said even in Ateneo Erap liked to stand up for the “weaker†guy. He didn’t like bullies. In fact he was kicked out of Ateneo because he fought a “foreigner†who was bullying others. That compassion and feeling for the “other†is past of his persona and people feel it. This is why people forgive him his “failings†and politically he continues to be strong. I find Barack and Michelle Obama very genuine. I love Oprah and Ellen Degeneres. They are so real and the public responds in equal measure to them.
Genuine means what you see is what you get. Genuine means not plastic. To be genuine one must be unafraid to feel what is there. If you close your heart to yourself — where even you are not true to your own self — how can you be true to others?
Another quality that is linked up with genuineness is compassion. You can’t be genuine and real if you don’t care, if your heart is closed. In the Philippine scenario these qualities are especially important because of the flavor of the Philippine psyche. We are a very heart-oriented people.
We have a new set of leaders. I am happy about some and not happy about others. In fact I worry about certain areas where the elected clearly has vested interests that run contrary to the common good.
Democracy only works when it is what is genuine and true that prevails. Democracy works only when the elected have the interests of the common good at heart. When money comes into the picture, it’s a travesty of democracy because truth is not the deciding factor. It is matter. That is very sad.
During Election Day, I voted for the individuals I found most genuine, most true. Six of the people I voted for did not make it. It is a shame because they are very good people.
We Filipinos have a sense of the genuine. I look forward to the day when this sense of the genuine and true can be the deciding factor in Philippine politics.
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I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.
