Double standard makes life doubly harder

From the start, one of our biggest character flaws is the practice of the double standard. No matter how you look at it, we’re all guilty of this somewhere along the line. Sociologists speculate that we got our split personality from hundreds of years of dealing with colonial masters. Not being confrontational, our ancestors displayed subservience in front of Spanish authority and committed irreverent acts behind their backs. This must have been hardwired into our social nervous system to help us survive. But today, the practice has not helped us thrive and prosper. Perhaps, this is the reason why many Filipinos lead a double life.

Somehow, when Filipinos live abroad, particularly in the United States, the system allows them to thrive. A perfect example is the recent appointment of UP graduate Cristeta Comerford as the first female minority White House Executive Chef. In contrast to home, Filipinos excel and do well abroad. Perhaps it is because of the more stringent single standard environment.

The double standard has been with us for a long time. When Spanish friars were preaching morality and damnation – as many of us discovered later – they were raising families on the side. A lot of Filipino families have descended from Spanish friars. Up to this day, priests still have the tendency to moralize and propagate as in the recent case of Monsignor Eugene Clark’s resignation from St. Patrick’s Cathedral because of his affair with his 46-year-old private secretary. As a result, "Do as I say, but don’t do what I do" became the operative statement for many Filipinos, especially among the so-called high and the mighty. "Look but don’t touch! Touch but don’t taste! Taste but don’t swallow!" the authorities bellowed like the Al Pacino character in "The Devil’s Advocate". No wonder we’re a bundle of contradictions!

And there is the prevalent "I-am-the-exception-to-the-rule" mentality. We all know anyway that two sets of laws are applied to the rich and the poor. Ideally, government’s role is to set an even playing field by making rules consistent and applying laws equally. That is why it is so disgusting to see people pontificate on good governance and transparency while they themselves are involved in fraudulent activities. I won’t even mention their names because we all know who they are. Another example is the recent rule banning blinkers and sirens. We still see exceptions to this rule lording it over our streets without fear of apprehension. When government officials are seen breaking a rule, we shouldn’t expect the ordinary person to do so either. Another instance of a double standard system that ultimately led to the failure of Martial Law was when a friend of mine learned that somebody with strong military connections received a permit to travel in spite of the total travel ban. Because of that, as early as 1973, he predicted Martial Law was going to fail in spite of the general atmosphere of new hope and discipline.

In our desire to see the impeachment run its course and learn the truth, everyone is now crying for the rule of law to prevail. But in the case of the impeachment proceedings, we can see the double standard at play once again. With the first two congressional hearings, the impeachment just might not proceed perhaps because of a technicality. Unfortunately for the Opposition, Atty. Oliver Lozano’s complaint, which was purely based on newspaper reports, was immediately responded to by GMA lawyer Atty. Pedro Ferrer. According to one of our corporate lawyers, Atty. Ferrer adroitly used a technicality of the system to block the opposition’s plan to file an amended and stronger impeachment complaint against GMA.

As expected, the Opposition is crying bloody murder. Nevertheless, the burden of proof lies with the accuser. Technicalities are part of the system and everyone has the right to use the rules to their advantage or to bungle them. If we’re going to follow the rule of law that’s just the way it is. The reality is what is legal may not necessarily be always right. Even in the United States, people like Michael Jackson who allegedly got away with being a pedophile and O.J. Simpson who many people believe literally got away with murder have exploited the rule of law and its technicalities despite the overwhelming evidence. Worse, public perception was against them. As the English writer Jonathan Swift put it, "Laws are like cobwebs, they catch small flies but lets wasps and hornets break through."

We are where we are now because we have allowed the double standard and politics to distort the rule of law. It’s either we follow the rule of law or the rule of politics. In political warfare, there are no rules. While under the rule of law, the one with the best arguments and tactics wins. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which side you’re on, the impeachment is allowing GMA to use both the rule of law and the rule of politics to her advantage. But whichever way it goes, ultimately, it is the economy that will decide her fate – and by the way including ours.

Like Nero fiddling while Rome was burning, we’re spending an inordinate amount of time on this political crisis when the real crisis is the energy problem. Our lack of single-mindedness is aggravated by our short-sightedness. With the country importing 99.5 percent of its fuel every year, energy conservation is only a short-term palliative. We can only tighten our belt so much because the hook is already in the last hole. Just think, if we did away with the legislative branch and their high-maintenance "in aid of legislation" hearings, we would have saved P21 billion in the last five years which could have been better spent on developing renewable alternative sources of energy abounding all over the country. Energy can be generated from wind and gas but certainly not from the many arrogant braggarts that abound in the country.

When oil prices reach $100 per barrel, we’re going to have a global economic meltdown with consequences we dare not imagine. Once it reaches that point, we don’t have to worry about the rule of law because as they say, hunger knows no laws. Even if there is nothing certain in law but the expense, at the end of the day, the only guiding light is the strict adherence to the law. After centuries of practicing the double standard, it is high time laws are evenly applied. If we persist in maintaining the double standard, we can be certain it will be doubly harder to get out of the mess we’re in today.

* * *

E-mail: [email protected]