The FREEMAN's editorial last Friday, 21 November 2008 entitled "Basket Case", again preaches the oft heard "change of attitude" as a remedy to the country's continuous plunge to hopelessness. It is beautiful to listen to and subliminally cloak the one who preaches such a solution with an aura of righteousness. But truth be told, it is really just another case of reductionism by people who are lucky enough to have a better education than most (which is not easy to come by in a "basket case" republic like the Philippines) and therefore can certainly do a lot better.
The proposition can be dismissed as baseless and ridiculous, unless one opts to ascribe malicious motives to the proposal, such as deflecting a people's attention away from the real problem. Neither the editorial, nor my humble research offer any evidence of previous success. On the contrary, history is replete with all sorts of attempts by messianic leaders, from the Catholic Church's Spanish Inquisition, to Hitler's "Final Solution" to the Taliban in Afghanistan, to impose their vision of a "better society" by force, ignoring human diversity. And failing.
On the other hand, the superiority, and more importantly, the doability, of the idea of ensuring a functional system is easily observed inside malls. The same group of people who would, outside the malls, flick away a cigarette butt, or throw garbage anywhere, or relieve themselves at the most convenient corner are all of a sudden converted.
The proposal for the establishment of a federal system aims to dismantle the central control of the nation's resources, encourage diverse development of resources, and allows greater participation in nation-building.
The Filipinos are no different from the other cultures and races. We are just too unfortunate to have been cowed by centralized rule, designed by previous colonial masters for more convenient control. We are regularly anesthesized so that we accept this condition as our fate, thus, limiting our imagination, ignoring our own capabilities, and prohibiting action.
The status quo is rendered hallowed and inviolate.
At least you have a "basket" to nestle in.
Alex Bolongaita
Cebu Federal Movement, Inc.