Cuckoo clans

The tragic alleged fratricide of 23-year-old Ramgen Revilla, in the hands of younger siblings Ramona, 22 and Ramon Joseph 18 , educe layers of Whys. The primary question of motive has been answered and refuted as a fight about cars and the P290k-a-month allowance among nine children with Genalyn Magsaysay. A nagging inquiry is why women like her marry men old enough to be their grandfather in the first place?

Reading some of Genalyn’s posts can make your hair stand. She calls herself a simple God-fearing-Christian who is both mother and father to a brood that she describes as “Church kids”. But some ex-classmates of Ram Revilla disclosed why he was kicked out from school. He allegedly threatened a teacher with a gun, and beat-up a classmate who trounced him at an online game. Ramona skipped the country purportedly to join her husband in Turkey who declared, “We are untouchable here.” Ramon Joseph supposedly sold the family pick-up to buy himself a new car, igniting the family feud. So far, it is hard to see the Christian values. Is there a need for a reality check and possibly some therapy?

One tough question to answer is why he who sired 72 children from 16 women, is shocked and heartbroken that some of them turned out blighted? There is no charm that converts prolifically-propagated children into upstanding and productive citizens. The tale of the Revilla clan has been likened to a Shakespearean telenovela, with so many scandals involving offspring from different mothers. Before this last heartbreak, domestic helpers accused Senator Bong’s sister, Princess, of physical abuse. Rumors that his brother Strike is a druglord refuse to go away. But by far, this is the biggest blow that hopefully serves as a wake-up call. 

The Revillas are not the only clan in the same leaky boat. The Quizons are more contained counting just 18 scions fathered by the King of Comedy from six women. But nobody thought it was funny when one of them burned down the home of a showbiz mogul, setting ablaze the wife and children. Another son was in drug rehab, a younger one was involved in an accident that got his girlfriend killed. Recently, a grandson was charged with attempted murder.

But the top cuckoo clan award goes to the Ampatuans. Their pathology is best described as “the family that kills together, stays together [hopefully in jail]”. November 23 is the 2nd anniversary of the massacre of 57 victims, including 30 journalists. All were killed by M16 bullets, with 21 females bearing presumptive evidence for sexual abused. Twenty-two were found sprawled on the ground while thirty- five were dumped in three shallow graves. Some of the victims were shot in the genital area, others were mutilated, many were shot in the face making them unrecognizable. Used for digging and dumping the bodies, a yellow backhoe bears black letters stamped on its engine casing, “Property of the province of Maguindanao—Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr.” 

The Maguindanao Governor has four wives and over 30 children. He is the family patriarch and namesake of the prime suspect, Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay who was reportedly present at the site of the abduction. The senior Andal was legendary in his brutality. The chainsaw was allegedly his favorite weapon for anyone who caught his ire, decapitating and cutting-off parts of offenders that displeased him. Evidently this cruel streak was passed on to his progeny.

The 1987 Constitution attempted to disband private armies. But in 2006, emboldened by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s EO 546 which allowed local officials to deputize barangay tanods as “force multipliers” to fight insurgency, Ampatuan’s formidable clout grew stronger—as did their impudence.

It is hard enough to raise good children with a complete set of parents. But without the a watchful mother and father, what are the odds that mass-produced kids will ever reach their full potential? Patriarchs who use their descendants like trophies that attest to their manhood better rethink their legacy while they still can. While they live there could be a truce that suspends hostilities. But the moment they die, it’s a free-for-all among the spawns. Generous stipends and luxury toys do not make them Father of the Year. Nothing makes up for the missing guidance that parenting requires. The open-hand is a poor substitute for a firm hand.

Children who grow up untended like mushrooms are likely to repeat the cycle of broken and dysfunctional family life. They know no other model, unable to break the pattern— becoming fathers at an immature age, impregnating young girls equally unprepared for motherhood, losing count of wild oats sown—babies having babies.

The nature-versus-nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The discussion centers on how much genetic inheritance as against environmental factors contribute to human development. Plato and Descartes believe that certain factors are inborn. Thinkers like John Locke deem that all that we are is determined by experience. So if Andal Jr. did mastermind the slaughter of 57 victims, did he do so because he was genetically predisposed to sadism or was it caused by the augmented reality of his environs?

Most experts believe that behavior and development are influenced by both nature and nurture. In that case, the children of the lie are severely handicapped on both sides. In this bestseller The Road Less Travelled psychiatrist Scott Peck prescribed discipline as the means for spiritual evoution as well as emotional, spiritual and psychological health. He described the four aspects of discipline as: 1) Delayed gratification, sacrificing present comfort for future gain; 2) Acceptance of responsibility for one’s own decisions; 3) Dedication to truth, honesty in word and deed; and 4) Balancing, prioritizing different conflicting requirements.

Discipline is the titanic challenge of parents, impossible to achieve while missing-in-action. It is pure lunacy to multiply through dangerous liasons. Indiscriminate breeders should consider vasectomy. The cuckoo clan maybe the best argument for a coherent population policy.

* * *

E-mail: [email protected]