Politics is a vital sign

Anyone who bases his appreciation of the Philippines solely on what he reads in the news, he probably would come to the conclusion the country is dead or dying. Or at least that it is going to the dogs. That it is a basket case. And who can blame him? I do not have to enumerate the negatives. As I said, just read the news.

Still it has to be asked, as a matter of perspective and balance: Is the Philippines really dead? Is it dying? I do not think so. Let me be more emphatic. I am pretty certain it is not! And if you are looking for a vital sign as a reassurance, there is a means to look for that one piece of evidence to prove the Philippines, the Filipino, is alive and kicking.

Just talk politics. That's right. Politics. The one thing Filipinos eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and still never seem to get enough of. In this paper alone, an esteemed colleague was already talking about the 2028 presidential elections. That is correct. And to think the sitting president is not even a year into his six-year term.

You think the Philippines is dead or dying? Ha! You should have seen the reaction to that 2028 presidential election floater. People loved it. Everybody snapped it up. Now everyone is playing political analyst, a seer into the political fortunes of any politico of note who has the remotest chance of entertaining presidential thoughts.

Normally I would be aghast at such attempts to divine a future beyond the next payday cycle. This is, after all, the Philippines where everything is so volatile and unpredictable that the smuggled onion in your pantry today may not be the onion from the same smuggler tomorrow. On the other hand, this is still the Philippines. Everything is still very predictable.

So talk politics. Drop a word, an idea, a wishful thought that has the slightest hint of politics in it, and if an ear perks up, a heartbeat jumps a beat, a twinkle plays the eye, then for the love of God the Philippines is not lost. The Filipino will get by. By his political passion will the national health of the Filipino be assessed. And the prognosis looks very good.

I have often wondered what is in politics that stirs the Filipino soul so. Not being a psychologist, a social scientist, philosopher, theologian or professional of any applicable discipline, I can only hazard a guess. And I guess it is that the Filipino craves for leadership. So much so that if he cannot get it for himself, he desires it, consciously or not, for others.

Leadership is the one thing that has been denied the Filipino even before Spain "discovered” us. We had no organized civilization to speak of. We were a disjointed island aggrupation of tribal hierarchies that did not offer much leadership opportunities beyond who hunts and gathers the most. After Spain came a long unbroken string of foreign domination.

And so we play this charade about leadership for ourselves and our kind, a charade that only politics can offer so consistently, conveniently and so convincingly. It is as if we are truly electing leaders, until they are told to sit, be still, or stand and say something. By someone or something just beyond the shore, beyond the horizon, where charade meets reality.