A brilliant day dawns

MANILA, Philippines - What does Jose Rizal stand for? Is he merely a sober face inscribed on a Philippine peso coin? Is he just the name of a popular stadium in Metro Manila, or a park where big rallies are held, or simply an institution of learning named after him? 

What would a grader in elementary recall about him when he hears the mention of his name? How about an ambulant vendor or the lowly street sweeper? Does his name ring a bell for them?

I intently watched the video “Kaninong Anino” and mixed emotions gripped my heart.

First, the countenance of Jose Rizal awakened in me a deep sense of nationalism, and in a flash, I saw myself transported a hundred years back, then in my ears reverberated the gun shots that ended the life of a man whose birth the nation remembers this week.

I shuddered.

As we commemorate the 151st birthday of our national hero, I want to play up his traits that every Filipino child should emulate. First of all is his insatiable thirst for knowledge, which made him the Filipino genius of all time.

He was a well traveled man; he spoke 22 languages and wrote voluminous literature, unparalleled by any of his contemporaries.

As he became more educated, all the more did he consider how he would emancipate his countrymen from oppression. Such was his altruism, to the point of laying down his very life for the sake of his country.

He too, was an affectionate son to his parents, as well as an endearing brother to his siblings. He was motivated to become an ophthalmologist, chiefly because he wanted to save his mother’s eyesight. I recall being teary-eyed, even as an elementary grader, while reading the poignant letters he wrote to his mother, brother and sisters.

Jose Rizal, without doubt, is truly the epitome of all the worthwhile traits and characteristics that a Filipino should be proud of.

While meditating on the lyrics of “Kaninong Anino,” I was confused by the blatant truth screaming at me.

A century and a half has passed, and yet poverty continues to lurk in most corners of the country. We were indeed liberated from Spanish tyranny, but sadly most of our countrymen are still under the shackles of material want.

A century and a half, and yet the Philippines still remains a Third World country in the midst of the economic affluence of our Asian neighbors.

Back then, Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere tackled the social injustices committed by the Spaniards against our people, which he referred to as the “social cancer” plaguing our nation.

I believe that Rizal would squirm in his grave upon discovering that a more vicious cancer has stricken this generation, with some abusive Filipinos in the realm of government lording over their own countrymen. That would be a more excruciating feeling for him, seeing his brethren suffering under the hands of their own blood brothers.

I am then convinced that if Jose Rizal was given a second chance to live, he would employ his writing prowess to wage war against corrupt government officials who use their authority for self-aggrandizement. How my heart bled, as I was once watching television, I saw bare-footed school children whose faces would light up with joy upon receiving pairs of slippers as dole-outs from a charitable institution.

Have you witnessed too, on television how some of our countrymen would commercialize their kidneys for a few pesos? I’m sure that you have also heard of young Filipinas becoming sex slaves to foreigners because of dire financial want. Crimes are committed not because we are a blood-thirsty nation but because for some of our countrymen, they simply need to exist, notwithstanding thefts, robberies, kidnapping and other forms of brutality committed.

I could keep on enumerating evidence of social injustices against our poor, and I am sure that you would keep on nodding your head in affirmation. This is one of the very causes that Jose Rizal gave up his life for, rebelling inwardly against abusive practices committed against his countrymen. If he were alive today, he would not tolerate inept and incompetent government officials who often forget that a public office is a public trust.  With the power of the pen, he would have raised hell against all of them.

Good governance should be foremost in the vocabulary of our leaders. I wanted to know more about good governance, and from my readings I learned that there is no single and exhaustive definition of “good governance,” nor is there a delineation of its scope, that commands universal acceptance. The term is used with great flexibility; but is also a source of some difficulty at the operational level.

Depending on the context and the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said at various times to encompass: full respect of human rights, the rule of law, effective participation, multi-sector partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to knowledge, information and education, political empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes and values that foster responsibility, solidarity and tolerance.

It may sound quite a tall order for aspiring leaders, but if one is indeed committed to serve his country to the fullest, how can he escape from good governance?

At this point I remember with fondness, yet with grief, the untimely demise of the very honorable DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, who embodied the essence of good governance, and I ardently hope that every government official was able to grasp the message.

It is heart-warming to note that a Filipino such as he, who embodies the qualities of true servant leadership, existed. May his death give birth to more leaders of his kind.

I want to believe with all optimism that we are birthing a new breed of Filipinos: incorrigible, honest, untainted and truly dignified. The battle cry of President Aquino, pledging that he would lead the Filipino people on a straight path, rekindled our faith and trust in the government.

Surely, transformation cannot happen overnight because if it were so, it would just be a mere scratching of the surface. For genuine transformation must be deeply ingrained such that it becomes part and parcel of our culture, until it is the very air that we breathe.

Real transformation entails a dying to self and it involves daily doing so, until everything we do is in the name of service for God and country.

Our acts of heroism need not be enormous and gigantic; in fact, I was immensely touched with the news of a janitor at NAIA who was not dazzled by the lure of a bag filled with hundred dollars and pieces of jewelry that he found, but made sure that they were returned to the owner.

He was visited by the media and lo and behold, they discovered that his family lives in a shanty in Bulacan, as he supported them with his very meager income.

How many more like this man would open our eyes to the truth that we can live in dignity in spite of our circumstances? To him I doff my hat; may your tribe increase.

The video “Kaninong Anino” repeatedly asks, “Whose shadow is the enemy?” It is while writing this essay that I was able to pinpoint and identify who the adversary is. With the countenance of Jose Rizal never slipping from my mind, I believe that I was able to squarely pin this adversary down.

I am sure that you are interested to know who he is. Could he be the crooked politician enriching himself at the expense of his constituents? Is he the man in uniform never flinching even as he takes a bribe? Or some unscrupulous men in robes setting free the guilty in exchange for gold?

Definitely, he is not any of them. Who should we wage war against?

Let’s wage a battle against ourselves.  It is true that iron must be bent while it is hot; it is then, while we are still teachable and trainable, while we are still youthful that we must begin to become men and women of dignity.

Let’s not allow our immoral surroundings to contaminate us; instead let’s rise above them until not even a tiny shadow of indecency sprouts in our midst.

A brilliant day dawns. Let us welcome it.

The author is a student at a the Cataggaman National High School in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Valley. His essay won first prize in the PreMYo Rizal 2012 essay contest sponsored by MyRizal (www.myrizal150.com), an NGO which seeks to deepen Filipinos’ knowledge and appreciation of Rizal.