A lament for a president

That some of us were laughing our hearts out over the death of a former president who served the country to the best of his ability and even went on with more jokes days after he died, says a lot about where we are now. Oh, how we’ve lost it — the decency, the respect for people, and the highest respect for the highest position of the land. What a nation we have become in less than six years.

The passing of former president Benigno Aquino III should remind us of what we’ve lost.

Today, threats to the most ordinary Filipinos — from taking away their lives to being sent to jail — are an everyday fare, in stark contrast to when PNoy regarded us as his Boss.

Today, we are forced to endure so much disrespect and indecency. “Just jokes,” they say.

Oh, how our nation’s morals have spiraled down unbelievably low and how some people in government have become so godlike and addicted to power.

We know that in our heart of hearts, this isn’t how we should be because it goes against the very basic values instilled in us individually and as a nation. Our forefathers — the freedom fighters before us — must be rolling in their graves.

Today, we can barely speak out against wrongdoings. We quietly rant in our chat groups because those who do so in public would get calls from the echelons of power or find themselves attacked by trolls orchestrated by well-paid masters, some of whom, ironically, are so onion-skinned when put on the spotlight.

Today, analysts and economists are walking on eggshells, afraid to speak the truth because “someone up there” might get angry.

Journalists who covered the former president also attest to how freely they could ask him questions. “Absurd, offensive, lovelife questions — all welcome,” says Reportr’s Joel Guinto who covered PNoy for Bloomberg at the time.

This is not what is happening today. Those who still cannot see this reality must be so deeply, madly in love with President Duterte or are benefitting from the prevailing system.

For sure, PNoy had his share of wrong judgement calls. His presidency might have even pushed some people to long for a leadership change, fed up with Daang Matuwid, deemed by some to be unfit for a nation that was impossibly crooked, and because some of his men, Cabinet secretaries included, were deplorable and rumored to be corrupt.

Some of his late mother’s policies were likewise criticized. The baggage of being a member of the Aquino and Cojuangco clans also weighed heavily; some, in accusing tones, would say PNoy came from privilege, but whatever privilege that was, he used it for others, not for himself. He lived and died in the family home in Times street and not in some sprawling mansion.

At the end of the day, PNoy’s legacy proved to be far bigger than his administration’s follies. His biggest legacy, to me, was standing up against China and fighting for our sovereignty because “it was the right thing to do.”

A chain smoker, he also signed the landmark Sin Tax Law, bravely going against the Big Tobacco billionaires in the country, who for decades always got away with very low taxes.

He also went against the powerful Catholic Church when he signed the Reproductive Health Act which granted access to contraceptives.

The “No Wang-wang” policy was so simple, yet spoke volumes about his kind of governance, the kind that did not abuse one’s position of power.

While covering the economy during PNoy’s term, I saw many nameless bureaucrats working tirelessly because they took the cue from their boss.

From the sick man of Asia, the Philippines became the toast of the world; our economy grew at an average of more than six percent. It made me proud as an economic journalist and, for many of us, that was the last time we would be proud of our president.

Today, the Philippines makes it to the headlines of foreign newspapers because of the bloody drug war. Or another rape joke.

I mourn the passing of a leader who regarded Filipinos with respect. I grieve over what we’ve really lost as a nation — decent governance — and PNoy’s death reminds us of the enormity of that loss.

As Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in his homily at PNoy’s wake, “The flags at half-mast are not only for the dead president, but for the dying, decent governance.”

It is scary to think what the future holds, but we need to find courage and hope again, not in those yellow ribbons because they are mere momentary reminders, but in ourselves so that we will choose to do the ‘difficult right’ over the ‘easy wrong’ as PNoy did; to not be jaded and to register and vote so that we can choose the right leaders next year.

This is not an impossible dream and if we find the courage — somewhere between time and space, between grief and hope, between love for ourselves and for our country — to dream again, we may yet find ourselves in a better place again someday soon.

Indeed, let us dream that dream again and live it because the Filipino is worth dreaming for, worth fighting for and as PNoy himself said, “the Filipino is worth living for.”

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com