I am talking, of course, about the climate of distrust that has permeated the very fiber of our political system. Those who oppose President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not be swayed to make peace with those who support her anytime soon. Conversely, those who believe in her are not about to budge an inch to accommodate the other side either.
Our nation has been divided as a result: those who believe that President Arroyo should step down and those who believe that such a political option will just make matters worse for our country. Clearly, the President has fulfilled the prediction she made during her (in)famous Dec. 30, 2002 speech, when she announced that she would not be running for reelection in 2004: that she would be the cause of divisiveness if she did.
It has not been smooth-sailing since. Blame it on a shrill opposition, or on a bull-headed administration. The last couple of years have been a period marked by debates over morality and legality, political drama and frustrated attempts at various manifestations of "people power," including a foiled impeachment and militant protests. All this time, the public has indulged its politicians and all those who have stepped forward and made their positions (and opinions) known. Most Pinoys have remained on the sidelines, preferring to watch the ongoing political slugfest and, when protests intrude into their space, complain lamely about the inconvenience caused by street rallies.
But that seems to be the prevailing attitude of many of us nowadays: indulgence. We indulge our national leaders and allow them, perhaps grudgingly, to play out this drama on our congressional stage – it makes for good viewing on TV, I must admit. A political observer suggested that, perhaps, Filipinos are apathetic and could care less; I disagree. We are acutely aware of the unfolding political events. It is a rare Pinoy who does not have an opinion about these developments.
Merriam-Webster defines "indulgence" as "the act of giving free rein to," or "the act of treating with excessive leniency, generosity or consideration." When we indulge someone, we allow that someone to pretty much do as he pleases, whether we approve of it or not – excessive leniency, generosity or consideration. An indulgence, in that regard, acts as a social lubricant during situations when differences in opinion may cause tension. In other words, we live and let live.
Another definition of indulgence takes on a religious slant: "Remission of part or all of the temporal and especially purgatorial punishment that, according to Roman Catholicism, is due for sins whose eternal punishment has been remitted and whose guilt has been pardoned (as through the sacrament of reconciliation)." Applying this definition to a hypothetical scenario, we could say that letting someone off the hook when he commits a mistake or a crime is a form of indulgence.
I see many other manifestations of indulgences all around me. Driving home from work the other day, I see this huge FedEx truck making its way along rush-hour EDSA traffic. It is just one of a convoy of these container trucks that ferry cargo every day between the NAIA and Subic, where the FedEx Asia-Pacific hub is located. That it is exempted from the truck ban imposed on Manila’s major thoroughfares and its girth is not exactly helping traffic flow on EDSA seem to raise no hackles among my fellow EDSA commuters.
Perhaps it is because its presence tells of some economic manna that may have been a concession between our government and FedEx to base their operations hub in our country. We indulge FedEx, a foreign company, which seems to be enjoying special privileges that Filipinos in their own country do not enjoy. (Why are they exempted from the truck ban on EDSA during rush hours?)
We indulge jeepney drivers and bus drivers who recklessly load and unload passengers and dangerously swerve to occupy several lanes of the highway with impunity. No, we are neither apathetic nor possessed of a Job-like amount of patience. (We cuss and swear at the drivers, you see.) We simply treat them with excessive leniency, generosity or consideration.
As a people, we are very indulgent. We indulge the Marcoses, the Americans, and, yes, the Arroyo administration (and its attendant opposition camp) and give them free rein to do whatever it is they are wont to do: the Marcoses to continue the dubious legacy of their patriarch (and our former President), the Americans to influence our national affairs ("If you’re not with us, you’re against us"), and the present administration to focus all its resources on salvaging its President.
We are also indulgent in the religious sense, so to speak. We easily let those who do us wrong off the hook, allowing them "to remit their temporal punishment" and be pardoned. Vindictiveness is not our strong suit, and we quickly relegate wrongdoing to memory. "Let’s move on." That is a plea we often hear today. Unfortunately, our readiness to forgive and forget often condemns us to repeat history, over and over again. Others are not so easy to forgive. First, they demand the outing of the truth, then justice. Only after they ferret out truth and justice do they forgive.
Our capacity for indulgence reaches its apex with our capacity for self-indulgence. Colorful fiestas and the overcrowding temples to commercialism – the shopping malls – are testaments to our limitless desire to give free rein to our worldly appetites. Our penchant for excess – always trying to outdo each other in materialistic displays of wealth – is just one of the consequences of this vice. A neighbor gets himself a new large-format TV. Not to be outdone, we go buy a bigger TV. Your brother-in-law takes delivery of a new SUV. You get yourself a tank of an SUV. Your office colleague displays her flashy jewelry. You go and choke yourself with a neck-full of precious baubles to the office the following day.
I just wonder how this indulgent nature of ours is viewed and reciprocated by our international trading partners. Will they indulge us our quirks and egocentricities and continue to do business with us? Will they indulge us our political squabbles, our checkered peace-and-order performance, lapses of judgment and our moral amnesia? Will they treat us with excessive leniency, generosity or consideration? Rosy economic reports and forecasts from the government notwithstanding, we have a long-suffering masa agitating for reforms to improve their lives. Will our international trade help prop up our ailing local economy?
Perhaps the coming All Souls’ Day commune with our departed love ones may offer an opportunity for us to mull over how we, individually, have contributed to the climate of distrust that pervades the entire country. We’ve been indulgent for far too long and, consequently, may have grown cynical of the world we find ourselves in. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." We all wish to get over this national crisis, yet find that we remain unmoved and, at best, indulgent.