COLOSSUS

Idea: What the Philippines needs is a huge, distinctive, manmade monument to symbolize the nation. And I mean gigantic: something that would make people look up. We’re so mired in our daily grind and turmoil that we forget to look up once in a while. The Rizal statue in Luneta, Bonifacio in Monumento, Ninoy Aquino on Ayala, and the lady on EDSA are just not monumental enough.

We need something awesome, something that looks, feels, and is bigger than we are.

This monument should be to the Philippines what the Statue of Liberty is to the United States, what the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are to France, what the Colosseum is to Rome and the pyramids to Egypt. It would be a landmark and an icon: anyone who sees it in a photograph or drawing would know that it’s The Philippines. Look, the world out there isn’t even sure if our name is singular or plural.

Yes, bring up the “shades of the Marcos regime” and its “Edifice Complex.” But it was a good idea to build, build, build. The idea of massive construction was excellent; it was the rest that failed, undone by greed, corruption, tyranny. Much of our existing infrastructure dates back to the Marcos regime. Is that sad, or what? Remember when we truly, passionately, repeatedly believed that a change of leaders would fix everything? How young we once were.

Some will argue that the construction of a monument is an unnecessary expense, that the funds could be put to better use such as poverty alleviation, improving the education system, unclogging drainage, etc. A monument, they will say, is a vanity project.

There is little point in debating where our limited resources (further depleted by corruption) should go: we have so many problems, it’s amazing how many people want to be in charge of solving them. (The cynical explanation for this — and you cannot blame our people for being cynical after all we’ve witnessed — is that they view it as an opportunity to partake of the depletion.) But given the perpetually sorry state of our finances, there’s also no point in putting off a project until all our problems have been addressed. That’s simply not going to happen. We’ll just have to decide to do it, and find a way to make it work.

Consider funding for culture — never a priority in the last three decades because our leaders were supposed to be devoting their efforts to creating economic opportunities for our countrymen. Turns out the definition of “countrymen” was a lot narrower than we’d imagined.

Decades later, the people are still poor and the state of the culture is deplorable. Most Filipinos seem to regard culture as a concept completely alien to their lives. The expediences of survival have closed them off to a vital part of themselves.

Digression: Ever wondered why we Filipinos are so adept at imitation and mimicry? Arnel Pineda does perfect impressions of the former lead vocalist of Journey, so now he’s taken over the job. Charice Pempengco does perfect impressions of Whitney Houston, so she’s secured the support of Oprah. Today’s successful Pinoy performers don’t do cover versions, they make exact copies, down to the breathing patterns. The Net is full of Pinoy children imitating Beyoncé — it’s amusing the first two hundred times. Sure, children everywhere mimic their idols, but how many view it as a career? I suspect that the skill at imitation stems from a desire to fill the void of identity — the one that culture is supposed to fill. It’s easy to assume a different personality if one is unsure of or dissatisfied with what she/he is in the first place. This may also explain why we’re so “adaptable” everywhere.

Meanwhile, the export of human beings continues to be our niche in the global economy. So much for creating economic opportunities for Filipinos.

Anyway, the building of the monument would have to be a privately funded initiative. This would speed up the process, cut down on bureaucratic dithering and do away with public bidding — a process way too interesting for anyone’s good. An autocrat would have to be in charge — someone who would stand firm in the face of furious squabbling.

Because a project such as this would generate lots of in-fighting, starting with the artists who want their designs to be chosen for the monument. Everyone will want to have their say; the autocrat has to have the authority to tell everyone to shut up and do as she/he tells them.

Democracy is not an efficient system for building monuments. If the entire hierarchy of the Holy Roman Church had a say in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, it would be unpainted today. It took the bloody-minded Julius II to silence all opposition and give bloody-minded Michelangelo Buonarroti the freedom to paint what he wanted, including naked bodies.

As to the design and setting of the monument, we invite your suggestions. E-mail emotionalweatherreport@gmail.com.