GMA’s SONA amid gloom and doom

Yesterday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered her State of the Nation Address amidst a deepening sense of gloom and doom among our people. Apparently, the nation’s most dangerous enemy right now is that mood of pessimism and self-defeatism that has swooped down on our society. Yes, we as a people are allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed and overcome by the ugly and unpleasant events that rage day by day.

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We Filipinos are known as fighters. We do not give up without putting up a good fight. In the past, we even dared to do what seemed impossible in our quest for higher goals. But now, we are not showing the fighting spirit that enabled us to topple dictatorships, to overcome foreign invaders, to become one of Asia’s most respected countries. Yes, we are not fighting back. This is the main reason why the economy is not showing signs of resurrection.

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This is the same theme that a certain "V. Ricasio" of Ayala Avenue, Makati City, wrote about in a thought-provoking letter that he sent to me a few days ago. His topic is something that ought to jolt us from our seats. Apparently, he is a truly concerned Filipino – talented, passionate about our country’s welfare, one who writes with the flair of a learned literary figure. And what he says need to be read and understood by every citizen.

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Unfortunately, Ricasio’s writing style differs from mine. I write for everyone, especially for the common man, which explains why I use the simplest words in the most simple way possible. I cannot thus publish his letter with the same words he uses, fit for the highly educated, because I want everybody – I repeat, everybody – to understand the significant message Ricasio wishes to convey. Let me thus use for today’s column Ricasio’s theme, but in my own writing style.

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As Ricasio noted, it seems like we are into another episode of self-destructive binge. We are slowly but surely entering the early stages of an economic collapse, brought about less by corruption than by pessimism and self-defeatism.

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Ironically, the ones who are throwing up their arms in surrender are the very ones who should be battling to stem the tide – the educated, the rich, the sophisticated. In short, the same people who benefited richly from the economy during good times. And their refusal to put up a good fight in the task of resurrecting our battered economy smacks of crass insensitivity and excessive self-indulgence.

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We cannot let this negative mood overwhelm us. If we do not act and fight back, there will be an unprecedented disaster of a scale worse than what decades of grandscale thievery brought us. Our lack of confidence to cope with today’s problems in preparation for the future can derail all the best-laid plans of our economic policymakers and managers.

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How sad and pathetic that those who should lead in the fight for economic resurrection are the ones who are losing the will to bounce back. The media luxuriate in it, self-proclaimed economic pundits carp about it, and oppositionists with political axes to grind wallow in it. Instead of uniting with all sectors to figure out bold and innovative solutions to our problems, many of our leaders are flinging their arms in surrender and casting the blame on others.

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Ours is a character flaw, a severe dysfunction and malaise of massive proportions. We have this common penchant to degrade our own and others’ accomplishments. What we now have is a widespread tendency to accentuate the negative and to exaggerate our failings – the better in front of everybody to see. This is a manifestation of a warped mind and a damaged culture, something that has to be excised, if we are to move forward.

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We should realize that the dire economy is not the doing of the Macapagal-Arroyo leadership. The whole world is in a recession. We are but small-players who will move only when the larger ones start to move. Thus, to pin the blame for our present national problems on President GMA is unfair and terribly wrong.

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The economic problems we now have are rooted in a combination of neglect, indifference, mistakes and greed. And the situation is exacerbated by our refusal to get rid of our deeply entrenched values-and-attitudes dysfunction. Unless we do so, the nation’s declared war against poverty will never be won.

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I am heartened that there are concerned citizens who are, in their own way, trying to help bring about our country’s economic, social and political resurrection. Take Fritzie Vergara, an MBA student. He took precious time from his studies to relay to me and to STAR readers an interesting topic that revolved on my recent column item where I said that political wars and wranglings are anathema to a nation seeking economic resurrection.

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In his MBA class last Wednesday, a group presented a framework from the book, Community of the Future, published by the Peter Drucker Foundation. According to Vergara, it is a very interesting book and it echoes the theme "One nation, one people" which was the title of my July 20 column.

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Vergara went out of his way to send me an outline of the framework. "I hope the readers can get the essence and importance of a sense of collective purpose in order for our country to face the challenges that we are now facing," he said.

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PULSEBEAT: Rogelio Dacanay, my Grade 4 schoolmate at the Juan Luna Elementary School in Sampaloc, Manila, many, many years ago, wrote from the United States to appeal to his fellow Filipinos in the homeland to lend a helping hand to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. "Let us not be selfish, let us help one another, for the welfare of our people," Roger said. By the way, Roger told me that two of our other schoolmates at Juan Luna, journalist Bayani Redoblado and Dr. Herminio Valenzuela are also in the US. . . Is Capital Insurance Co. having problems settling its obligations with its clients? This question comes to the fore because of many complaints I have been receiving regarding several pending cases at the Insurance Commission, involving Capital Insurance. . .

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Thoughts For Today:

Sometimes flowers grow best in the sun,
others do well in the shade. . .
God plants us where we grow best
and gives us good friends to grow with.

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Life is a continuous challenge,
a constant struggle from womb to tomb. . .
We are not made rich by what is in our pockets,
but by what is in our hearts.

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My e-mail addresses:<[email protected]> and <mailto:[email protected]>