Only the pure of heart can wield Excalibur

My late grandfather, Assemblyman Benito Soliven always spoke about Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. He believed that leaders must embody greatness and must have the courage to confront their weaknesses. That if failure strikes, they must stand up, be man enough to accept their shortcomings and move forward. But to have such qualities one must first have virtue.

Virtue is not effeminate or unprogressive. My grandfather once wrote: To be virtuous is to be manly. Virtue comes from the Latin word “vir” which means “man”. Therefore, virtue is manlinesss, virtue is character, and character is the highest expression of success.

The story of Sir Galahad, the pure and virtuous knight who sat unharmed in the seat perilous at King Arthur’s famous round table, has a lesson for all. Tennyson wrote: “My good sword carves the casques of men; My tough lance thrusteth sure; My strength is as the strength of ten; Because my heart is pure.”

He continues: Yes, purity is strength, virtue is power. And so, Sir Galahad was the mightiest and bravest knight of the world, the one who finally succeeded in the quest of the Holy Grail that typifies all worthy of achievement and success.

The past weeks have shown us how politicians can destroy our country to pieces. How our leaders can plot things out in the most vicious ways just to win an election and lead the country. What kind of leader are we looking for? I feel very bad about how President Aquino led the Filipino people throughout his 6 years in office. Why do I feel bad? Well, I believed in him and I voted for him.

Among all the presidential candidates five years ago, I chose P-Noy. I convinced my friends that this man would be a different president. In his first few years as president, I gave him the benefit of the doubt allowing him to slip, fall and stumble along the way. But I eventually expected more from him. However, that leader that I had in my mind did not show up. P-Noy’s star started to fade and frustration crept in. How can a President allow his own men to deceive the Filipino people? Why is not the President punishing his men who are at fault? Why is the President impartial? Questions began to flood my mind day after day upon reading and listening to the news. Where is that moral ascendancy that he should have led this country to? Why is he failing me now?

SONA after SONA he kept rumbling about the many accomplishments of his administration, painting such a beautiful scenario of how life is in the Philippines today. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I even asked myself, is he talking about the Philippines or another country? When he needed to apologize and show the people his courage to do so in behalf of our nation, he didn’t. When he was expected to mourn for the dead, he shrugged his shoulders and went the other way. Now that the people are questioning his stand on the Mindanao peace pact, he is not speaking. He keeps on telling us that it will be good for the country but we know in our hearts that his actions are wrong. He is giving a precious part of our country to an unknown future. Why is he allowing us to live in fear?

During his last SONA, I was hopeful but again it came to nothing. I wasn’t convinced with his facts and figures that were somehow faulty, calculated to fit his style; to fit only what he wanted to make us hear. How could he have not mentioned the Mamasapano incident and pay tribute to the 44 SAF commandos who were mercilessly massacred in line of duty and instead spoke about the Maguindanao massacre in 2009? How can he put the blame on the private entities for his failure to resolve the MRT problem and not hold his people accountable? How can he lambast the Thomasian administration for protecting a 400 years old cultural heritage site against the government’s plan to construct a catchment area inside the school to address the flooding problem? How can he tell us of the success of the CCT program through just one person’s success when all around us, in the streets are still people living in cardboard boxes and children begging for food? How can he boast of the K-12 program’s success when in reality the program is filled with loopholes that need to be addressed? And to support his view he had this student supposedly a graduate of the K-12 program tell her success story. But people wondered how could the student have finished the program when it hasn’t even started? Why didn’t he report to his ‘bosses’ the situation in the Panatag Shoal issue?

Had P-Noy prioritized the changes of government services to upgrade the meeting of every citizen’s basic needs the minute he sat in office, things would have been different. Had he fought corruption and punished every criminal whether friend or foe, then he would have been a hero in our hearts. Had he identified the problems that needed immediate solutions and led his men to be conscientious in their actions, then with his head held high he can truly say to his ‘bosses’, in his last SONA, “I fulfilled my promise, now, it is up to you to continue treading the path to righteousness.”

Well, everything now is water under the bridge. What has been done cannot be undone. What has been said cannot be recanted. The Filipino people cannot afford to sulk. We need to move. We are at the threshold of another national election. We are at the crossroads of no return. And now that I think about it, I am pretty sure I have grown wiser in the decisions I shall make for my future, my children’s future and for the country’s future. I should be able to discern the kind of leader this country needs.

What should we look for in a presidential candidate? First and foremost, we should be keen observers. It is important to consider the true purpose of each candidate. What is their purpose in life? What is their purpose to lead? We should know that it is essential for every traveller to know where he or she is going. What is their objective in wanting to attain leadership?

It is every man’s true objective to lead a good, virtuous and useful life, in the service of God and humanity – in order to attain salvation of his or her soul and deserve eternal glory.

Who among the candidates is the “pure of heart”? Who is the one who can lead us in the straight path? Who among them can wield the ‘Excalibur’? It is only the pure of heart who can change the course of our fate as a people and as a nation.