retaking values part two

RETAKING OUR VALUES - II: Victorino P Mapa John F Kennedy prefaced his presidency by telling America, “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country”.With this message JFK led America to a bright shining hill and for the next thousand days until his assassination the legend of Camelot came alive before the world. That same challenge very well applies to our country today if we are to restore our place to where the Philippines used to be – a time when we were the envy of every nation in Asia, when neighbor countries sent the best of their best to our schools and universities; our leaders were respected for their intellect and probity; the economy was thriving , the peso was strong at the exchange rate of four to one and life was good. Nearly everyone was employed. There was no inducement to find work overseas.. We had agrarian unrest and a communist threat but our able and efficient army efficiently handled the problem. Life was too good to worry about the little chicaneries committed by a few minor officials. Unfortunately we are a tolerant and forgiving people and we allowed the doors of our values to open just a bit. In the 60s that door was violently pushed ajar. The youth of our land saw where the country was headed and took to the streets. It was near-anarchy. Martial law was imposed. We began to play loose and easy with our morals. That was when we lost our way. The Philippines with its new leaders is currently striving to bring us back to our own “bright shining hill.” . We cannot simply rely on the few men at the top to do all the work and damn them once more if they fail. They need help from each and everyone of us. We can no longer afford to just watch what is happening build walls in our compound and be grateful it’s happening someplace and to someone else and not within our own backyard. The Philippines is the only land that God has given to us, the only ship that we’re all in. If it sinks, we all sink. Filipinos have been buffeted by typhoons and floods and survived through it. When we could no longer abide the abuses and excesses of corrupt leaders we rose as one through “People Power” and cast them out. . We transplanted ourselves to other lands and despite discrimation and at times unfair treatment have risen above it and succeeded in creating a better life. The love of country is innate in every Filipino, including this Balikbayan and thousands of others like me who have exiled themselves to other lands in search for a better life. Time and distance can never diminish our love for the Motherland. One might as well ask the expat Filipino to stop breathing as to stop loving the land where he was born. Like JFK’s call to action we must all ask ourselves: What can I do for my country? How can I be a better citizen? We must ask these questions and follow them up with deeds as if our lives and our children’s future depend on it because they do Only apathy and indifference stand in our way. We once had men who asked these same questions , ordinary men who became extraordinary because They gave their lives striving for the answers. We are the heirs of what they died for. I believe in the strength and resiliency of the Filipino.. With the resolve and strenght of character that is inherent in all of us we can achieve our hopes and dreams of a brighter tomorrow and someday return to our own “bright, shining hill.”