Does this morning rush sound familiar to you?
Clad in your company’s crisp uniform, you navigate the kitchen with urgency, your steps tapping out a rhythm on the tiled floor. Somewhere in the background, an old FM radio hums to life, filling the space with the cheerful strains of the Beatles’ Good Day Sunshine.
The warm melody dances through the air, momentarily brushing against your hurried thoughts with optimism: I feel good, in a special way, I’m in love and it’s a sunny day… But the music’s sunny charm struggles to compete with the clock’s relentless ticking, mocking your rush. Your hands move with practiced precision – or so you think.
You set water to boil, retrieve eggs from the fridge, and open the bread box. The bread box yawns empty, halting your momentum and catching you off guard. Sheesh. A pang of annoyance gnaws at you briefly softened by the upbeat refrain of Good Day Sunshine.
But its warmth can’t quiet a deeper discomfort - the faint echo of your decision you made last week. Voting for the undeserving union president now weighs heavily on your conscience, its shadow tugging at the edges of your thoughts like loose threads unraveling.
The kettle shrieks, jolting you back to the present. You pour water with steady hands, only to glance at the counter and realize you’ve forgotten to soft-boil the eggs. Gosh. They sit there, uncracked and untouched, a silent testament to your absentmindedness.
From the sala, your mother looks up from her sewing, her needle poised mid-air. Her eyes narrow slightly, observing you as you hover, seemingly trapped between motion and stillness. Then she speaks, her voice cutting through the air like the needle through the fabric.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Her words pierce the room, resonating not just with curiosity but with the weight of everything unspoken. You blink, her question hanging unanswered, as silence settles like morning dew.
In this episode, replace “you” with “the Philippines,” and the question transforms into: “What’s wrong with the Philippines?” The “mother” becomes the “world,” watching with curiosity and concern.
Just as you experience mental tension in the kitchen, grappling with conflicting beliefs about your voting decision, so too does the Philippines wrestle with cognitive dissonance following its choice in the 2022 presidential election: The term nabudol (swindled) encapsulates the aftermath – a landscape littered with guilt, shame, and rationalizations that clutter the UniTeam’s “road to nowhere.”
The dissonance in your kitchen mirrors the psycho-emotional tension in the Philippine political landscape today. The question “What’s wrong with the Philippines?” first surfaced during Bongbong Marcos’s landslide victory. Shortly after, Bangkok Post’s Gwynne Dyer posed the same question, writing:
“Bongbong Marcos didn’t just win the presidential election in the Philippines... He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least US$10 billion and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world’s most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs).”
Months before the election, I published a “pre-game” ATABAY article titled Millennials’ Query: Will I Vote For Bongbong? urging voters to examine five critical factors.
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Factor 1. Loot
If you Google “Marcos Loot,” you will get 5,610,000 results in 0.53 seconds. Top 10 results:
1. “P174B recovered from Marcos loot, P125B more to get” – Rappler, Sep 29, 2021
2. “The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions?” – The Guardian, May 7, 2016
3. “Unexplained wealth of the Marcos family” – Wikipedia
4. ‘Where did Marcos Hide His $10 Billion Fortune? – Bloomberg, June 28, 2021
5. “Marcos’ loot: the details – and the relevance today – CMFR-Phil, Oct 8, 2021
6. “Law of Duterte Land: Marcos ill-gotten loot and where to find it” – Facebook, Oct 5, 2021
7. “Anti-graft court orders turnover to PH gov’t of P1B Marcos loot” – YouTube
8. “Marcos stashed multibillion loot” – Inquirer, Sep 17, 2017
9. “Marcos Loot May Be Shared by Filipino Victims” – The New York Times, Oct 28, 1995
10. “The Buddha, the gold, and the myth: How Marcos looted the Central Bank” – Amazon, Jan 1, 1997
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I cited 4 other factors based on the economic wreckage by Marcos (Sr.) regime and other qualitative insights. Yet, Filipinos still cast their votes for him.
Today, the same voters who celebrated Bongbong’s victory are now calling for his impeachment. This recalls Thomas Jefferson’s admonition: “The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
Oddly, attempts to impeach Bongbong seem to bounce off him with little effect. Why? The controversies surrounding him – like the bangag swipe - were already public knowledge before the election. Despite the noise, voters chose him. Now, criticisms are met with shrugs, dismissed in the local dialect: “Kumita na yan” (That’s old news).
As the question “What’s Wrong With The Philippines” breathes new life, it casts a shadow over the election lurking around the corner. Imagine this: a future senator of the Philippines could be among the FBI’s Most Wanted for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and sex trafficking of children.
Argh, let’s shift gears. What’s right with the Philippines?
CNN recently bannered: “Wanted world leaders cast a wary eye at The Hague as Duterte languishes in ICC custody.” His dramatic arrest sent shockwaves across the globe, spotlighting other leaders wanted by the ICC - setting a precedent for their trials.
Not so fast, you might say. After all, we’re dealing with seemingly untouchable figures like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet, a still small voice inside me reassures: “Don’t be afraid. The whole shebang fits like a glove to a hand in God’s plan.”
As Apostle Paul uplifts, “God has chosen what the world considers foolish, to shame the wise; he has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong. God has chosen common and unimportant people… so that no mortal may boast before God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 28-29)
The ICC prosecutes individuals responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide – ensuring justice for victims. Ironically, U.S. President Trump sanctioned the ICC, hindering access to justice while shielding ally Netanyahu and buddy Putin. Philanthropist George Clooney aptly highlights this contradiction:
“It is rather astonishing that the United States does not play ball with the ICC, considering our country was the beacon of the idea of an international criminal court.”
For the Philippines, wonder of wonders, all the pieces fit God’s plan. This sentiment echoes the essence of a Philstar headline: “Duterte case seen as a ‘gift’ for embattled ICC.” Let me fortify: it’s “God’s gift.” In this pivotal moment, the Philippines stands on the right side of history playing a monumental role as the ICC’s David against the Goliaths of this world.
As the day draws to a close, you find yourself resting on your bed, weary and drained from the weight of it all. Yet, your mind remains preoccupied, turning over a trio of providential messages that seem to echo through the corridors of this soul-stirring geopolitical drama – messages that may, in the end, seal the fates of its key players.
From Pope Francis to Trump, whose policies of mass deportation cast long shadows: “It will end badly.” From Apostle Paul to Duterte whose God-is-stupid defiance reverberates: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” From Pope John Paul II to the Filipino people, a beacon of hope: “I wish to tell you of my special desire that the Filipinos will become the foremost missionaries of the Church in Asia.”
As these words linger in your thoughts, you close your tired eyes. Somewhere in the background, a gentle melody rises, carrying you into slumber. The lyrics, soft yet resolute, cradle your spirit:
God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me.
And so, the day ends not in despair, but in quiet faith – a reminder that even in the chaos of the world, there is a path, unseen but certain, waiting to unfold.
Content and editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot
Head photo courtesy of Vladislav Babienko in Unsplash
Still photos courtesy of istock. Facebook, The Straight Times, GMA Network, Rappler, CNN, Getty Images
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