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LINK: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) - 3 August 2008 Issue

It is safe to assume that Filipinos, as a people, are among the ‘easily pleased’, as compared to the other nationalities of the world. This notwithstanding, they also get hurt very easily, very onion-skinned in a manner of speaking. Little things make Filipinos in general happy but even the slightest incident could also trigger their disappointments.

Thus, a typical Filipino would always have something to complain about. More likely, however, he will keep the matter to himself than openly express, confront or even directly settle his gripes.  A Filipino would rather open his heart to, and seek comfort from, people who are close and dear to him even if they do not have any stake in his concerns. Many times, complaints are settled, or even exacerbate, through the grape vine in the chain of gossips and rumors.

Nevertheless, Filipinos love to communicate and express themselves. The Philippines would not be the text capital of the world if it were otherwise. Filipinos are everywhere in the digital divide with their blogs. Internet social networks like ‘friendster’ in fact are dominated by Filipinos. Filipino passion for music as a form of human expression is simply amazing.

While Filipinos are generally expressive, it is wonder why they would rather endure for as long as they can perhaps up to boiling point, than break the status quo. Make no mistake about it but the average Filipino has the heart for change, and would always hope for it, but he will never stake his person on it, especially if it would put his immediate family in jeopardy. He would rather suffer and protest in silence in this case until the clamor for reform or change has put the bandwagon in locomotion, that is when the battle lines are drawn.

Filipinos would openly express their love for their country but judging from how they live their daily lives as citizens, it is a source of wonder whether in fact they do. What should have been good for the country more often than not has to take a back seat in favor of convenience and parochial personal satisfaction. Choosing between what is good for the country and what is good for his very own or even his family’s interests (a usual line to justify his actions), a typical Filipino would obviously take the latter.   

A typical Filipino would have big dreams, high ambitions and would love to idolize and look up at a role model in pursuing his direction. What is disturbing these days is the impatience of many Filipinos to embrace the dignity of labor and hard work to ensure their economic success. Many are easily lured to professions, false opportunities, and even criminal endeavors that offer a quick fix. No wonder that when times are hard, there are more Filipinos lining up lotto betting stations, the illegal number game of jueting continues to flourish, there are incidence of corruption both in the public and private sector, the news never get tired of reporting people being duped of investment and money scams, and many young people abandon their dreams in favor of the career fad of the times. Nowadays, the only perceived measure of true success is money, and more money. Of course, this country is not alone in today’s highly materialistic environment.

Filipinos are generally reactive than proactive. They do not anticipate, or maybe refuse to aniticpate, difficulties and problems before they arise.  And when things go wrong, finger pointing starts, there would always be somebody to blame, and seldom would someone actually take responsibility for the mess.

In good or bad times, what is striking about Filipinos is their ingrained nature of finding joy in simple things and putting humor even to the most catastrophic situation. A Filipino is usually affective and easily shed tears while at the same time laugh at the situation without being necessarily happy about it.

There is no mutual exclusivity in the psyche of the Filipino. Anything goes so to speak. Whether this is good or bad could be seen where this country is, right now.

PUBLISHED: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 23 September 2007 Issue

A devastatingly handsome young man from New York married his cousin. They say that this man has an unusually vigorous sexual appetite that made his wife consider sex as an ordeal. He had a serious illicit relationship with his wife’s beautiful social secretary, with a young princess from Norway, and carried on a 20 year secret affair with his father’s private secretary.

This man was a chain smoker and known to drink eight to ten shots of martinis a day. They say that he was used to having his own way and never had any doubt that he could always get what he wanted without regard to its moral righteousness. And he did, even after suffering from polio.

The man is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, considered as one greatest presidents of the United States and the only one who occupied that position for more than two terms. He was responsible for the New Deal, a series of economic programs that provided relief to the American economy during the Great Depression in the nineteen thirties.

Born from an aristocratic family in United Kingdom, this man was known for his independent and rebellious nature as a child and performed poorly in school for which he was punished.  In 1915, he took much of the blame for the shameless fiasco in the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I, being one of its political and military engineers. Because of the shame from such incident, he was demoted from his cabinet position until he finally resigned from his position.

The man’s fondness for alcohol was well-documented. They say that he consumed alcoholic drinks almost daily for long periods in his life. His favorite was the Johnnie Walker Red whisky. They also say that he often sleeps until noon and used opium while in college.

The man is Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, a politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was a noted statesman, orator, strategist and a key world leader during World War II. His life has been considered to a unique extent as part of modern British and world history. He even won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his own historical writings.

On the other hand, a man born in Austria led one of the greatest expansions in industrial production and civil improvement that Germany had ever seen. He also led the largest infrastructure works in Germany with the constructions of dozens of dams, autobahns, railroads and similar facilities. His policies stressed on the importance of family life with men as breadwinners and women dedicated to rearing up their children.

The man was a decorated war hero and was a known vegetarian. He did not smoke and even promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. And the man, of course, is no other than Adolf Hitler.

The rough profile of these three men figured in circulated emails asking readers which candidates to choose for a political office judging from their background. And without knowing the personality behind their profile, the choice would obviously go to Adolf Hitler.

The foregoing highlights the fact that it is always unfortunate when people recklessly pass judgment on other people for the mistakes they supposedly commit in the course of their lives. Who does not err in the first place?  Even saints, heroes, and popes did, once upon their lives.  But it is non sequitur that people with distorted values or commit their own share of misdemeanors once upon a time would never have their rightful place in society and history. 

What really distinguishes a life of infamy and a life of distinction is the ability of the person to rise above the defining moments of his or her life, especially at a time when his or her sense of innate goodness is being called upon to act and react.

In life, there is no such a thing as an indelible blot if only the person knows how to seek relief from the inherent goodness of his or her own conscience and heart.