Fast-tracked dysfunction - looking back at First Half 2008

Written on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 11:59 am | by benign0

The first half of 2008 is almost gone and as much as the last 52 years of independence (we were granted Independence in 1946, remember?) has been a history of slow, painful but at the same time spectacular decline for our islands nation, the last six months alone has seen us plumb even lower depths of pathos within ever-shorter time periods. We are certainly getting more and more efficient at securing our place in human civilisation’s Hall of Shame (I’d say Hall of Comedy if it weren’t for the sheer number of lives impacted by our own ineptitude). Too bad we don’t have a Tagalog word for “efficient” and therefore cannot report this achievement in Bandila.

The recent sinking of yet another Sulpicio lines vessel — snuffing out 800 Pinoy souls at last count — added to the company’s 20-year track record of deadly but profitable service to the people. It is also the equivalent of 20 years of world-renowned tolerance — and for some continued patronage — of criminally negligent business practice by our society. That a shipping line that’s figured in four “accidents” that claimed enormous casualties continued operating for TWO DECADES says a lot about a society that hosts it, patronises it, and collects taxes from it.

And then there was the Ces Drilon kidnapping. It exposed the curious inconsistency and utter hypocrisy of an institution that crowned itself Saviour of Pinoy Freedom and Defender of the Realm of Truth and all its Domains. Sadly for the “heroes” that constitute it and happily for our efforts to get a bit of a reality check on our belief systems, that last act of pomposity that finally broke the credibility of this sorry excuse for an otherwise noble profession got the kick in the arse it deserved after a judge dismissed a class action suit filed against the PNP for its “unlawful” arrest of journalists “covering” the Manila Peninsula putsch. The Inquirer in today’s editorial asserted about this “outrage” that “Not least, it adds to the erosion that has steadily undermined press freedom in the Age of Gloria”.

But of course it does.

Wait! There’s more. There is also the quaint matter of President Arroyo’s latest trip to the United States which all but turned into a cringefest with “junket” written all over it. It’s quite ironic that a country as small in stature as ours — and made even smaller by recent events — would send over an enormous entourage along with her leader. It draws on (at best) or highlights (at worst) what is really the biggest strength of our Republic — our SHEER NUMBERS. Just like an ant colonly would overcome its prey by throwing bodies all over it, so too would Pinoys climb over one another for a piece of the action. Unfortunately, unlike the humble ant, our bark is worse than our bite.

Former President Marcos had it right after all. We do indeed need a new society. Any society will do. Just as long as it is not the current one we have.

Advanced Happy Independence Day (4th of July, remember?) to all!!

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About The Author: benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.COM and has once been described as "one of the most enthusiastic hecklers of the politically-passionate" by a respected journalist.

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