WHERE do we develop our values?
At home. In school. Good friends. Ideal mentors.
When we were young and we were caught telling a lie, sinasabon ang mga bibig namin. My younger brother was caught smoking and Papa had him eat the whole stick of cigarette.
It is an issue of reward and punishment. You do bad, lagot ka. So the issue of how we treat corrupt officials -- jail them, shame them, sue them etc. -- is very important for the young ones to develop a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong especially now that many parents are busy making a living or separating from each other.
I read a statement that Among Ed was one of the two presidential aspirants at the ANC Leadership Forum a couple of weeks ago who mentioned that THE DECLINE OF CORRECT VALUES has destroyed the Philippine society.
I believe this, too.
But leaders, especially presidential aspirants who preach and wish to claim the moral upper-hand like Among Ed should lead by example and not by mere words.
He has to answer for the many questionable things he has done while a governor of Pampanga. He must come clean with the omission of the names of his financial contributors and their actual contributions in the list that he submitted to COMELEC in 2007. It is not enough to state ambiguously that his accountants and lawyers have “ironed it out” with the COMELEC.
He must apologize for lying about the P500,000 he received in the parking lot of Malacañang -- the bundle of money he admitted he got (only after he was asked by a reporter-friend), the same “dirty money” as he presented it to the media and later the Senators, the bundle of money he claimed he never touched, but admitted a year later, and only after his former aide squealed, that he authorized the use of P20,000 of it. Ano pong moral value ang mapupulot natin dito? Ang umamin lamang kapag napansin na at wala nang lusot?
Are we to just forget about these things and conveniently dismiss them as mere lapses of judgment just so we can perfectly fit Among Ed to our idea of a moral leader, one who will lead the country’s moral revolution? Huwag naman po.
I feel I must quote from an email that I received last week, one by a Rodolfo Paglinawan who brilliantly captured my sentiments on the lowering of both the moral and governance standards just so we can install the priest-politician who for some, SEEMS to offer what our country needs.
Wrote Mr. Paglinawan: “What has Ed Panlilio done to make Pampanga a model province - that we now should elect him president? Increased revenues? But that is what every governor is expected to do… But crowning a man for complying with his basic job description? Boy let us not lower the bar. The minimum requirement for any government employee is public trust, as public office is public trust.
Pampanga’s cities are faced with a population growth higher than national average. By what record proportions has he increased investments and employment opportunities to cope with the increased human density? ...Does he have any flagship projects? Has he increased the number of schools, build more markets, farm-to-market roads and bridges, and post-harvest facilities? What about crime? How dramatic has been the drop in crime rate? Has he eradicated illegal gambling in the province? Has he even minimized it? What about agricultural increments, has there been any perks? Where is the bumper harvest that he has helped create? What about tax collection, other than from gravel and sand? Is there any capability-building programs and attendant infrastructure that have been built to increase employability of its residents, within and without Pampanga? What about tourism? What about improvements in health and social services?
With Ed Panlilio, what direction of change will he take us? For now, without categorical answers to my questions above, it is more like a game of chance, not change.
This man is playing ‘jueteng’ with our minds.
What the Philippines deserve today is a clear road map from presidentiables, supported by established and concrete and historical proof of achievement. Indeed, we are in biblical times - We need a national leader who has built his reputation on rock-solid foundations with scars and track records to show, and Governor Panlilio has yet built his reputation on sand and gravel.
What the Philippines need today is a Nehemiah who besides moral ascendancy, can rise over divisions, inspire volunteerism and sacrifice, and rebuild the walls of our modern-day Jerusalem. Governor Panlilio cannot even put his provincial act together, as most local government officials are not on his side.
So puede ba, Panlilians, run around the block for half an hour and afterwards, reward yourselves with a cold shower. If that still don’t earn you an honest epiphany on this issue, just like one advertisement - face the bathroom mirror, slap yourselves twice across your face for thank God you needed that!”
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