ENQUIRY
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
So, who’s got the torch now?
Sunday, 08 09, 2009
He or she who aspires to lead the country must inspire.
In the aftermath of the death of former President Cory Aquino, the gift to inspire is the standard by which all aspirants to the seat of the Philippine presidency must be measured. I refer to prospective aspirants because, unfortunately, that standard cannot apply anymore to the present occupant of the seat, she having become an incorrigible recidivist in the violation of all standards. And most unfortunately, we have to bear with her until June 30 of next year, unless by some miracle we are delivered from her earlier.
The nation needs a leader like Cory, who can mobilize the citizenry to confront the issues that bedevil us. One word from her, and the nation moves to action. Sadly, not one of the present crop of presidentiables, with the exception perhaps of former President Joseph Estrada, can whip a crowd up, whether rightly or wrongly, into a fervor bordering on adulation similar to what we have seen the nation accord to Cory.
The nation needs a leader like Cory who is untainted by corruption, one who exudes decency even as she "does the decent thing" in regard to a situation that is not necessarily in one’s own interests. Like being true to one’s word when one makes a promise not to run again. Sadly, every one, with the exception perhaps of Sen. Loren Legarda, can hoist the standard and claim to wage a decent fight against wrongdoing without being called a hypocrite.
And the nation needs a leader like Cory who can be trusted with the levers of power, without any reservation that she would do whatever is right for the best interests of the nation. Sadly, not one of the present crop of presidentiables, with the exception perhaps of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, can claim to have exercised a quantum of power in just the right amount or level.
We need a leader like Cory who takes one side, sticks to it like a limpet, and fights like a mother hen to protect it. We do not need a presidentiable — so young yet so foxy and calculating, or so filthy rich yet so crass — who publicly mouths epithets against Arroyo and her administration, yet uses backchannels to court her support as her successor. This kind of crafty wheeling-dealing is dangerous, and two frontrunners (I sincerely hope there’s just two) are dangerously close to sealing the endorsement of their respective political parties over to the present ruling caste. Do not expect them to do right for the country, should either one get elected president. Expect them, rather, to pay back their benefactors for their victory.
We need a leader like Cory, one who values family in the hierarchy of loyalties, who treats families with respect the way she treats the nation with full respect of sensibilities. Sadly, only Gov. Among Panlilio among those who have declared their intention to run for president, who is not even himself a family man, fits the bill. On second thought, perhaps one could throw in Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who decently handled his family relations no matter how distant to Cory, to this category.
And we need a leader like Cory who can be the instrument for reconciliation and not discord, who can unite the opposing forces in the political scene and not exacerbate division. Unfortunately, only Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay could come closest to the level of rapprochement and fence-mending powers that Cory wielded.
The solemnity of Cory’s wake or, way before that, the death watch that stretched over one year after she was diagnosed with colon cancer, was exploited by every presidentiable who hoped, as if by contagion, to be "contaminated" with the aura and charisma that surrounded Cory. But nothing tops that opportunist who caused the distribution of yellow bracelets with her picture on the strand, or that bespectacled presidentiable who managed to wedge himself on every footage with Cory, with the subliminal message that she or he is Cory’s anointed. Their barefaced courtship of Cory’s anointment, or their obvious exploitation of the media coverage to further their candidacy, is downright shameless and despicable.
The mantra "Cory! Cory! Cory!" which resounded over the metropolis for all the days of last week, has died away. And not a moment too soon, as we approach the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy, expect this glorious mantra to be replaced by the "I-me-and-myself" confident declaration of every presidentiable claiming, by implication or direct assertion, that he or she had Cory’s blessings to carry on the fight, "to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause." Fortunately, Cory left us without saying so who should carry on the torch of decency, courage and freedom. By design, Cory had brought herself above the fray, so to speak, to allow the conflicting claimants to the torch to fight it out among themselves.
Little do these claimants realize that the torch belongs to none of them. The torch has been passed to the new generation of Filipinos empowered by the death of Cory, who would fight on to elect to the presidency somebody who would light the way in the same fashion that Cory drove the powers of darkness by the shining light of her unblemished integrity.
The "Laban!" sign is back. And it does not anymore belong to a particular political party. It now belongs to anyone who flashes it as he makes an intelligent, courageous and moral choice.
For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
No comments:
Post a Comment