PNoy and the fifth commandment

“Honor thy father and thy mother.” For the majority of Christians and non-Christians in the Philippines this fifth commandment of The Decalogue is regarded as one of the foundations of moral life or even political life. 

 

What does it mean to honor thy father and thy mother? How does one honor them? For me, these questions are easy to answer if one stays faithful to his or her parents’ memories and legacies. And yet, they are difficult questions to answer if one chooses to ignore or go astray from them.

 

In the case of PNoy, I have no doubt that he had decided a long time ago to stay faithful to his parents' memories and legacies. Just like many of us, he gets as mushy as a Hallmark card when thinking of what they did and what they meant for our country. But what does it mean for him to stay faithful? Does he literally tread the same path they trod? Or does he clear a different trail for himself given the circumstances of his time? 

 

I think PNoy had already charted his course within the confines of his parents’ values, principles, and sacrifices. When his father Ninoy decided to come home, he decided to die for us because we are worth dying for. And he did die for us. When his mother Cory ran for President, despite being unprepared and buffeted by coup after coup, she provided our country the smooth transition from dictatorship to democracy. At the risk of their own personal lives, PNoy’s parents gladly laid down their lives for our democratic subculture—these are their memories, these are their legacies.

 

The criticism that PNoy seemingly dishonors his parents’ sacrifices by floating the idea of having an extra time to lead is I think misguided. How does it dishonor them when our fragile democratic system needs that constitutional change as a much-needed shot in the arm to strengthen it? 

 

Like PNoy, I am convinced that our political future is not only still standing on shaky ground, but also, threatened by an allegedly smooth but shady character lurking in the dark corridors of dynastic power. I'd like to think PNoy is like his father and mother. He has to see to it that our democratic gains will not retrogress into the murky and corrupt world of “business as usual” politics.

 

I'd like to believe that PNoy does not mind even if the constitutional change he seeks means a political death for him as his detractors and critics would have it. I am sure he realizes that they will always have enough fodder for political tirades against anyone in position of power anyway.

 

That is why the fifth commandment makes sense to him because it is really about the unrealized hopes and dreams of his parents for a less corrupt and a more just democratic institution. And so, to stay faithful to those memories and legacies is to continue the saga of what his parents had started and paid for with their lives.

 

Lately, PNoy has been getting flak from both sides of the political aisle regarding an old hope that had been peddled around by every political regime, PNoy’s regime being no exception with its share of undue criticism from inflexible ideologues and partisan provocateurs without regard to the merits of his position. Instead, the “No to Cha-Cha and term extension,” as the banner goes, had morphed PNoy from a “Daang Matuwid” persona into an alleged cult personality violating his parent’s legacy of preventing another dictatorship, at least, in the eyes of his critics and detractors.

 

But I have a different take when PNoy floated the idea of constitutional change.

 

PNoy, who is entertaining the notion of extending his tenure, may still do something big to continue the legacy of his parents. I’d say that it’s the Legislative that holds the key to this, which in the past did not act the way previous administrations wanted it to.

 

PNoy is no different from reaching an accommodation with his so-called bosses from any leader who rewrites the rules in his favor as soon as he or she is in control. At least in PNoy’s case, he wants to do it constitutionally. After all, any government that refuses to listen to the legitimate clamor of the people is undemocratic. Only an insecure opposition can fail to understand that. Eventually, Cha-cha and term extension will happen anyway. And PNoy appears to be the person of the moment to make it happen. And why not? 

 

PNoy must sell our people that hope—that is, if not PNoy, who then? Given the almost insurmountable lead of Vice President Binay against all possible presidential candidates in the poll, some of my friends had already descended on me recklessly, like the Delphic Oracle and advised me to already think of a post-Binay era. 

 

Is Vice President Binay our hope? Is Vice President Binay all we got?

 

For now, I must confess that I am not optimistic about our political future with him. I have my moral reasons. In the context of the fifth commandment, I’d prefer to see our political future just like having children and putting all your money in the pot and you do everything you can to hedge your bet. Hopefully, they’ll turn out incorruptible, honorable, and respectful to your values, principles, and sacrifices. And so, when it comes to hedging my bet, I’d rather hedge my bet on the son of Ninoy and Cory rather than someone else’s son.

 

Let’s honor the memories and legacies of Ninoy and Cory with the much-needed constitutional change—ipagpatuloy natin and “Daang Matuwid.”


The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of this website.