Under the Americans, the Filipinos in general pursued their quest for independence under the leadership of Aguinaldo. However, the Ilustrados abandoned Aguinaldo and offered their services to the Americans which offer was readily accepted. Thus, political opportunism commenced and highlighted the division among the Filipinos running through several generations until the present.
Fast forward to the Philippines post World War 2. The devastation wrought on the economy by the brutal Japanese occupation intensified the political division damaging further the national psyche. The Filipinos who collaborated with the Japanese during the war for whatever reasons were either indicted in court or ostracized in society.
Post-war Philippines ushered in the worst traits of the Filipinos. Many reportedly became wealthy from the Japanese War Reparations while others managed to collect backpay from the government as bogus war veterans. The supreme irony of all these conflicting events and personalities as an offshoot of the Japanese occupation, one single individual parlayed his one or two participation in the war into a monumental panorama of self-conjured greatest Filipino hero which mesmerized gullible Filipinos to make him President of the republic. Of course, the rest of the Marcos saga is still reaping widespread controversies.
Politics is described as the art of science of running governmental or state affairs. In our milieu, many Filipinos successfully used politics to gain power which enabled them to enrich themselves. I remember a girlie tabloid publisher in the 90's who's now a wealthy and powerful politician. It's indeed a sad reflection of Filipinos' Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde personality that persons with highly dubious reputation are entrusted with positions of high importance wielding powers of the state.
Furthermore, even movie stars of scant education and political experience were voted to public offices where many of them were reelected despite the absence of notable performance. There was a report of a solon in the legislature who delivered a privilege speech as if it was a scene in the movies. Copies of the script were furnished to other solons detailing what part of the speech applause would be made. Of course, out of playful cooperation said solons did their part in the parody of legislative work.
Accordingly, what can be considered as the zenith of our damaged culture is the moral degradation that affects the people everywhere, be it in the government or the private sector. Where graft and corruption could be found in some public works projects then, now, it's said to be the common practice in virtually all government offices, top to bottom.
The fact that such known grafters are treated with utmost acceptance and respect connotes the total embarrassment and gross failure of our political and religious leadership retrogressing through so many decades. Will the Philippines still manage to rise out of the depths of moral decay and deprivation? Woe to us if we fail to change for the better!
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