Moral Decay of the Filipinos

Many columnists have decried for so long a time that the Filipinos' moral values have deteriorated for so many decades. The tremendous deprivation suffered by most Filipinos during the Japanese occupation had certainly scarred the psyche of many who subscribed to the idea that the end did justify the means to achieve the objective of winning the survival of the fittest. As money is said to be the root of all evils so political power provided the door to amass oodles of money.   

In the 1948 presidential elections between Elpidio Quirino and Jose P. Laurel, dirty politics reared its ugly head as the birds and the bees as well as the dead were said to cast their votes. President Quirino's administration gained notoriety for its rumored "golden arinola" or chamber pot in English. But, it was overshadowed by its highly controversial Senate President who uttered the haughty statement "What are we in power for!".  Nevertheless, the graft and corruption of this era could be considered peanuts when compared to the gargantuan rapacity of the succeeding Marcos-Erap-Arroyo triumvirate.

Several centuries of Spanish influence and almost half a century of American tutelage left an oftentimes conflicting mixture of conservative and liberal orientation. From the Spaniards, Filipinos acquired the Latino machismo but conservative outlook and from the Americans, the liberal thinking and free wheeling living. Then, marital infidelity and having a child out of wedlock were strictly kept secret. 

Now, due to Filipinos' infatuation with everything from Hollywood, such improper conduct has come out of the closet and become daily fare in entertainment pages of newspapers and magazines. Many Filipinos are hopelessly star-struck that every news about movie personalities are avidly followed and talked about. It's no wonder that tabloids have wider circulation than broadsheets as tidbits and gossips about movie stars are more interesting to readers rather than serious articles of national importance.

It's a sad reflection of many people's convoluted appreciation of what is right or wrong when a film star's proud declaration on national television of having a baby without the benefit of marriage did not merit public censure. Likewise, when voters deigned to elevate to national office a candidate whose sole qualification was fame as a movie star and nothing more, it's a sure sign of moral degradation aborning in government, in all levels of society and practically everywhere in our country.