Pinoys Are Honest

Not character but leadership

Inquirer News Service

IT'S common for leaders to blame their failures on the people. Thus Hitler, just before he fired the pistol that blew out his evil brains, whined that the German people were not worthy of his leadership. Pol Pot tried to kill as many Cambodians as possible in order to change them. Shortly after her election last year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued an executive order for a program to change the character "flaws" of the Filipino people.

Yet, in the entire history of mankind, there is no instance in which an entire people had to change their collective character so that their fate would change. England became great because of leaders like Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill. America achieved independence through the statesmanship of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Malaysia and Singapore have become economically successful because of Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew; and China is now a superpower because of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiao Peng. The 1.2 billion Chinese people did not have to change their character to achieve economic progress.

Japan, which is not a Christian nation, has a kinder and gentler social system that takes much better care of retirees and elders than ours. It has much greater harmony and peace than our country.

Jose Enrique Yulo, in his letter, titled "Character flaws, change from within," (Inquirer, 7/25/05) expressed a very poor opinion of the Filipino character. This is typical of our colonial elite. Yet, Jose Rizal, in his essay, "The [alleged] Indolence of the Filipino People," pointed out that Filipinos are industrious and honest. He noted that our ancestors, in trading with the Chinese, invariably paid for the wares by leaving their payment on the shores for the Chinese traders to pick up. A recent test (conducted by GMA Network television), wherein "lost" wallets containing P200 were dropped in various parts of Metro Manila, showed that 85 percent of the wallets were returned intact. Another survey showed that most jeepney passengers, coming from ordinary families, paid the correct fare even though they had the opportunity to just get off without paying.

Filipino workers and employees abroad are appreciated for their industry and honesty, and that is the reason our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are in demand among employers abroad. If Ms Arroyo said that by going abroad, some eight million Filipinos were "voting with their feet," it is not because they have failed our country; it is because our leaders have failed them.

Leaders make promises; they are elected to office; they get to use billions of pesos in taxes from the people; they get the power to direct an immense bureaucracy. If they fail, why blame the people? A great leader, John F. Kennedy said, "To whom much is given, much is required." We give much to our leaders, in terms of honor, money and obedience. What do we get in return? Shall we also get insult in addition to injury?

MANUEL F. ALMARIO (via e-mail)