How to play it

The country is talking about:
Kris Aquino, daughter of hero Ninoy Aquino and former president Cory Aquino always manages to enter foul relationships, further heightened by her public tantrums and irrationalities. Recently married to and impregnated by a young basketball player, rumors spread that he has long been cheating on Kris with a receptionist of a glamorizing clinic. Poor girl never seems to know when to shut both her traps -- whether it be about her STDs, or homewrecking escapades, her life becomes a public spectacle and public laughing stock, directly increasing television rates. Sigh. If it ain't about a 4-foot president cheating her way to the presidential seat, it's about pathetic rallies or scandals like these. Shit like this make you cringe, make you want to take the next flight to Singapore or New York.

While the streets, jeepneys, and building walls are vandalized with campaign stickers; while the radio is polluted with campaign jingles; while air-time on television is bought to showcase government officials prancing about in comfortable wear, singing with extras dressed down to look like farmers, fishermen or agriculturists; I'm pondering on what form of governing would best suit the Philippines.

We have long been fighting for our freedom and independence -- from our colonizers, from a dictator, from a corrupt president, and now from a cheating president -- but when freedom and independence is laid out to us like cold fish on a platter, we don't know what the hell to do with it. We plot, rebel, kill, for democracy but utilize it to vote our favorite uneducated actors and actresses, we abuse it the way a dumbass would yell BOMB in a supermarket when there is none, reasoning that he has a right to free speech.

Thing is, democracy in itself, as a system is not flawed. Maybe it's how we use it that's flawed, or maybe it's a system not fit for us. China seems to do well with communism, Japan's imperialism, Russia's federalism and so on and so forth.

The vagueness of our historicity and identity contributes to this political madness that seems to basically be repetitive with just a few minor changes because of time and context. We love to play the role of the victim, the abused, the one-shot underdog. My history professor is right: We never want to play the world game and be globally competitive.

As a young individual, I realized it's important to keep my eyes and my mind open to absolutely everything that is going on around me if I want to make that difference. It's important to be at par with the rest of the world so I can anticipate the next big thing. I gotta be on top of my game.