Tuesday, November 10, 2015

LOVE Revolution: The Filipino Manifest Duty to the Nation



“Each generation writes its own history. Our forebears have written theirs. With fortitude and excellence, we must write ours.”

- Ferdinand Marcos


It's been thirty years since EDSA yet our quest for nationhood is nowhere close to attainment. The quality of the present leadership has put the country in an even more precarious situation than before. What is even more discouraging is that we have traded our critical consciousness to the convenience of fabricated illusion- the stellar economic growth and the restored public confidence.



Truth be told. The truth is never convenient. Lies are.

The crisis of governance that plagues every level of our society has manifested itself in one of the most heart-breaking human tragedies in recent memory: the Typhoon Yolanda Catastrophe. The most tragic part of it was not the human cost alone but the severe incompetence and the utter indifference of the government toward the plight of the common people. But an even bigger tragedy lies ahead. Democracy be damned should we allow the same bunch of incompetent public managers to hold the reins of power once more.

While a large part of our society sleeps in spiritual inertia, the United Youth of the Nation for Bongbong Marcos (UYON BBM) rises to a renewed vision with purpose.

This purpose brings us to LOVE Revolution (Leadership of Vision and Empowerment)- a Revolution founded on the love of country. Echoing Andres Bonifacio's poetic rendition, what LOVE could be far greater than the love of country?

But LOVE in its most genuine sense is not just a mere feeling of attachment to our homeland. LOVE is a decision. It requires a collective human act to make it happen.

Our revolutionary creed rests on the belief that without a country, our rights as free people will remain unfulfilled. As of now, we have a ‘government without a country’. In such condition, it is impossible to put our faith in a ‘nation-less government’ whom we can ask for protection of our fundamental rights: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Sadly, the series of epic failures of governance in the last thirty years has reduced us into becoming bastards of humanity- a group people on a seemingly endless and purposeless wandering in search of meaning of their collective existence.

Our country is not just a geographical territory drawn on the map. Territory only represents its physical aspect. The real essence of our country is LOVE- the shared fellowship, sentiment, and consciousness among citizens who should all take part in nation-building.

A government that does not invest heavily in its people through persistent nation-building is bound to fail. There can be no real hope in freeing ourselves from social injustices and inequities if we do not possess a COUNTRY. Yes, we do have the trappings of an independent state- a country in a mere legal and symbolic sense. But we are yet to forge a nation within it. If we were to hope for creating better socio-economic conditions for our people, we must first resolve the nation-building dilemma. Solving the fundamental problems of our society, most of which are economic in nature, demands a full-blown modernization of economic production on an industrial scale which is impossible to achieve in a fragmented state. A polarizing and divisive government is never equal to the great task of creating a prosperous society where people can live with dignified existence.

From this point forward, with moral fortitude, we should take the course of our national development to eventual fruition. We can no longer entrust our future in the hands of incompetent leadership. Our proposal, which now becomes an article of faith, is to take ownership of the revolution. Our hopes, dreams, and aspirations as a people can have no practical realization until the Revolution produces a Filipino Mandate of Leadership to serve as the guide towards our nation's progress.  

In times of crisis, the soul of a long suppressed REVOLUTION, finds a stronger Mandate, Vision, and Purpose. Bringing this revolution to a decisive conclusion is the Filipino Manifest Duty to the Nation.

As Filipinos, we must realize that our freedoms and rights are only as good as the duties we perform. The concept of duty has been lost in the perverted narrative of self-proclaimed liberals which dominates the mainstream thought since 1986. The unfortunate result is a society with a deeply ingrained culture of entitlement. As opposed to our more nationalistic neighbors, many people these days find little meaning in self-sacrifice and love of country.

Thirty years since EDSA, our supposed liberal democracy has taken a wrong turn for the worst. The regime erected a dysfunctional system of belief which promotes rights, freedoms, and entitlements at the expense of societal duty. As implied earlier, public good requires the cohesive power of duty to bind people together into a singular purpose under the guidance of the state. Detractors would be quick to say that in this day and age, we need more rights and freedoms instead of less. The problem, however, lies not in having the need for more rights and freedoms but in the need of having more duties fulfilled. The culture of entitlement and the desecration of duty have resulted to far greater problems: the loss of meritocracy in governance, the pervasiveness of corruption, and the disproportionate relationship between public demand and the ability of the government to deliver.


With urgency, we call upon the citizens especially the Youth to accept the Filipino Manifest Duty to the Nation. Starting with small steps, we should take the pledge of commitment to ourselves, our families, our communities and to the larger cause of the country.
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