THE LEGAL FRONT

I lifted my title from the Beatles song “Let’s give peace a chance,” an anti-war song of the 60s-70s. Like John Lennon’s song, this article advocates action; it is an appeal to reason and to the better side of our nature – a plea for a kinder and more appreciative look at ourselves and at our country.
In less benign terms, mine is a request to every Filipino to refrain from taking the lead in smearing dirt on ourselves, our country, and our leaders, as we thereby run the risk of cutting off or slowing down what could be non-repeatable chances for advancement and progress. We may not have many of these as fortune is not known for repeated smiles; it is fickle and its sunny visage may suddenly become a frown when we rebuff its beneficent offers.
I first realized that we are our own worst enemy when I was an overseas immigrant.  Canada could be a very lonely place; thus, our family read every material about the Philippines that came our way.  We then discovered a lot of negative publicity about our country, some of them incongruously existing with praises for our 1986 “peaceful revolution.” I did not really mind the articles written by foreign authors; I could see that many of them wrote with incomplete background information about us, or with less than genuine journalistic intent. Part of free speech and journalism, I often dismissively told myself, although I also agreed with some of their views and insights.
I felt sad, however, when the authors were Filipinos who should have known better and who, by their actions, were bringing our country and people to disrepute. In effect, they were fighting their local Philippine wars and carrying their homegrown enmities overseas.  Worse, they were airing these before foreigners who, at best, might only read our noisy local developments for amusement.
I always thought – why can’t these kababayans be sensible, fair, and reasonable, at least to the country and its people, who are not guilty or complicit in the deeds attributed to political opponents they had already beaten and discredited?  Are political battles really eternal flames that must be stoked and kept burning through a constant flow of bittervile? A reality that some people may fail to grasp is that, over time, the configuration and consequences of events, past and present, could change, resulting in the reversal of roles and fortunes; one may be up one day, and nowhere to be found in the next.  Why can’t we simply let go of the past and positively focus on our lively present and promising future?
To be sure, neither we nor our country is perfect.  Like everyone who has lived and savored life, we carry scars and ugly scabs of past battles. Some hide these marks out of shame or disgust perhaps, while others proudly display them like trophies earned. Some scars are attributable to our history; we stood subdued for so long and the look of subservience has stuck.  Others are cultural, reflections of ways of life and beliefs that have become ingrained and are now beyond skin deep.  Others are racial and geographical; we are left with no choice in the slant of our eyes, the color of our skin, or the way we react to the rumbling of mountains.  Whatever these roots or sources might be, we cannot and should not be ashamed nor be blamed, least of all by our own countrymen, for what we are.  Our best move now is to assess and see what we can do to improve our lot.
And this is where we are and should be today: self-aware but ready and willing to move on to improve ourselves and help others – our country and our people – carry their share of our bequeathed legacies.  I hope we can all hold hands in doing this – give ourselves the chance to live life in the way life is intended to be lived – with integrity, dignity, and as responsible and independently thinking individuals.  To paraphrase John Lennon, let us give ourselves a chance.  The one who can do this best for us is none other than ourselves. ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))