PHNote: This was a reply in one of the discussions here, but I think it's worth sharing as an entire discussion
Don't you think we, as Filipino citizens, can't do better than this? Palagi na lang tayo magse-settle sa lesser evil? Yes, madumi ang politika sa lahat ng bansa, but the Philippines is among the most corrupt countries; 125 Million is still no joke, especially for a (sorry for the European effect) country considered third-world.
Hindi dahil nakasanayan ay hindi na mababago. Devils always start small, kahit pa sabihin mong lesser evil, keyword is still evil. Masama pa rin. And really, do you think these corrupt politicians, especially those that took trillions (say, the Villars and the Marcoses), really start as the devil they are? Marcos Sr. started as a golden child—UP Law Graduate, one-take bar, had the support of the masses, but what happened? He turned into one of the most evil Filipinos to be ever alive. His thesis paper when he took law studied the possible conditions where Martial Law can be legally declared, the circumstances where one can legally put an entire country in their palms. It doesn't look evil at first, just an innocent paper, just a potentially good, but equally potentially evil one, but it ended up causing one of the darkest periods in Philippine history. Sa ibang bansa, take Adolf the Austrian Painter. He seemed innocent. An art-loving gentleman who for some reason hated the jews. Racist and bad, but not much extreme, not until people started supporting his cause, not until people saw something that's morally incorrect as just. Even angels can turn into extreme evils, what more those that already have a history of being evil?
On the flip side, look at, say, Indonesia, they weren't always as advanced as they are now. Corruption is still a thing, but they've reduced it to extents where they now. KPK, though had had issues, was able to eradicate corruption to such great extents during their 2003 ~ 2019 run, and I was there to witness them in their prime. Come 2020, though short-lived due to COVID-19, they became an upper-middle income group, right after KPKs golden era. 16 years did them well, so it's certainly not impossible to change.
Hindi naman talaga mabilis baguhin ang sirang sistema, alam nating lahat 'yan, but it's not fair nor logically correct to just settle with what we have. Hindi gano'n gumagana ang kasaysayan. Walang magbabago kung walang action na gagawin para magbago. We shouldn't settle for lesser evil. We have lots of Filipinos that would do good in public offices, some of them are probably just students now. Maraming mga competent, maraming mga deserving, pero hindi nananalo dahil hindi kinikilala nang lubos ng mga tao. The more time we let pass and the more terms we give to these politicians who you say are lesser evil, we let them incubate to be worse. We directly consent them to be evil, basta may makikitang mabuti.
Hindi ba nakakahiya kung gano'n? Kung palagi na lang tayong pinapangalanan bilang isa sa pinaka-corrupt na bansa? Kung palagi na lang na 'yong sinusupportahan ay sinusuportahan hindi dahil malinis, competent, at may maayos na pamamalakad, kundi dahil lesser evil? Totoo naman na may mga politikong may mas malalang kaso at maraming nanakaw kaysa kay Sara Duterte, iyong mga Villar pa lang, pero ibig sabihin ba no'n na nararapat na siyang suportahan? Dahil lang sa pamumuno niya sa Davao? Dahil lang mas appealing siya?
Please, just for once, try to consider these ideas. Lahat naman tayo gusto ng mas maayos na gobyerno, pero hindi lahat gumagawa ng paraan, hindi lahat sa Pilipinas at sa mga Pilipino ang tingin, hindi lahat gusto ng tunay na pagbabago. Marami, ang gusto ay bare minimum lang, minsan 'yong less pa sa bare minimum, basta medyo malapit okay na. Pero mali, e. Mabagal, oo, pero sana naman huwag natin sukuan ang kinabukasan ng Pilipinas. Slow progress is still progress, at kung hindi tayo gagalaw, ano na lang ang hinihintay nating mangyari?
Let me use UP's motto—Honor, Excellence, Service. Bago ang kagalingan, nauuna ang dangal. At kasama ng dangal at kagalingan abg pagsisilbi. Isaisip natin ito sa pagtingin sa mga namumuno. May dangal ba? Marangal ba ang ideolohiya? Wala bang kasamaan sa pakay? Kasama nito, mahusay ba? Matalino? Ginagamit ba sa marangal ang katalinuhan at hindi sa katiwalian? Kung kahit may isang 'Hindi' ang sagot sa mga 'yan, magdalawang isip na bago iluklok sa serbisyo.
Don't you think we, as Filipino citizens, can't do better than this? Palagi na lang tayo magse-settle sa lesser evil? Yes, madumi ang politika sa lahat ng bansa, but the Philippines is among the most corrupt countries; 125 Million is still no joke, especially for a (sorry for the European effect) country considered third-world.
Hindi dahil nakasanayan ay hindi na mababago. Devils always start small, kahit pa sabihin mong lesser evil, keyword is still evil. Masama pa rin. And really, do you think these corrupt politicians, especially those that took trillions (say, the Villars and the Marcoses), really start as the devil they are? Marcos Sr. started as a golden child—UP Law Graduate, one-take bar, had the support of the masses, but what happened? He turned into one of the most evil Filipinos to be ever alive. His thesis paper when he took law studied the possible conditions where Martial Law can be legally declared, the circumstances where one can legally put an entire country in their palms. It doesn't look evil at first, just an innocent paper, just a potentially good, but equally potentially evil one, but it ended up causing one of the darkest periods in Philippine history. Sa ibang bansa, take Adolf the Austrian Painter. He seemed innocent. An art-loving gentleman who for some reason hated the jews. Racist and bad, but not much extreme, not until people started supporting his cause, not until people saw something that's morally incorrect as just. Even angels can turn into extreme evils, what more those that already have a history of being evil?
On the flip side, look at, say, Indonesia, they weren't always as advanced as they are now. Corruption is still a thing, but they've reduced it to extents where they now. KPK, though had had issues, was able to eradicate corruption to such great extents during their 2003 ~ 2019 run, and I was there to witness them in their prime. Come 2020, though short-lived due to COVID-19, they became an upper-middle income group, right after KPKs golden era. 16 years did them well, so it's certainly not impossible to change.
Hindi naman talaga mabilis baguhin ang sirang sistema, alam nating lahat 'yan, but it's not fair nor logically correct to just settle with what we have. Hindi gano'n gumagana ang kasaysayan. Walang magbabago kung walang action na gagawin para magbago. We shouldn't settle for lesser evil. We have lots of Filipinos that would do good in public offices, some of them are probably just students now. Maraming mga competent, maraming mga deserving, pero hindi nananalo dahil hindi kinikilala nang lubos ng mga tao. The more time we let pass and the more terms we give to these politicians who you say are lesser evil, we let them incubate to be worse. We directly consent them to be evil, basta may makikitang mabuti.
Hindi ba nakakahiya kung gano'n? Kung palagi na lang tayong pinapangalanan bilang isa sa pinaka-corrupt na bansa? Kung palagi na lang na 'yong sinusupportahan ay sinusuportahan hindi dahil malinis, competent, at may maayos na pamamalakad, kundi dahil lesser evil? Totoo naman na may mga politikong may mas malalang kaso at maraming nanakaw kaysa kay Sara Duterte, iyong mga Villar pa lang, pero ibig sabihin ba no'n na nararapat na siyang suportahan? Dahil lang sa pamumuno niya sa Davao? Dahil lang mas appealing siya?
Please, just for once, try to consider these ideas. Lahat naman tayo gusto ng mas maayos na gobyerno, pero hindi lahat gumagawa ng paraan, hindi lahat sa Pilipinas at sa mga Pilipino ang tingin, hindi lahat gusto ng tunay na pagbabago. Marami, ang gusto ay bare minimum lang, minsan 'yong less pa sa bare minimum, basta medyo malapit okay na. Pero mali, e. Mabagal, oo, pero sana naman huwag natin sukuan ang kinabukasan ng Pilipinas. Slow progress is still progress, at kung hindi tayo gagalaw, ano na lang ang hinihintay nating mangyari?
Let me use UP's motto—Honor, Excellence, Service. Bago ang kagalingan, nauuna ang dangal. At kasama ng dangal at kagalingan abg pagsisilbi. Isaisip natin ito sa pagtingin sa mga namumuno. May dangal ba? Marangal ba ang ideolohiya? Wala bang kasamaan sa pakay? Kasama nito, mahusay ba? Matalino? Ginagamit ba sa marangal ang katalinuhan at hindi sa katiwalian? Kung kahit may isang 'Hindi' ang sagot sa mga 'yan, magdalawang isip na bago iluklok sa serbisyo.