‘We at Kapatiran, like John the Baptist, realize that taking on the establishment is fraught with dangers. But we are crazy enough to go ahead. To say that this will be an uphill
battle is to be kind.’
A DEAR friend (and an inaanak sa kasal), coach Julio Veloso, asked me after I was discharged: “Did you see the light when you were in the hospital?” I answered “No; it was all dark, hahaha.” I don’t know if Julio was referring to the “bright light” many of those who came back from the dead talk about — I didn’t get that far into the woods, I guess, or if he was referring to some spiritual if not religious transformation in me — also no, since I approach things far more from the scientific perspective than anything. But there was this question from another friend, MayAnn Cacdac, who asked me: “How has this changed you?”
My answer was simple: “It made me more determined to fight for those who were unable to get the medical attention I got.” Another good friend, Luisito Montalbo of the Ateneo School of Government, showed me a post by a COVID-19 survivor who pronounced his mission to help address the supply chain issues bedeviling our health system. That’s good, I told Louie, except that the problem goes beyond supply chain issues.
As I’ve said separately, this whole COVID-19 scourge is a result of government mismanagement: acute during these last years but chronic over decades. Particularly, it is a result of the lack of proper attention being given to our public health sector over the years. And why should this be surprising when our highest public officials rush to our best private medical centers whenever they are in medical (and sometimes legal) trouble?
But one has to look deeper to ask why such government mismanagement could happen over decades and be undetected or left unaddressed. Jose Rizal had a simple answer that will forever be valid: “tal Pueblo, tal gobierno.” We get the governments we deserve.
All of us, no matter what our profession or calling in life, are citizens of this Republic. All of us therefore have an obligation outside those of our family life or work life to be the proper citizens we ought to be. And if I “saw the light” or if this episode in my life “changed me” in any way, it is in this form: it has made me at age 58 determined to spend part of the next 5-6 years of my life helping fellow citizens take this country of ours back from the brink and setting it down the right path. We need to write “finis” to our habits and practices, including turning a blind eye when our friends in public office fail us (while helping themselves), and encouraging those with new ideas and bright ideas to come out of the woodworks and give them a chance to take the helm.
We as a people keep complaining that nothing much changes in our country, except for a very few who benefit. Guess what: since we keep on voting into the office the same people over and over again, some turning public office into some sort of musical chairs for the whole family, why do we expect a different result?
Of course, there is a handful who are deserving, whatever their family names are. You’ll know who is the dedicated and who is the power-hungry. But oftentimes the voter overlooks this and goes for the familiar. Even if this results in familiar problems recycled from decade to decade.
This is why I came together with a few friends to form a group we call “Kapatirang Juan Bautista.” It is named in honor of John the Baptist, who tried to open the eyes of the Jewish people to the coming of a Savior. All the time he was very clear: I am not the savior.
Similarly, we come together as a group to try to open the eyes of our fellow citizens that we need to prepare for the coming of a savior. The savior is not the Kapatiran. In our eyes the savior can only be the citizenry, awakened, enlightened. For far too long we have fallen on the Filipino traditional recourse to a strong man (or woman) in whom reposes all the answers to our worries. But it’s never been true. Our woes never disappeared; for many of us life has become even more considerably worse.
But for the political elite who are able to game the system? Who court us like anything during the campaign period then forget us when they’re re-seated?
Once upon a time during my first lifetime we passed a point in our history when we said “Tama Na, Sobra Na.” And, acting in concert (and with a little help from “friends”) we got the change in leadership we wanted. And for a while it was good. Until our natural colors reappeared: choosing friends over even the more qualified, taking our responsibilities as citizens for granted (how many have even read the text of our Constitution?), and looking out for our narrow interests while not minding if the rest of the country went to seed. We could remain inside our little circles of trust and emerge unscathed.
Then COVID-19 came. And has left everything exposed. Now, no one is safe: not presidents or ex-presidents. Not doctors, nurses or other healthcare workers. Not the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor.
But things could have been better: we could have had better public hospitals in our cities (Ospital ng Makati, Ospital ng Maynila, Ospital ng Muntinglupa, etc), in our provincial capitals, in the various regions. We could have had them over time transformed into quality medical centers that only the most serious cases would have to be transferred to the Philippine General Hospital. They could have become so good that citizens of whatever economic status would have not minded being admitted to any of them if the more highly regarded private hospitals were full. V. Luna, the medical center of the Armed Forces, should have been at par with the PGH. Veterans, too — to benefit veterans of our unformed service and their dependents. And down the line in places outside of Metro Manila.
Then the panic that is palpable today wouldn’t have happened.
The lesson of COVID-19 is that if you have successive governments that see healthcare as secondary to defense, or even education, then you put your national security in peril when the next pandemic comes. You become a country scrambling for help, at the tender mercies of the big economic powers which produce the much needed vaccines. And within you become a people scrambling for any and every advantage you can find to get that much desired slot in the emergency room. Absent any “kakilala” or “kabigan,” all you can do is pray.
Don’t you think we should take the golden opportunity of 2022 to put an end to all these?
And do you agree that the only savior we need to seek for is an awakened and enlightened citizenry?
We at Kapatiran, like John the Baptist, realize that taking on the establishment is fraught with dangers. But we are crazy enough to go ahead. To say that this will be an uphill battle is to be kind. This is actually more like a Kamikaze mission.
But so was my battle with COVID-19. All the odds were against me. Yet I literally walked out of the hospital, 12 days after being admitted in critical condition.
So maybe, just maybe, there’s hope! If you share in this belief, drop us a line in the Kapatiran FB page and let’s see how far we can go!
