‘With the Olympics almost over and all our Olympians bringing so much pride and joy to the country I now wonder: will today’s gods look down kindly on all of us, the Filipino people, and decide once and for all to give us a break by rewarding us with election results we can be proud of?’s
THERE is a God. Or at least there is one — or a few! — that live on Mount Olympus who have decided that it is time to be kind to the Filipinos and give them something to be proud of.
As of this writing and for the first time since we first competed in the Olympic Games, the Philippines will be bringing home one sure gold (weightlifting), one silver (boxing), one bronze (boxing), a potential gold or sure silver (boxing) and in golf we are still hoping for the best. That’s at least four medals, beating our record of three that we won in 1932 when we weren’t yet an independent nation.
We are now, yes?
Actually, this is the biggest medal haul for the Philippines ever since God created the Olympics. But wait: since the Olympics started in Greece more than 3,000 years ago we need to note that as times have changed so have the gods changed: it was Zeus then, it is (insert your God’s name here or N/A if you are a non-believer).
But yes, it is undeniable that these medals (at least four as of today’s count) come at a time when the Philippines as a whole and Filipinos individually are reeling from the physical, mental, emotional and even social burdens that the pandemic has caused. Not to mention the physical, mental, emotional and even social burdens that Filipino politicians inflict on the people.
But wait: since it’s the Filipino people who elect the Filipino politicians who inflict these hardships back on the people, it is thus unfair to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of our hard working politicians who are engaged, we must never forget, in such a thankless job that they really would rather not do, except for the fact that God and the people have spoken.
Again, our system of democracy like the Olympics dates back more than 3,000 years to Greece at a time when the gods were different. But our present gods have not seen fit to tinker with the system and have simply blessed our continued practice of what Zeus and company ordained for the Greeks 3,000 years ago.
Seems to me this is a conspiracy of the gods.
Be honest: when we won our first every Olympic gold medal, thanks to Hidilyn’s Herculean lift, you too were moved to tears, yes? And felt extreme pride hearing Lupang Hinirang play as the tricolor was raised to the highest rung (need we mention above China’s?).
And after that you cheered the Herculean efforts of Luke and Kristina and Caloy and EJ and Juvic and danced for joy, thanks to Nesthy and Carlo and Eumir while waiting to see how well Bianca and Yuka perform, yes?
That’s because the Greek gods have decided to look kindly on us and provide our long-suffering people some consolation and a reason to be proud and even hopeful. Never mind that Hercules in whose name all these athletes exerted enormous effort is not a Greek but a Roman god; Heracles is his Greek counterpart and to be correct then we should describe their efforts as Heraclean.
With the Olympics almost over and all our Olympians bringing so much pride and joy to the country I now wonder: will today’s gods look down kindly on all of us, the Filipino people, and decide once and for all to give us a break by rewarding us with election results we can be proud of?
Maybe but maybe not. It all depends not on the whims of the gods as much as on whether we have it within us to exert Herculean — no, Heraclean efforts to get a government that is more than what we deserve but is what we can all be proud of in the eyes of the world.
Like our Olympians all, whom I salute.
Mabuhay kayo and Mabuhay ang Pilipino!
