By Ding Generoso
(Contributed article)
We are a country deeply divided –
— not so much by the vast waters that connect our islands for the waters can be traversed and bridged,
— not so much by the 100 or so different tongues that our people speak with for we can understand each other even if we speak different words,
— not so much by the diversity of our culture for there can be unity in diversity,
— not so much by faith or religious beliefs for there is still only one God we all can rely on to bring all of Humanity into one no matter how we differ in expressing our faith,
— not so much by race or blood for even if our Malay ancestry has been diluted by the blood of other races, blood remains thicker than water,
— certainly not by political belief or ideology for very few really have strong ideological or political conviction.
But we are deeply divided by:
— one, economics where there are a few thousands or so ultra-rich and 60 million who survive day-to day and a thin middle class, whose life of a little comfort has been greatly diminished by two years of pandemic and economic downturn,
— and, two, a system of political patronage and personality-oriented politics that, in a generation or so blossomed into division by colors that turned our deep divide into bitter divide — so bitter it even divides families.
Sadly, the two feed each other.
This is the challenge that we face as a nation, if indeed we are one, and if we are to survive as one.
There is no antibiotic, no magic cure for the condition that we are in. There is no vaccine that can prevent this division from infecting all of us — and future generations. Our problems are systemic. They require massive surgery — sooner than later, else we risk the demise of Asia’s First Republic.
But we need something to hold on to — not a change of regime, not a single leader or group of leaders, for all have failed, failed the nation, fallen short, are largely responsible for the division. And everyone else will fail.
We need something to hold on to in the same way the Japanese hold on to their code of discipline, Americans of different races hold on to the American dream, the Israelites hold on to their Promised Land. We need something strong to hold on to, not straws to clutch at.
That, we have to find.
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Mr Generoso is former spokesman of the Consultative Committee under the Duterte government, which was tasked to review the Constitution for a shift to a federal form of government.
