‘Can a people adopt that
Olympian mentality to save their country from the looming darkness? Can they rise above the temptations of the easy way out to reach Olympian heights?’
WE mark the 500th day of what is the longest continuous lockdown in the world, in what has been a spotty attempt to keep the COVID-19 virus at bay. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would in my lifetime confront something like COVID, more so fall ill to it. Never, too, in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would in my lifetime have to live through various forms of lockdowns, complete with an initially strict APOR ID system and the implementation of a face shield policy that is unique to the world.
But I did. And the experience isn’t over yet.
But never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would live to see the day that a man would step foot on the moon. Yet Neil Armstrong did, more than 50 years ago, a feat I witnessed on black and white TV. And many more have come after him. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think that man could live in space for days or weeks or months, but eventually man did — on board Skylab or the Russian version, the Mir — and now on board the International Space Station whose crew is replaced every so often through shuttle flights that have become “ordinary.” Never have I ever imagined that man would explore beyond the planets, but man has, sending probes beyond what we know to be the extent of our solar system, trying to see what else is “out there.” We are also now exploring the possibility of putting up a community on Mars, the planet we consider as “closest to home;” indeed, when we let our imaginations run wild, we can dream of the wildest things.
It is not the outer reaches of space that limit us, but our ability to imagine, and to bring to life those imaginations.
And it is in this spirit that another “never in my lifetime” fell by the wayside when I finally was able to hear our national anthem playing in an Olympic Games venue as our tricolor was raised above the flags of two other competitors. As if that was not enough, the feat accomplished by a compatriot was good enough not only for the gold medal, but for two new Olympic records — the first two to be ever set by a Filipino athlete.
This became possible because someone did not limit her ability to imagine and overcame all constraints to bring to life her own dream of bringing home the gold.
Maybe the Philippines is not such a hopeless case after all.
The challenges before us, however, are Olympian in nature. And the biggest is what we have to confront in May of 2022.
Do we look for the candidate who is most electable, and rally behind him/her? Or do we look for the candidate most qualified, and do what we can to make him electable?
For the longest time, we have chosen the first path, which has been the path of least resistance. But as the years have passed, we have come to pay the price. Today, in all levels of elective office, we have men and women who shouldn’t be where they are if not for the fact that they are simply electable for one reason or another except capability.
What happens when you have people in office who are not capable of doing the job for which they were elected?
The Philippines’ governance record is what happens. In my lifetime (I was born in the 1960s) this country has slipped from being second in Asia (at a time when Japan was number one) to becoming part of the bottom half of the Asean 10.
Over and over and over again I’ve heard a common refrain from expatriates that I have encountered in my professional life: if not for your politics (they would tell me) the Philippines would be a leading economic power in the region with such an industrious people and a country teeming with natural resources.
And in my heart of hearts I know they’re right.
This is what happens when we keep on choosing the electable over the qualified. As we have been doing over my lifetime. And as — I am afraid — we will continue doing way beyond my lifetime.
Maybe the Philippines is a hopeless case, after all.
To win an Olympic gold medal, especially when you do not have the luxury of the opportunities for training that athletes from the advanced economies have, the sacrifice is unbelievable. It is such that at every turn one is easily tempted to give up, to take the eyes off the prize, and to settle for less. Many athletes take this easy way out. But real Olympians do not.
They choose to sacrifice their todays for that elusive tomorrow when you stand on the top step and beam with pride as the strains of your national anthem fill the venue. It is at that point when they know their sacrifice has not been in vain.
Can a people adopt that Olympian mentality to save their country from the looming darkness? Can they rise above the temptations of the easy way out to reach Olympian heights?
Never in my lifetime, I would have said yesterday. Today? I think there is a small glimmer of hope.
