ROBERTO A SAMSON, a Filipino-Italian living in Ireland, on how democracy must be tended to with a gardener’s dedication to achieve our desired results
A millionaire from America, staying in London for business, fell in love with the grass in Hyde Park, and asked his hotel porter where he could buy the seeds for such marvellous turf. He was promptly given a store address, and after almost flying to the shop to satisfy his need, he went directly to the owner and asked: “I want to buy some English grass to plant around my mansion. I will pay whatever amount if you tell me the secret for growing compact grass with so intense a colour as in Hyde Park. So what’s the secret?” Without a blink, the shop owner said: “It’s very simple. Buy a good grass seed, then water it regularly, and take care of it... for 300 years.”
There are some things that are not just improvised. Democracy is one of them. We can feel sorry about the state of Philippine politics, the manoeuvres of different political parties and the constant opportunism of our politicians, but we should remember that democracy in our country is still relatively young. (Sounds like Ireland to me, too.) Therefore we should continue to take care of it, as development will not come naturally or spontaneously.
How can we do this? First of all, let’s not lose hope. We may have a young democracy and may be even immature, but this also means that we have a future in front of us. Not all politicians are corrupt, and they need our support. Besides, it’s not enough to choose the right politician who would solve all our problems while we don’t do anything on our part. Each must take one’s own responsibilities and not just leave everything to the ruling politician by thinking “anyway, he’s the head of state so he should be the one to take care of this…”
Why is it that when Filipinos are abroad, they become so religious in abiding to the rules and regulations of the country that gives them hospitality, and yet when they are in the Philippines, their attitudes are completely different, if not appalling? Examination of conscience here will never be sufficient – only a total good conversion is needed!
Secondly, as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines suggested in their recent pastoral letter, we can help “to make this year’s elections credible – and as free of violence as possible.” The bishops are actually inviting everyone to join forces with every organisation that is working “to help clean the dirt from our easily corrupted electoral process”. I would add that we should also refrain from dirty politics, such as what’s occurring in Ireland nowadays leading up to the coming election. Smearing the truth is now almost a tradition among political parties when election time comes.
Thirdly, we can start from our own backyards to develop the foundation for the work and ethics of future politicians. It will require lots of time and energy, but only by spreading a culture of brotherhood – ie putting the interests of other people before our own – can we ask politicians to do the same. What about practicing ‘love thy enemy’? Can politicians love or treat the other parties like their own? This could be the start of the true revolution in Ireland, the Philippines or any place in the world!
Fourthly, when the time comes we have to vote according to our conscience and not according to our feelings. Uh-oh… here we are again on dangerous grounds. Let’s say a certain politician is honest and good, but has few chances of winning. Since backing a loser might be embarrassing, in the end many people would decide to vote for other politicians – perhaps not so ‘clean’ ones, but possible winners. This is a sure way to let dirty politicians continue as they are. So we’d better stand up for our convictions and be potential losers today, but winners tomorrow.
All these suggestions may seem like small seeds for a new way of doing politics, but if we take care of them everyday, we may not have to wait 300 years to be able to see our country fully compact and blooming, and perhaps even Ireland – though already endowed with marvellous compact grass in all shades of green – could learn from its mistakes.
There are some things that are not just improvised. Democracy is one of them. We can feel sorry about the state of Philippine politics, the manoeuvres of different political parties and the constant opportunism of our politicians, but we should remember that democracy in our country is still relatively young. (Sounds like Ireland to me, too.) Therefore we should continue to take care of it, as development will not come naturally or spontaneously.
How can we do this? First of all, let’s not lose hope. We may have a young democracy and may be even immature, but this also means that we have a future in front of us. Not all politicians are corrupt, and they need our support. Besides, it’s not enough to choose the right politician who would solve all our problems while we don’t do anything on our part. Each must take one’s own responsibilities and not just leave everything to the ruling politician by thinking “anyway, he’s the head of state so he should be the one to take care of this…”
Why is it that when Filipinos are abroad, they become so religious in abiding to the rules and regulations of the country that gives them hospitality, and yet when they are in the Philippines, their attitudes are completely different, if not appalling? Examination of conscience here will never be sufficient – only a total good conversion is needed!
Secondly, as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines suggested in their recent pastoral letter, we can help “to make this year’s elections credible – and as free of violence as possible.” The bishops are actually inviting everyone to join forces with every organisation that is working “to help clean the dirt from our easily corrupted electoral process”. I would add that we should also refrain from dirty politics, such as what’s occurring in Ireland nowadays leading up to the coming election. Smearing the truth is now almost a tradition among political parties when election time comes.
Thirdly, we can start from our own backyards to develop the foundation for the work and ethics of future politicians. It will require lots of time and energy, but only by spreading a culture of brotherhood – ie putting the interests of other people before our own – can we ask politicians to do the same. What about practicing ‘love thy enemy’? Can politicians love or treat the other parties like their own? This could be the start of the true revolution in Ireland, the Philippines or any place in the world!
Fourthly, when the time comes we have to vote according to our conscience and not according to our feelings. Uh-oh… here we are again on dangerous grounds. Let’s say a certain politician is honest and good, but has few chances of winning. Since backing a loser might be embarrassing, in the end many people would decide to vote for other politicians – perhaps not so ‘clean’ ones, but possible winners. This is a sure way to let dirty politicians continue as they are. So we’d better stand up for our convictions and be potential losers today, but winners tomorrow.
All these suggestions may seem like small seeds for a new way of doing politics, but if we take care of them everyday, we may not have to wait 300 years to be able to see our country fully compact and blooming, and perhaps even Ireland – though already endowed with marvellous compact grass in all shades of green – could learn from its mistakes.
