I am not embarrassed to tell you that I believe in miracles.
- CORAZON C. AQUINO
Have we forgotten?
… that we were once the masters of democracy?
… that in 1986, long before anyone had even heard of Barack Obama, there was a more pronounced and dynamic miracle here in our very own islands?
… that we were the envy of the world for our singular display of peace, reconciliation and true power?
Back in the day when power was yielded by the vicious, it was unthinkable that a housewife with no political ambition could topple down a twenty-year-old empire. The proud few fell under the furious voice of the humble in glorious unison.
“No more”, they said.
“Not in my country”, they said even louder.
To avoid falling into the trap of romanticizing the past too much, understand that it was no secret that Tita Cory had her share of failures and frustrations. As her administration was cursed by violent coups, natural disasters, and economic ruin, she had an army of critics that watched her every move. This forced her team to be dynamic in both composition and strategy. In the end, she never really settled in. There was no calm -- no settling of the dust from the aftershock of Marcosian and natural devastation. She sat at the edge of her seat during her entire service.
President Aquino was not your typical idealized hero. She was not one who rose from the masses to become a champion of the people. She was never in war, or tortured, or humiliated. She was part of the elite Cojuangco family that had much in life. She had everything she ever needed, including a US education, a secure family and a fount of inexhaustible finances.
She could easily have sat back to watch the wicked and the greedy devour each other while keeping her family safe, not losing a single night’s rest. But she chose a difficult life. She chose to jump into the fray and serve her God and her people.
It was her great personal sacrifice that won for us a sustained increase in national hope. It was this -- her resolve to abandon the quiet life that she craved in exchange for a life lived for everyone else -- that made the Filipino people feel even human again.
The years when she was in the Palace were not the most productive years for the Philippines… they were not the happiest years… they weren’t even the most peaceful years…
… but they were certainly the most hopeful years.
And we lost this because we have forgotten that it's not what you have or what you've been through that defines you as a true leader… It’s how much you’re willing to give up.
That is the story of Corazon C. Aquino.
And it is a story we must constantly revisit and learn from.
Because certain great sacrifices have to be made in the months to come… and we shall see who will finally step up to take the challenge head-on.
Rest in peace, Madame President.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
- CHARLES DARWIN
How we change… and so often and much in only a single lifetime.
This is clearest when we look at our heroes -- our public icons -- our human torches.
Take the recently deceased high-pitched, crotch-grabbing, energetic pop star that went from being deified to being demonized in a matter of years… and now he is put to rest by a world transfixed with ambiguous feelings and unanswered questions.
Time and again, we see our war heroes and redeemers turn into tyrants. People from humble beginnings become billionaires. Many times we see the good guys give up. Many times we see evil extinguished by conscience.
People have the capacity to live as saints or villains and shift from one personality to the other with relative ease. We have this as a free gift and a harsh responsibility. We determine our truth by our individual choices and our reputation by our habits.
In our own lives, we encounter extremes of transformation… a once funny uncle who just stopped laughing… a friend with whom you once burned the phone line for ten straight hours who just chose to become a complete stranger… a person you once feared who now serves as your role model…
The weak become strong… the dull become colorful… the meek become loud… the arrogant are humbled… the evil finds redemption… and the heroes fall with greed.
Transformation is inevitable. Change is who we are because we constantly seek for that which we do not have. We long to live someone else’s life. We are fascinated by the unfamiliar. We are drawn towards the unknown.
Never mind if we have it all and no apparent right to envy others. The truth is… we always will.
The prince will always have recurring dreams of being the pauper and vice versa a million times over.
But every now and then, we find true rocks in our lives… people who serve as the solid foundations unto which we cling for safety… people who shift and sway, and sometimes leave but always return.
These people shield us from the chaos. They help us find our center and stay on a predictable course, and they will live and die with us through any transformation.
They are the keepers.
They are home.
… and they are the ones we often fail to notice… because with them, we are safe.
After all the excitement... after all the adventure... after all the changes... we always come home. Always.
Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily
The disembodied spirit is immortal; there is nothing of it that can grow old or die. But the embodied spirit sees death on the horizon as soon as its day dawns.
- THOMAS HOBBES (1588 - 1679)
For those of us who work with the law, we often think in terms of finality. We believe ourselves to be boxed in by parameters set by old men and women who seem all-knowing of all there is and all there ever will be. Our education implies that outside this box we call the Rule of Law, there is no other form of succor. But any person with a bit of life experience knows that there are forces greater than government, institutions, and people. There are virtues far greater than the decent human minimums of justice and fairness.
This holy week, I invite everyone to reflect on the greater things in life -- more than our business interests, our personal ambitions, and our dreams. These are the greater forces of compassion, kindness, and love -- super-natural urges that seem to always keep us off tangent from normal human behavior and reasoning. Why are we capable of being generous at a time of personal need? Why are we able to reach out and pull up those we fairly defeat in life’s race? Why do we still believe in miracles after all that education we’ve been put through?
There exists that great force that keeps humanity reaching out for its best qualities. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or even a self-declared atheist, there is reason and meaning behind every good work that you do and reprieve from your baser actions. The inevitable truth is that we are all spiritual beings and no denial, no backsliding, no distancing mechanism can change that.
Whatever may be your interpretation, there will always be room for greater things and greater ideas in your life. Call it God, goodness or love; we recognize it almost immediately when we see it. We are forever drawn towards it in our search for meaning.
Sometimes your cynicism may leak out through your words, but your actions will always betray the truth. How hard you work for your family will show it. How you comfort a friend at a time of loss will show it. How you tip the cab driver or the waiter will show it. How you call people through your mobile phone for no reason except to say “How’s it going?” will show it. How you forgive someone who took much from you or betrayed you in the most terrible way will show it.
These things are who we are. These things fuel our hope.
Our failures, our pains, our frustrations fade in time because we are spiritual beings, mindful of things more important than simply what we go through this day. We are a constant work-in-progress and will remain this way until the day we die. This is our common journey towards perfection – towards the spirit.
Thus, we are not of this world. We will never be satisfied with what we have now because they lock us up in this place so fleeting and temporary. That bigger TV or faster car will become old and meaningless in time. Your clothes and jewelry will go out of style. Your gadgets will become obsolete and stop working. Your beauty will fade. Relationships will end, whether by choice or by death. Everything has an expiration date.
So survey your blessings. Value the good things in your life because all these are temporary: our careers, our material things, and our loved ones. Someday, we will lose them. Someday, only shadows and memories of the good old days will remain. But even on those days, we will survive. Through any war, recession, heartbreak or frustration, we will survive. Because at the end of every episode of pain, after every loss and even when everything else fades into wind, the human spirit remains.
Peace and blessings to you all. Happy Easter!
Good evening friends.
A colleague of mine who has family in Lebanon emailed me last night about what happened. Five days ago, Israeli Jet fighters indiscriminately bombed Lebanon in response to the kidnapping of two of their soldiers. 60 Lebanese are dead and 150 are wounded (and my friends, the next time you read the papers and find the word wounded, this does not mean people with chicken scratches… these include people who have had their legs amputated or their eyes gouged out). Men, women, and children. No exceptions.
For those of you who are familiar with the principle of proportionality, this is definitely not it. Israel receives $3 billion in military aid from the United States every year. Their military technology is second to none. Nukes, warplanes, satellite capabilities… believe me, if you see it in the movies, the Israelis have it. Lebanon has old guns, old rockets and a few helicopters that were used during the Vietnam War. Go figure.
Many Lebanese are fleeing to neighboring countries as refugees. This happened five days ago and the fires in Lebanon have not yet been extinguished completely.
Why am I talking about a country hundreds of miles away? On the night of the 70th Anniversary of the Ateneo Law School why on Earth am I talking about war? Because, my friends, I want to clarify what we are celebrating tonight. It does not matter if we call ourselves Ateneans. It does not matter if we are Christian by name. It does not matter if we are Filipinos by birth. These things will not matter if we do not choose to be human first – if we do not feel the plight of our fellow human beings, empathize with their suffering and choose to respond accordingly. Was this not the same desire of San Ignacio and San Francisco Xavier?
I have been working with the Ateneo Human Rights Center for almost three years now and I can strongly say that these years have been the most difficult and the most precious moments of my life. My work has brought me to the mountains of Mindoro and Tarlac, to the jails of Metro Manila, to the remotest barrios of Northern Mindanao and, most recently, to the former border between East and West Germany. There are many places that need us – many voices that call upon us. There is human suffering in so many places and we have a choice on whether to respond to them or to ignore them completely.
Human rights is about facelessness. It is about extinguishing the borders and differences that make us unequal in our rights. It is about recognizing that we are all human beings complete in dignity. If you had noticed, at the start of this speech I did not greet anyone by the titles that we have grown so accustomed to: Attorney, Doctor, Professor. These are not titles of respect. These are mere titles of classification – formalities. People who address us as such do not necessarily respect us; chances are they do it out of habit or because they are expected to. These titles tell people what studies you finished not who you are. The only title that gives genuine respect is what I used to address all of you tonight: friends.
So my friends, on this 70th Anniversary, we honor our school because it has given us the opportunity to be great people. The key word here is opportunity. To say that every Atenean is great is just plain ignorance. Not every Atenean is a Bobby Gana or an Ed Nolasco. We have Ateneans who cheat on their taxes, bribe government officials, or manipulate election returns. There are Ateneans who lie, murder and rape as if they were uneducated and uncivilized. The word Atenean is, likewise, just a title that describes where you studied. Never be fooled by titles.
Our school is great because it offers us a shot at greatness. For those who choose not to take this chance, they have only themselves to blame. For those people who have taken this opportunity to become greater than mere titles, this night is for you.
How does one become great? Do what you do best no matter what it may be. We can be good at so many things but we can only be excellent in a few. Find those talents, skills or dreams you are superior in and lose yourself in them. Strive to outdo yourself every single day.
Not all of us can be Justices of the Supreme Court. Not all of us can be working for the United Nations or Amnesty International. Not all of us can be priests, pastors, imams or religious leaders. And I am very sure not all of us will turn out to be practicing lawyers.
Find your place. You may be an excellent debater… go, compete and argue your heart out. If you love books, you might want to start writing one of your own. If you excel in sports then try going pro. Every single day, we are tempted to forego the excellent for the good. So much time is wasted in doing good. Like I said, there are many people and places that need us. In this short lifetime, we just have to find where we are needed the most and stay there. We each can find our own ways of inspiring people and changing the world. Pray through the work that you do and do it with magnificent passion. That, my friends, is heroism. That is what the Atenean ought to be.
If ten or twenty years from now, you become role-models in your respective fields and someone asks you if being an Atenean had anything to do with your success. By all means say yes. But don’t forget to tell them that: Ateneo gave me the shot and I took it.
Have a good evening.
