Pax Americana

Originally published in Cebu Gold Star Daily, Vol. 1, No. 107, p. 6 (January 26, 2009, Monday)


Last night, I reviewed the Obama-Biden inauguration and I could not help but feel genuinely moved by the whole event. Never in modern history has there been this much emotional investment and support for a politician. 


A peerless speechwriter and a serious student of history, law and world events, Barack Obama was an easy choice for America and a welcome breath of fresh air for the world. I was never one to care much about politics, but this special person just draws you in by his words and his stories. He carries that optimism and idealism many of us tend to abandon, as we grow older. His attitude is very much like that of a child’s, believing that determined people can make real and lasting changes in the world. In a jaded world starved for hope, Barack has come to take his place in history at the most opportune time.


Indeed, words can be cheap. Even pretty ones. President Obama has the monumental task of backing up his entire body of promises and dreams with the difficult decisions he will have to make in the next four years. Nevertheless, words are cheap only if they come from nowhere. In Obama’s case, his life story is as penetrating and impressive as his words. He studied well, traveled well and lived well. 


Barack comes from a very odd mix of circumstances. His father was from Kenya, his mother, a white American from Kansas and his stepfather was Indonesian. This taught him early in life about discrimination and how it was like to be ‘a little bit of everything’. As a consequence of these circumstances, he traveled much and experienced much at a very young age. At different points in his life, he lived in Indonesia, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Later in life, he would travel extensively to Asia, Europe and Africa, broadening his understanding of the world. 


He has solid experience with organizing small communities through NGO’s and church groups. In law school, he became the very first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. He worked as a civil rights lawyer in a Chicago firm and later taught Constitutional Law in the University of Chicago. From these facts alone, we can see that his personal philosophy and his life are profoundly embedded with the ideals of freedom, peace and equality. Even his later work as a state senator, and later a U.S. senator, consistently displays his commitment to these same ideals.


Looking further back, strange comfort can be found in the fact that Barack isn’t perfect and that he is honest enough to confront his failures publicly. In his book Dreams from My Father, he admitted using drugs and alcohol as escapes from his troubled teenage years, and deeply regrets this as greatest failure. Such honesty is practically unheard of in the political arena, especially during a campaign period. Such admission of weakness and regret are very clear indicators of the kind of strength we all look for in a leader – and with this, we have now have the flawed hero we can sympathize for and look up to.


So why all the fanfare and excitement about a foreign president? Because the United States is in the very best position to take the reins once more and lead the world into a better place. Humanity is inevitably affected by the decisions of the top dogs of the U.S. They have been part of practically every war in the past century and it follows that, if backed up with the proper political will, they have the capacity for genuine peace-building. Many of the jobs and opportunities all over the world emanate from or are coordinated by American business leaders. Their decisions and their leadership will always have a major impact on our islands. Their peace is our peace. Their environmental policy is our policy. Their freedom is our freedom. What they do, what they decide to do and what they accomplish are very much our business too. 


From his own life, President Obama has learned that the United States cannot function in isolation. That there are more levels of consequences for his actions than just America. It would be wise to take a page from his book and realize that we are truly becoming one world – and with this, we share one hope: the fulfillment of what he declared as “the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”


I might sound like a naive optimist and romantic idealist, but as the late Mr. Lennon would say, “I’m not the only one.” Godspeed to the new generation of leaders. May they be instrumental in transforming our collective dreams into reality. The time has come for Pax Americana.

Through the Eyes of the Minority

This article originally appeared in the July 2007 Issue of ThePalladium, Ateneo Law School's official student publication. This was a piece for my column Legal Personality.


The most meaningful mass I ever attended was neither in a beautiful medieval church in Magdeburg nor on a mountaintop overlooking Baguio City. It was on the roof deck of an unflattering residential building, deep in the heart of the Islamic City of Marawi. Just as the sun came down to bleed into the horizon of Lake Lanao, the local bishop began his homily in unison with dozens of mosques chanting the Maghrib or their post-sunset prayer. We were probably the only Christians in the entire city, and yet, there was a deep feeling of universal peace. It was a moment of profound deliverance to know that we were free to be different from our brothers and sisters, and yet, accepted as friends. 


It has been more than a month since our trip to Lanao del Sur, and I still have recurring staccatos of both bad and pleasant dreams about the whole experience. Working with the Ateneo Human Rights Center and, more recently, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) has never been easy, in spite of the constant presence of good-natured companions. After four years as a human rights advocate, I thought there were no more surprises. But this recent summer was full of firsts, as it presented me with a totally different level of work with much higher stakes. There was a looming sense of real danger, and I knew that I would have to be ready for the worst of eventualities. 


I was never a stranger to the Philippine south. My father's family originated from Cagayan de Oro City and I spent a year there for college. I have been to many places in Mindanao, but always circling and never setting foot on any of the ARMM territories. This would be my first time to set foot on Lanao del Sur. Entering Marawi City felt much like entering into a foreign country. I instinctively searched through my pockets to see if I left my passport, realizing my folly only after clearing my throat. Although materially the same – the foliage, the weather and the people, there was this strong unwelcome feeling, triggering a heightened cautiousness I had never before drawn. The chartered van that harbored us offered no sense security at all. We entered the city with all eyes locked on us, as if telling us to turn back while we still can. Amidst all of this, four battalions of heavily armed soldiers were deployed in the city. Never before have I seen so much firepower in real life. 


It was then that I learned how to be part of a minority. It was a difficult pill to swallow, but it brought me into a concrete level of pure understanding. The ideas of tolerance and the protection of free will broke away from my mind and materialized before my very eyes. You never realize how precious your freedoms are until they become scarce. When you are part of the minority, both your movements and your words are calculated, always avoiding any cause to offend the unfamiliar people around you. When you are a visitor in a strange land, your internal system is locked on defensive mode as you distrust your surroundings just as you perceive it to distrust you. 


Help would not take long to arrive and in the next few days, we would meet friendly faces and share long conversations with both the locals and other people from neighboring provinces who came to lend a hand. Fear and distrust are inversely proportional to understanding, and the more time we spent with these volunteers, the more my ignorance faded and the more I was emboldened to rise up to the occasion. We borrowed from each other's strengths and were able to do our jobs with confidence, knowing that we were working with people from the locality and they, in turn, had doubled-up their resolve because our presence meant that the whole country had its eyes on them. What started out as an episode of fear and distrust turned out to be a strong coordinated response to a common social problem. There was an election to be guarded and we had much work to do. We would find ourselves at the different counting and canvassing areas, welcomed by some and questioned by others. Days would pass and the local skeptics would soon understand that we were there for no other reason but to see that people's votes are properly appreciated and taken into account – to ensure that the vote of a single farmer or laborer from Lanao del Sur will count as much as a that of the CEO of a huge business firm in Makati. 


For 100,000 votes, we risked our very lives. Why? Because those votes belong to people who need the most protection. And if we can protect the most vulnerable – those who are most difficult to protect, we might be able to find confidence in Philippine democracy once again.  


For six days, I was part of the minority. I feared everything I saw, in spite of the apparent inescapable beauty of the city. It took much determination, some friendly conversations and a few laughs to finally ease up and become myself again. In the end, I would find more than twenty new people in my phone book, among them, a young Maranao girl anxious about entering her first year in law school, two soldiers from Cagayan de Oro who shared their noteworthy battle experiences and showed me how to operate a grenade launcher, a driver who shared his first-hand observations of deception during the 2004 elections in Mindanao and many other lawyers, paralegals and volunteers who gave their time and effort to show Lanao del Sur that we care about their choice – a choice that will affect the greater Filipino nation. 


During the mass, the bishop would call our attention to the beautiful melodies filling the night skies of Marawi City. 


"They are praying for peace", he said. 


And so were we.