Posted by Mabie

over a century ago, rizal diagnosed the nation with the disease of cancer. entering into the first decade of the new millennium, i would have to beg to differ and give my own diagnosis, without, of course, precluding that i am in the same league as rizal. i say that it is not cancer that is beleaguering our society, it’s alzheimer’s, the forgetful’s disease.

we have forgotten that heroism is not necessarily exclusive to one individual alone, but with a people – a nation – working together.

we have forgotten that rising up as a nation against a dictatorship is not the end of the fight, but only the beginning of the struggles we need to overcome in order to patch up the cracks that infiltrated our subconsciousness.

we have forgotten that we are a young democracy, and as such we should not let it get to our heads and push the meaning of freedom to the fringes of extremeties. that the freedom we enjoy is not for free, even in its absolute sense, and must be worked hard for. that the government is not the only one responsible for ensuring that this is made secure and available for all. that we only got lucky that the heavens sided with us that one, fateful, yellow day two decades ago, and that we should not boast of knowing it all when it comes to democracy. more…