Shahani, Moral Recovery & Cultural Revival
Given the different political, cultural and intellectual perturbations
currently obtaining in these islands, I do believe that the ultimate way to
save the country from either slow or violent disintegration is to engage in a
Moral Recovery Program for the Philippines, or MoRPH (my acronym), as originally
proposed almost 30 years ago by Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani on 18 September
1987 as embodied in Senate Resolution 10 "Directing a Senate Task Force to
inquire into the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino Character with a view
to solve the social ills and strengthen the nation's moral fiber, thereby
laying the groundwork for the national campaign for Moral Recovery," as
recalled in Presidential Proclamation 62, "Declaring A Moral Recovery And
Enjoining Active Participation Of All Sectors In The Filipino Society" signed
by FVR on 30 September 1992 (gov.ph).
I believe that such is the last lasting legal legacy of Shahani, who died 20
March 2017 of colon cancer at St Luke's Hospital in Taguig City at 87 years of
age. As I upload this, today is Black Saturday, with Jesus dead; that inspires
me to say I believe Leticia Ramos-Shahani died for Love of us Filipinos.
Because, as I see it, moral recovery intrinsically is of,
for and by Love (image from lakako.com
but which I have painterized). Immorality must morph into Love – and that's the
problem!
The full sense of Love as I use it here is quite probably
not what you think. Most Christians equate Love with 1 Corinthians 13. That to
me is quite limited in scope, as it is only personal, where Romans 12 is
universal, in the wider sense that Roman Catholicism is universal. All-encompassing
Love, I see it in Romans 12 taken as one, where love covers not only a
multitude of sins; it covers everything. In my love essay, "Anyway Love,"
14 February 2016, Frank A Hilario, blogspot.com),
which is my poetic version of Romans 12, uniquely I see Love all over that part
of St Paul's Letter to the Romans, whether you are Catholic or not.
We should find such Love in Shahani history. Subsequent to FVR's
proclamation of September 1992, there was his Executive Order 319 dated 03
April 1996 titled "Institutionalizing The Moral Recovery Program (MRP) In
All Government Departments, Offices, Agencies And Government-Owned And
Controlled Corporations Through The Establishment Of Integrity Circles" (lawphil.net).
You cannot propose,
propound and pursue a policy of moral recovery for the country if it does not speak
of love for all.
Two decades later, where now is that moral recovery? Nowhere
to be seen or found, but just the opposite. EO 319 was issued 21 years ago; Ms
Leticia did not fail us – we failed ourselves.
To find out why, we go back in time.
From the book Introduction
To Values Education by Epitacio S Palispis published by Rex Bookstore in
1995 (books.google.com.ph):
Describing the
sickness of the nation as she proposes a moral recovery program for the
Philippine society and as she emphasizes the urgent need for (such a) program,
Sen Leticia Ramos-Shahani describes the nation to be a sick nation, gravely
afflicted with the interlocking diseases of poverty, passivity, graft and
corruption, exploitive patronage, factionalism, political instability, love for
intrigue, lack of discipline, lack of patriotism, and the desire for instant
self-gratification. According to her, a cancerous growth is affecting the vital
organs of our society to the extent that we seem to be in a state of paralysis.
The patient is no longer responding to the problem confronting him. She added
that the sickness affecting the country is moral in nature. To her, the bottom
line in the economic problem and political instability is the weakness and
corruption of the moral foundations of our society.
Poverty, passivity, graft and corruption, exploitive
patronage, factionalism, political instability, love for intrigue, lack of
discipline, lack of patriotism, and the desire for instant self-gratification. "A
cancerous growth is affecting the vital organs of our society to the extent
that we seem to be in a state of paralysis." That reminds me of Jose Rizal's dedication "To My
Fatherland" in his book Noli Me
Tangere (Touch Me Not); here is the dedication as translated from the Spanish
original by Charles Derbyshire published in1912 (gutenberg.org):
To My Fatherland:
Recorded in the
history of human sufferings is a cancer of so malignant a character that the
least touch irritates it and awakens in it the sharpest pains. Thus, how many
times, when in the midst of modern civilizations I have wished to call thee
before me, now to accompany me in memories, now to compare thee with other
countries, hath thy dear image presented itself showing a social cancer like to
that other!
When Ms Leticia proposed a program for moral recovery in
1987, it was exactly 100 years after the national hero Jose Rizal published his
fictionalized history of the Filipino people, the Noli, emphasizing the social
cancer. In fact, Derbyshire translates the title Noli Me Tangere (literally, Touch Me Not), into The Social Cancer. Some 30 years after
Ms Leticia's proposal, we are where we began. How many more national heroes do
we need before our people learn to be morally upright?
(Now,
having said that, having been studying the life of and lessons from Ms Leticia,
I believe she had served her country extraordinarily well that she deserves to
be declared a National Hero, not only for fighting for women's rights here and
abroad, but more so for decades fighting for the moral right even longer than
did Jose Rizal. Ms Leticia, My Hero!)
Senator Leticia R
Shahani (1993) asserts that there is a need to change structures and to change
people. She explains that, "Building a people means eliminating our
weaknesses and developing our strengths and this starts with analysis, understanding
and appreciation of these strengths and weaknesses… we must change. And
understanding oneself is the first step." To give the strengths and
weaknesses of a Filipino, she proposes the following goals for change:
o Develop in the Filipino a sense of
patriotism and nation pride. A genuine love, appreciation and commitment to the
Philippines and Filipino things.
o Develop a sense of the common good, the
ability to look beyond selfish interest, a sense of justice and sense of
outrage at its violation.
o Develop value and habits of discipline and
hard work, self-reflection and analysis, along with the internalization of
spiritual values.
A sense of patriotism and national pride, a sense of the
common good, discipline and hard work, internalization of spiritual values –
that is national in scope. To continue the moral recovery initiative of Ms
Leticia, I propose that we localize those things and thereby go about implementing
a moral recovery program enthusiastically.
Specifically, I propose that we:
Cultivate cultural diversity!
Forget the teaching of, by and for "Filipino" as
the National Language – it does not
unify. Foremost, "Filipino"
is cultural imperialism, poised on us by Imperial Manila. We must eliminate
Manila Imperialism. And to do that, I further propose:
Cultivate cultural diversity
via federalism!
We must cultivate the diverse inland cultures of the
Philippines, resurrect them from the past if necessary, except something as barbaric
as "beheading a slave to end the mourning" of the slave owner, which
was being practiced in Pangasinan when the Spaniards came, according to
historian Rosario Mendoza Cortes, who grew up in Pangasinan, his father's home
province and my own (Pangasinan 1572-1800, book
published by New Day, QC, page 40). If we exhort that biodiversity must be
conserved, all the more reason that cultural diversity be fought for,
nourished, and sustained. I see federalism as that social mechanism by which to
nurture our cultures, plural.
As proposed by Aquilino Pimentel in 2016, we will have 11
states: 4 in Luzon (Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol), 4 in
the Visayas (Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Minparom), and
3 in Mindanao (Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Bangsamoro) as reported by
Katerina Francisco (17 June 2016, Rappler,
rappler.com).
Now then, in Northern Luzon, we will promote statewide
cultural growth among the tribes of the Ilocanos and those of the many mountain
peoples like the Gaddangs and the Kankanaeys. In Central Luzon, the appropriate
tribes will promote the cultures of the Pangasinenses, Ilocanos, Tagalogs,
Pampangos & others. in Southern Tagalog, we will promote locally the
cultures of the Tagalogs and those of other tribes. In Bicol, we will promote
the culture of the Bicolanos. In the Visayas, as appropriate, we will promote
the cultivation of the cultures of the Cebuanos, Hiligaynons, Warays etc. In
Mindanao, we will promote the cultures of the peoples there, including the
Muslims.
What
I have just succeeded in promoting is moral recovery and federalism. Love of country, love of peoples. @
15 April 2017.
Total word count, excluding this line: 1480
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