3rd of A Series
(The third of a series of articles by business executive and CE board exam topnotcher Oscar P. Señar diagnosing the ills plaguing the country and subsequently offering solutions)
I had a dream about an old and very holy Filipino who was granted by God to have a glimpse of Heaven and Hell before he finally passed away.
My dream went this way:
God showed him the way. God opened the first very heavy door and said, “This is heaven.” The old man saw a huge place and in the middle there was a big cauldron of beef stew boiling on a small fire underneath. The people he saw there were very healthy and happy looking. There was happiness and contentment in the big community therein. The old man observed that everybody was holding a spoon with a long handle about one meter long. God said, “Are you now happy that you have seen HEAVEN?” The old man nodded and then they walked farther away.
| There are many politicians here. They cannot agree with each other. They always quarrel and put down one another. They have no love for each other. They refuse to feed one another. |
Then God led the old man to another huge and heavy door and said, “This is Hell.” When the door was opened, the old man saw a much bigger place with a similar big cauldron of beef stew in the middle. Just the same everybody was holding a spoon with a very long handle. However, everyone was thin and skinny, as if they have had no food for a long time.
The old man became curious and asked the Lord, “How come these people look so thin and sickly?” The Lord said, “They had not touched food for a long time. While those in heaven helped each other by feeding one another by turn, these people hate each other and do not care for the welfare of one another. There is absolutely no order here.
God whispered to the old man. “Do you notice how crowded hell is? I am expanding it, but in the meantime I have used the Philippines as the temporary annex while construction is going on. When the expansion is completed, I will bring them all here. Have you noticed that your country looks like this place?
- You are now the most corrupt country in the world. “Taning” is very proud of you.
- Do you remember what Quezon said when he was fighting for Philippine Independence? “I would rather see my country run like HELL by Filipinos, rather than see it run like HEAVEN by Americans! Some of you thought that Quezon was prophetic like Jeremiah and Isaiah. His words came true as prophesied. “Taning” has really done his homework very well.
- Leakage in infra-structure projects run as high as 50%.
- There is huge leakage in revenue collection.
- Huge underground economy that pays nothing to the government
- Hoodlums in robes; Court injunctions for sale
- Huge backlog in pending court cases, good as justice denied. Sometimes, it takes you between 15 to 20 years to terminate a case. People lose tract of them and lose interest. Filipinos have accepted them as the only way.
- Why does it take you more than six years to pass judgment on your former President?
- Your politicians think they are above the law, that is why they are Taning’s favorite. They have complete disregard of your traffic signals. They think being elected to the post automatically makes them stockholders of the National Treasury.
- Men in uniform think they are licensed to commit crimes
- The mentors of the youth and supposed to be the last bastion of honesty and decency or the DDE – Department of Deteriorating Education, have now joined the bandwagon. The ADB is more tolerant and just call it –“deteriorated proficiency in the use of the English language.”
- Tell me what is going right in your country?
- NPA insurgency?o Muslim uprising? MNLF/ MILF / Abu Sayaff?
- High daily Crime wave?o Exam leakage everywhere?
- Poorly done infra-structure projects because of SOP?
- Decaying quality of education?
- You thought I will not touch you being the only Catholic country in Asia?
- I tried to communicate and give you warning about my displeasure by sending you floods, landslides, earthquakes and 20 typhoon every year. What did your lawyers make you believe they are – An Act of God!
- But, your politicians are quick to declare a “State of Calamity”, meaning more liberal disbursement of funds. Help yourselves.
- The MORAL FIBERS of the Filipino have rapidly decayed over the years because of Greed and Ambition.
- What do foreigners tell you? Your motorists drive like HELL. How else? They are at home.
- I really have to rush this expansion. I think I made a brilliant decision in not putting a Filipino in its Bidding Committee!
End of God’s long litany to the old man. The Lord’s face became very red from anger!
Having seen the Lord’s reddish face and heard the Lord recite that long list of corruption and venalities daily being committed and the decision to rush the expansion, the poor old man collapsed and died of heart failure. Then the Lord ordered His angels to move the old man’s body to his proper place in HEAVEN.
End of my Dream
As in the past, I suddenly woke up because of a full bladder and it was morning. My chest was pumping very hard because I thought that the wrath of God was being vented on me.
Then I prayed, “Lord, can you tell me the way so that I can pass on your words of wisdom to my friends, Amen”
I had more dreams thereafter, but my column allotment would not allow me to say more. On the next print, my dream will center on: “The Way Forward for this Country”
If you have any comment, reaction or suggestion, forward them to: oscar.senar@gmail.com
