Goodness and gratitude

The Good Life with Eli F.J. Tajanlangit

So this is how we regard goodness in our time. We ignore it when it is there and rue and rant and even rave when it disappears. We are quick to point out what’s wrong in our lives, i.e. our government, our cities, our neighborhoods, and hardly do we focus on the good that lives among us, or happens around us.

The way we regard goodness was made pretty evident in the last week or so, and as it so often happens, when we lost a good man in government, Secretary Jesse Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government. Such outpouring of affection, of support, of love, over the man whom our supposed representatives sitting in the Commission on Appointment bypassed twice, a euphemism really, for saying he was ignored, was almost unbelievable.

As if it bypassing him wasn’t bad enough, those politicians soon scrambled among themselves to do something for Robredo in his death. As a display of how bad, bad manners can get in Congress came the suggestion to confirm him Interior Secretary posthumously.

Well, given the quality of our legislators, such ridiculous suggestion comes a dime a dozen hereabouts; it is almost staple fare from people who will do anything and stop at nothing to stay in power, including using a dead man.

To equal the ridiculousness of the idea of a posthumous confirmation came the streamers, tarpaulins and mini billboards, all saying goodbye and thank you to Robredo, but with the name of politicians in bolder, bigger fonts.

What did you expect? Isn’t this standard practice in our political system, that, to survive, our politicians must use every available medium and tool at their disposal to advance up the totem pole? But, I think those tarpaulins and billboards, as well as those verbal and verbose claims of how close they were to Robredo, is simply the pits: this is using a dead man’s name and if that isn’t callous disrespect for someone who isn’t breathing anymore, I don’t know what is.

Let’s be clear here. All of us are guilty in various degrees of how we have ignored the good that Robredo did and tried to propagate in our country. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think anybody had stood up for Robredo when he was given the cold treatment by the CA. How sad, and how pitiful, to watch all these outpouring of support to the man, when such could have made plenty of difference if they were expressed when he was still alive and needed every little affirmation that he was doing right for his country.

Those politicians who now avow friendship and closeness to Robredo can do themselves a favor by measuring their politics against the standards of this man. For starters, those local pols who say they were good friends of Robredo can review how transparent they are with regards to procuring goods and services in their projects.

Those who wish to display their love for him shouldn’t proclaim it in tarpaulins but in the way they comport themselves with regard to their public works and projects.

The Liberal Party, which Robredo infused with the values of People Power and the EDSA Revolution, should start examining how it is conducting itself now, with elections coming up. Among all our institutions, it is the LP which has the resources and the wherewithal to pursue Robredo’s values. Does the LP operate in the straight and narrow path of good now in preparation for 2013?

As to the rest of us, this should be a reminder that the fight for good government does not simply mean shouting down the corrupt and the criminal, nor marching up and the down the streets condemning the condemnable. It is   also pointing out, if not praising, the good there is, because celebrating what is good can sometimes prove doubly infectious and more powerful.*

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