DARK NIGHT OF THE PHILIPPINES

IT IS A CHALLENGING task to put together the broken pieces of the Philippine society today due to the recent events that have been making some of us think of where to begin in addressing the issues that confront us as a nation. I remember the description of Giuseppe Zanghi, an Italian philosopher who describes contemporary society in terms of a “collective cultural dark night” borrowing the expression from Saint Teresa of Avila’s spiritual classic—the Interior Castle—that speaks of the soul’s dark night as a period of intense purification in which the soul seems to feel abandoned by God. The description “collective dark night” could be used in our context to point out that the Philippines is experiencing not only a collective cultural dark night, that is, a period of intense purification of our society but also of political and moral dark night. Economic gains that do not trickle down to the majority of Filipinos cannot dispel the dark night of the Philippines today.

One of my foreigner friends who have been living here in the Philippines for the past fifteen years sent me a text message a couple of weeks ago about the most organized criminal organizations in the world. The text message enumerated a long list of criminal organizations by country including the Italian and Chinese mafia, etc. I was about to delete the message but my attention was caught by the last item on the list of the world’s criminal organizations—Philippines: Government! I was amused but I thought that from a foreigner the Philippine government could be perceived as the most organized criminal organization in the Philippines today.

I could not absolutely agree with the observation that our government is the most organized criminal organization in the country today. But how could I prove a contrary opinion when recent events seem to prove my friend’s point? Let’s take the bribery issue exposed by Governor Panlilio, the broadband scandal, the allegations that the government is behind the Glorietta 2 Mall blast, and the impending or should I say the foreboding unconditional pardon by GMA to former president Joseph Estrada. Taking a closer look at an unconditional pardon without accountability for Joseph Estrada not only mocks the Philippine justice system but also an outright injustice towards the Filipino people. The editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (October 24, 2007) rightly put it: “It is People of the Philippines now versus Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Ejercito Estrada.”

The present situation of our country could be considered a dark night, for many of us feel discouraged and outraged by the brazenness of political expediency. The dark night of the Philippines today could also be emblematic of all the compromises that we have made personally and collectively in order to peacefully coexist and avoid a radical shift in the present structural dependence of our society. It is about time to step forward and face our dark night by giving the right name to our society’s ills and by doing what we can do to get out of the present political quagmire, hoping that a flicker of light coming from prayer and action in our small communities, could slowly dispel the darkness that covers our beloved country.