Today’s revolution: Public service

THOUGHTS UNLIMITED
Eugene M. Balitang

(The columnist has been a practicing lawyer since 1999. He now holds office in Lagawe, Ifugao. Eugene was born in Banaue in 1972. He finished his primary education at Banaue Central School , high school at Saint Paul ’s Academy, BS Accountancy at Saint Louis University , and Law at the Baguio Colleges Foundation.He is the son of Alfredo Dagadag Balitang Sr of Hingyon and Mercy Gayaman Mariano of Kingguingan, Banaue. He is married to Deborah Balanban Buyagawon of Kiangan.The editors apologize for inadvertently misplacing Atty. Balitang’s photo in his first column.)
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(Reprint of speech delivered during the flag-raising ceremony at Lagawe on June 6, 2005, still relevant to the times.)

Six days from today, on June 12, we will be celebrating our Independence Day, an independence that is a product of several revolutions.

Before the Spaniards accidentally landed on our shores in their search of spices and gold, the country that we know today is but a collection of 7,100 islands, each having its own government and people.

Thanks to three centuries of Spanish oppression and alleluiah-amen, that is – evangelization, our sense of patriotism has awakened and we revolted against our white colonizers – thus, we now celebrate our so-called independence day. Then came another white oppressor – the Americans whom we thought are our friends, but later on disdained and revolted against. And when the Second World War broke out, we revolted against military imperialism and checked the advance of Japan ’s Imperial Army in the pacific theater. Had we crumbled under the Japanese onslaught, Germany and Japan might be the superpowers today. We would have been sending our nurses to work for the Japanese yen instead of the US dollar.

We are now a nation, a country, a state – instead of a mere collection of 7,100 islands. There is a reason then to celebrate Independence Day six days from today. But before we embark on merrymaking and festivities, why don’t we ask ourselves whether we are indeed “independent.” Sometimes these thoughts cross my mind: that maybe we are better off as the 51st state of USA , or that, we are a province of industrial Japan.

Today, my dear fellow public servants, we are still oppressed. The irony is that, our oppressors are not white men or chinky-eyed Asians. Our oppressors are our own people, our very own selves. We have become the enemy. We are the oppressors of our own very own people.

Lately, the very foundation of our government is shaken by the jueteng issue. We are building hotels in Boracay for our soldiers’ R & R while they are shot at like sitting ducks in the battlefields of Mindanao for lack of combat armaments. We are debating charter change instead of discussing what we would use for classrooms for the hundreds of grade-schoolers that trooped to our public schools this very day. These are only a few of the many social ills that we suffer daily in the hands of our “oppressors” – our very own people. Corruption is now the name of the faceless enemy. We have lost faith in our government and in ourselves. We need again a revolution!

This time, our revolution is not waged in hills and plains with guns and bombs; it shall be waged in the silence of our hearts. And the best soldiers in this kind of revolution are no other than us – the public servants. If corruption is the name of the faceless enemy, we are the best-trained soldiers for its annihilation. And this we do by simply doing our best in rendering honest, efficient, timely and dedicated public service.

Today is manic Monday, the start of another long workweek. I believe that we all have our hang-over from the weekend revelries. But let us take this day as the first marching drill for the rendition of an honest, efficient, timely and dedicated public service. And if we would survive this manic Monday, I know we can survive the whole week, the whole month, the whole year, and all our working years until we retire, 8 to 5 until we reach 65.

Fellow public servants, let us annihilate the faceless enemy instead of joining its ranks. Let us put back our people’s faith in our government and in our bureaucracy. This we do by simply giving our best service in whatever position we are in. Let us start today’s revolution: public service!