I just wanted to share some thoughts: It's so uncannily timely that we are taking up Sophocles' famous tragedy "Oedipus Rex" at a time when our nation is undergoing an awful lot of turmoil and discontent. We know that political, economic and social turbulence are no strangers to us as Filipinos. But the recent exposé of the colossal, profoundly entrenched system of corruption involved in the PDAF is one to which so many recent high profile corruption cases can be tied up (Corona impeachment, Malampaya, fertilizer, Arroyo scandals, etc.), and perhaps to which all the tragedies of our country are rooted in.
It makes me so sick, and it should make you, too, even if most of you are not yet earning their own living and paying taxes. Granted that none of us are tax evaders or enjoying tax shields, try to compute how much of your family's breadwinner's salary goes to the government if tax deductions are between 20-30%. Don't stop there; every time you dine out, shop, buy anything from anywhere, keep the receipts and keep track of how much you're paying for VAT, travel tax, etc., of which a substantial amount also goes to the government.
And yet budget cuts and insufficient resources for education, social care, health care abound. And students either drop out or commit suicide because they cannot pay for education. The poor and ill end in tragic deaths on the streets--like that pedicab driver, at the gates of our University.
Just like some characters in the story of Oedipus Rex, the people who are supposed to answer for these scams and scandals are all either 1) in hiding (like the shepherd who knew that Oedipus--in his fit of pride and intemperance--was the one who has slain Laius; and 2) in denial, therefore would rather suppress the issue (like Jocasta) and keep silencing the FOI Bill, or 3) blind to their own accountabilities to the suffering of the nation (Oedipus himself).
If we look decades back into our history, we can see a string of unresolved plunder, corruption, extra-judicial killings, assassination, massacres, etc. So many of these are still unresolved, not because our forces and institutions cannot, but because the people who have committed these crimes are in power and money has sadly become the currency for truth and justice. It makes me sick to think that the Napoles exposé is only the tip of the iceberg. I don't know if I can bear to hear all of it. On the other hand, if hearing and seeing the whole story is what will make ALL Filipinos care, take to the streets, write, shout, voice out and finally say ENOUGH, then like Oedipus, we must demand for the entire truth and punish the culprits.
I hope the culture of corruption ends with those people's generation, my dear students. I hope that we have learned good lessons from this class and will continue studying literature, art and the humanities; they contain lessons technical courses cannot convey (but you can use technical courses to convey these lessons). I hope that you talk about this issue and similar, serious, unselfish ones among friends, family members, and immediate social circles. I'd like to see more social media posts on matters that are not just centered on the self or the most superficial things that I call "first world problems."
That's quite a lengthy post; hope it wasn't too TLDR. Feedback is most welcome. Have a great afternoon, pray that Nando doesn't gain strength, catch up with you guys soon!
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Dianne
