Do we still have hope for the country?

A country founded in pursuit of freedom, exemplified in series of uprising against the foreign oppressors since the time of the Spanish conquest; an undying expression of patriotism and bravery in view of a fruitful ending. During these times we Filipinos were anxious in fighting for self-determination that seems to be far within our reach. In as much as we wanted to fight for our liberty, foreign powers were just too strong for us and yet many centuries after, we managed to established the very first republic in Asia; an embodiment of democracy in the East, hence there was a furtherance of policies under a Filipino government, be they domestic or foreign policies that would best served the interests of the Filipino people. Indeed our early heroes’ passion for independence came to materialize, as we face yet other challenges that come in the way of our fledgling nation.

In the modern period, we fought a repressive government that have usurped and trampled upon our inherent and inviolable rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness; together we stood firm against the dictatorship of the Marcos regime. We Filipinos displayed to the world what we can do and what we must ought to do as a responsible citizen. The People Power was an epitome of unity, a reverberation of our continuing search of preserving our rights with a common vision of advancing our aspirations and identifying anew our role in the world order.

There is truth to Rizal’s claim that the youth is the hope of the motherland, for the future lies in the hands of our youth which are the prime actors of change. They are the ones who will effect the changes towards realizing our goals. We may experience dilemmas at present but this is a part of the challenges that we have to overcome. While it is true that divisiveness of ideas is the very essence of a democratic society, divisiveness of actions on the other hand is the one that is detrimental to us. The latter would hamstring our common vision, our hope for the nation. We must not demand anything more from our government because it is high time that we should be the one to respond to the demand of our government, the demand of our nation. A responsive government constitutes a responsive citizenry. An ideal society is composed of a government and people where their interests are identical; they are correlated with each other. As such, we should put our actions in the right perspective which should be in consonance to reason and justice. We must not be blinded by the glittering light because the only thing that our eyes can see and what we’ve been longing for is a plain light that would lead us to the truth and the right direction. If a people are morally developed they will have a moral government. There is in fact, Rizal in each of us. We are a great nation because we kept on believing in our capacities; there is hope for as long as we keep on envisioning ourselves in facing the emerging threats of the future. There is hope if we continually educate our minds, and cultivate our hearts. There is hope because we are in constant search for a bright dawn to come amidst the uncertainty of darkness. There is hope, for we never lose sight of our vision, as proven by many occurrences in the past that we are willing and capable of becoming as one nation towards a more meaningful tomorrow.