You know what keeps me up at night? It was never the monster under the bed, the glowing red eyes outside the windows, the faint tinkling laughter of a non-existent child, nor the thought of him leaving me for an obvious lowlife. It was the fACT THAT SENATOR BATO BERATED RAOUL MANUEL, A SUMMA CUM LAUDE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, JUST BECAUSE THE STUDENT LEADER CALLED THE SENATOR OUT FOR WANTING EX-MAYOR SANCHEZ, A CONVICTED KILLER AND RAPIST, TO BE GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE TO BE FREE.
In a subject like Philosophy, one must keep an open mind and respect the beliefs of others. This concept, however, mustn’t be exclusive to Philosophy-related subjects only. It must be applied to life itself, for life is dynamic and the only thing constant is change. It also shouldn’t just be about the theories and concepts only. It needs to be utilized in actual situations, and if you’re an actual leader of a country, this must be one of your top principles. Sadly, this is not the case for our dear senator Bato dela Rosa. He wailed like a butthurt teenager when someone really younger than him posed a valid reason about the implementation of the mandatory Reserve Officer’s Training Corps.
The “I’m older than you, so I’m obviously right all the time” concept is almost weaved into the culture of the Philippines ever since the olden days. Sadly, even when the times have changed, this toxic mindset still stays strong in many households. However, this should not be the case. It is true that adults do have more experience and knowledge about how things work in our community, having lived longer than the youth. Nevertheless, the young also have some insightful thoughts as well and their voices must not be silenced just because of their age. Most adults, like Sen. Dela Rosa, get mad when their beliefs and principles are attacked. It’s as if their ability to accept and digest new information has suddenly vanished.
I’ll relate those adults to the sophists of Ancient Greece, highly-respected group of philosophers that specialize in rhetoric, the art of successful living, and, of course, philosophy (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, 2019). They roamed around Europe to share their knowledge and principles. They had lots of students who sat down and listened to them. However, their teachings never survived to live here, in present times. Why is that? According to our lesson, they are coined as good debaters but they tend to force their beliefs on people who oppose them. In fact, another definition of a ‘sophist’ in the dictionary is ‘a captious or fallacious reasoner’. They didn’t want to accept change unlike their more open-minded counterpart, the philosophos. The sophists forgot the most important principle in the subject they were supposed to be an expert in: open-mindedness. They also forgot that, sometimes, your beliefs are not applicable to this cultural group, or this social class. They stuck to tradition instead of embracing the change that is happening around them.
Senator Bato Dela Rosa should have handled his emotions better and answered Mr. Manuel in a more mature way. As an official, he should’ve addressed this new and significant outlook in an unbiased manner. Showing this type of behavior in a documented senate hearing just proves his ineptitude as a leader.
In regards to this, I would also like to discuss about the recent midterm elections last May 13, 2019. The results showed that the majority of the senators who won are pro- administration and no candidate from the opposition even made it to the top 12. I asked my grandmother, a proud Die-hard Duterte Supporter (DDS), why this is the case. She told me that she and the other Duterte supporters wanted the president’s plans to be approved quickly without delays or objections. I just kept silent at that time though my thoughts raged within me. I will not keep silent for a long time. I may not have voiced this out loud, but at least someone has learned about my opinions about this matter.
I have only four words for them:
THIS MINDSET IS STUPID. Like the Eastern philosophies, the balance between yin
and yang should be kept. Yes, it is given that not all members of the
opposition should have won but this election should not have ended with the
odds in favor to just the pro-admin candidates. Why? The senate was formed for
a reason and that is to discuss and have debates about a proposed bill until it
is approved to be made into a law. A debate should both have the pros and cons
side. I mean, is it even a debate if all the members are in favor of a certain
topic? No, I don’t think so. The senate must be presented with both sides of
the coin, the positive and the negative, in order to have more insight to this
issue. This would make their decision-making better and they would present a
solution that cannot oppress the poor or anger the elites.
The present senate is like a fruit salad, but the fruits present are the types that don’t belong in a freaking fruit salad. Imagine mixing together lanzones, avocado, durian, and watermelon in the same mix. It would surely leave a nasty taste in one’s mouth. So far, their most notable achievement since their oath taking was angering the Filipino people after giving notions about giving an actual rapist and murderer a second chance when the mere suspects (take note: suspects, not convicts) of drug addiction were shot down despite of false evidences.
This is what happens when the scales are tipped, when the natural balanced is disturbed. You’ll have consequences that you wouldn’t like and you drag the people who were against this movement along with you. Sometimes, during the wee hours of the morning, when my gastritis suddenly decides to destroy my insides, I think about the people who voted for these senators and if they are sleeping soundly as their country is slowly burning to death. I know that philosophy is a general subject in college but why is it that its most basic principle concept, open-mindedness, is not applied? Maybe, just maybe, it’s because they haven’t paid attention to their pretty Philo I teacher. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
We resist. 