The Paris Olympics brought the worst of Pinoys
(Un)Common Sense

The Paris Olympics brought the worst of Pinoys

Aug 16, 2024, 7:15 AM
James Veloso

James Veloso

Writer/Columnist

Moral of the story: sa bansang ito, bawal maging sikat.

The reason: maghahanap at maghahanap ang mapanghusgang lipunan ng kahit na anong isyu na pwedeng ipukol laban sa iyo.

Truth be told, we really do not (and SHOULD NOT) have dragged Carlos Yulo’s personal issues out in the open – and so soon after he won us the second-ever gold medal in the history of the Olympic Games.

What good would that do? To satisfy the cravings of the “Marites” who (as I had pointed out in this column space earlier) seem to want all the bad tidings to fodder their insatiable lust for gossip? To besmirch an innocent guy’s name and put a bad taste on what should be a moment of collective jubilation of a man bringing glory to our nation?

-o0o-

I also noticed that the same people who are VERY quick to judge the “wokeness” and “sinfulness” of the Paris Olympics – the alleged blasphemy of the “Last Supper” and the Algerian boxer whose gender has been called into question – now call for “nuance” and “pag-intindi” when it came to Carlos Yulo’s mother.

Napapansin ko na ito sa mga conservative “Christian” kaagad nao-offend sa mga bagay na at face value ay yumuyurak sa kanilang pananampalataya. Pero kapag mga mabibigat na mga isyu – kawalang-katarungan, korapsyon, kahirapan, to name a few – hindi lang sila tila napuputulan ng dila: sila pa mismo ang nagtatanggol sa mga hayagang masasamang tao dahil lang kaanib ng simbahan nila o di kaya ay kasang-ayon nila sa mga paniniwala nila!

Add to this the same old excuses of “nanay mo naman iyan, intindihin mo na lang” and “mas mahalaga pa ang pamilya kaysa pera.”

It was this mindset, may I point out, that has entrenched the toxic habits of parents using their children as a sort of “insurance,” as well as physical, verbal (and even sexual) abuse among family members.

Paano nga ba tayo uunlad bilang tao at bilang Pilipino kung ayaw nating magpakawala sa mga masasamang kaisipan na pilit nating ginagawang “Filipino values”?

-o0o-

I'd like to end my column for this week with a quote from US-based Filipina writer Ninotchka Rosca, concerning our propensity to uphold "resilience" at the expense of meaningful change:

“We are very good at survival, which we call resilience, but very poor at transformation. We can't seem to transform, so we remain unchanged, no matter where we end up."

I'd like to revise that last sentence: we actually end up worse, but we've been so bamboozled and brainwashed and desensitized that we actually think we're doing better.

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