Electing convicted criminals who have proven to cause only disaster and mayhem aren’t exclusive to the United States and the Philippines.
That people find criminals more attractive than people of virtue speaks of a truth almost none of us want to admit: our collective and individual morals have been totally reversed. Good is now evil, and evil is now good.
I’ve always said in my column that here in the Philippines, crime has not just become a way of life: it has become our life. Petty deceits, “pet sins” have become so commonplace that it has become normal, not news.
Fixers in government offices? Bribes to get out of traffic violations? Jaywalking instead of using overpasses, as well as blatantly disregarding traffic signs? These petty deceits have become an integral part and parcel of our everyday lives.
And that attitude of resorting to crime to “get by” has permeated every aspect of our living, even our own family lives. And the infuriating thing is that when people who still possess a sense of morals call them out, the culprits resort to insane justification or worse, gaslighting.
I remember this viral video of a man in a Manila neighborhood who was accosted by his neighbor for illegally tapping into electric cables (jumpers) for his welding job. The culprit’s reply: “Walang masama sa pagnanakaw, basta gawin mo nang tama!” WHAT THE FUDGE?!
No wonder most of us now seem to have an inverted sense of what public service should be – as evidenced by some “fanatics” allegedly booing those campaigning for good governance at a recent religious festival. Not to mention some of us now treating disbarments, suspensions, or criminal convictions as “badges of honor” rather than signposts of shame!
Imagine our children seeing us adapt criminality as a way of life and thinking that the only way to get by in this country is becoming criminals themselves. You know, the whole “Anumang ginagawa ng mga matatanda ay tama sa paningin ng mga bata” thingy.
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Speaking of our youth, I can’t wrap my head around the arguments some conservatives and religious organizations have put forward against the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act.
Since time immemorial, religious groups have rallied against the teaching of sex education, claiming that it allegedly exposes the youth to “corrupt practices” such as premarital sex.
The truth is, the more we “shield” our children from understanding reproductive health – and what constitutes a “bad touch” – the more we’re leaving them vulnerable to abuses that, let’s face it, are sometimes committed by their own families or relatives.
How would our youth know if they were already being “groomed” into premarital sex, or worse, rape, without them understanding and realizing the risks?
In possibly not-related news, by the way, Pope Francis is reportedly set to dissolve a prominent conservative Catholic organization based in Peru following decades of accusations of, among other things, sexual abuse against its members.
I leave it to you, readers, to connect the dots.
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