Minorities and maps

Cory Cojuangco-Aquino came to power after the martial law regime, the dictatorship of Marcos. Barack Obama now is in power after 8 years of Bush administration full of lying, and an unprecedented economic recession that could drive the US to a full-blown civil war if not stopped right away. Cory worked for the peaceful transition of the country into a democratic state. Obama is now working for a peaceful recovery of the state of comfort the Americans used to have.

Why do minorities achieve power after times of inhumanity? What is it in their character to be able to take on the challenge of accepting the need to help, to serve and to be truly effective in turning the tide of adversities?

It is not and never easy to steer a country to a peaceful state where people would still believe that democracy can work. Leaders have to contend with many sectors, forces of reaction not wanting to shake up their hold on power, or wealth. But it is the appeal of human reason, to the Christian spirit, that humane spirit of helping the other person, the need to share blessings -- both knowledge and material wealth -- which shapes the kind of leaders there are.

I received a uniformal message from US Pres. Barack re his speech yesterday and it was full of plans to recovery. We in the Philippines have not had such a grand speech for a long, long time and coming from a sincere person. So our duty now is to search for that person, the one true leader who will lead us from the morass of ignorance, of lack of willpower to change, and will generate hope in every Filipino, man, woman, child, elderly and the country in general. Come 2010,let us make sure that no more cheating would occur.

Lastly, allow me to reveal that everytime I see our map in a magazine, or an atlas, and surrounded by other countries, I feel a tugging in my heart, telling me everytime that this is the same land that our heroes and heroines fought for for us to have our own national identity and spirit. This was the same feeling I had the first time I looked at a map in 1981 to find out where the airplane I was going to ride from Manila to Amsterdam would pass. And I felt very low then because the plane from Europe was not going straight to Manila - it would still pass by Hong Kong, because the Philippines was not a direct landing place then. We were really a Third World country then, and until now, i suppose.

Henceforth, let it be a demand, an order for everyone: everytime you are hopeless about the country, about our people, look at our map and feel a surge of nationalistic feelings. Feel that love for the ordinary folks and act.