his open letter to the next president

i've been meaning to write some of my thoughts but every time i had the time, i would space out. i just read today the editor's letter of this month's rogue and i couldn't help but share it (italics his).



AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEXT PRESIDENT


Dear Mr. President,

You don't know me and I don't know you, but come the second half of 2010, we're going to have to live with each other for the next six years, so we may as well get acquainted right now.

As a magazine editor, I am privileged to have this space to write in and an audience that will listen to anything I say in it, so although I am quite certain it will not reach every Filipino in the country and around the world, it will be read by a good number of them who matter. What I am about to implore you, as the most powerful man in the country, may affect our fellow citizens - the people who voted you in and who you are obliged to serve - in a positive way (or it may not). One thing's for sure, though - it's better than not saying anything at all. And it certainly won't hurt to say it. So, here goes:

CAN YOU PLEASE HELP US?

Our country, the one we were born and raised in, the one we love so deeply, the one that's given us such wonderful memories of family, friends and fun times, regardless of how rich or poor we are, is one of the most corrupt in the world - and because of it, our people are literally dying. They don't need to . It's not as if we don't have the resources to give our people a decent standard of living; on the contrary, we own 7,100 islands rich enough to make our nation one of the most prosperous in Asia. And as evidenced by heroes like Manny Pacquiao, Efren Penaflorida, Brillante Mendoza, Arnel Pineda, Ninoy Aquino and the hundreds of children who kept on smiling while Ondoy ravaged their homes, we certainly have the strength, talent, skill, and, most of all, the spirit to not only survive but to succeed, on anyone's terms and based on any standard.

No I didn't forget intelligence. History has also proven, without a doubt, that we have the brains. Some of our past presidents have been fiercely intelligent and have given so much to the development of our economy. They have been too savvy, in fact, that their deftness has overshadowed their capacity to love, and all their great contributions to society have been nullified by their own crimes against it. In the process of enriching themselves and a handful of people, they took away our innocence by allowing a culture of corruption to breed and infect our society, and now it has taken the form of a seemingly incurable disease, a malignant cancer that is eating away at our bones, our blood and our brains.

I know cancer well. Both my parents suffered badly from it. It is the one thing that's made me question my faith in God. My Mom died a slow and painful death from it, and my Dad, who ultimately died from liver failure, was given a few months to live and was already talking to priests and saying goodbye to his children - until we decided to inject stem cells into his body. New cells, healthy cells, clean cells, innocent cells, uncorrupted cells - and guess what? It worked. Those few good cells were able to defeat an army of bad ones. And he didn't even have to go through chemotherapy. He didn't have to inject poison into his system and hope that it would be so venomous that it would implode and take some cancer cells with it. He did not have to fight evil with more evil. It was simply Good versus Evil - and Good prevailed.

Do you see what I'm getting at, Mr. President? Despite all evidence to the contrary, the situation is not entirely hopeless. And remember: There is no such thing as heart cancer - but if we allow the cancer to grow everywhere else, then the heart will eventually be outnumbered and give up. We cannot allow this to happen. So when you make decisions in your office, I must ask you to please always look at what's in your heart, because that's where your soul is. And once you lose your soul, it's good night, nurse.

Everybody has the ability to discern right from wrong, that's the easy part. The hard part is that we just can't seem to act accordingly - and I completely understand this most basic of human flaws. I myself would be the first to admit that I can resist just about anything except temptation, which is why I would never even think of running for public office. I like yachts too much. But if you've gone this far, then you are presumably smarter than I am, and it's ultimately up to you to decide how you want to use that intelligence. It boils down to a simple question of what is important to you. What your priorities are in life. What true and lasting happiness means to you.

I read an article recently about a Ponzi schemer who stole $380 million from hedge funds and was caught. In his poignant confession he concluded, "Many people are caught up in the notion that success in life is measured in professional and financial achievements and material acquisitions, and it's hard to step back from that and see the fallacy. You have to try and measure your life by the moments in your day." At the end of your term you will have a chance, as all presidents do, to leave a legacy that is unique in the history of our nation. A legacy that you alone will own as the only president who was able to successfully conquer corruption, which is, without a doubt, the most serious problem the country is facing at the moment, and the one that requires immediate and focused attention. A legacy that will claim you as the one man who has changed our national reality like no other man has, by altering the lives of millions of Filipinos in a real and quantifiable way. When that legacy is secure, and you're sitting in your den thinking about it, and a smile takes over your face - wouldn't that be a great moment in your day? It would be for our country and our people. Maybe even the greatest moment in all our lives. Shit, even I might take that over a yacht.

But I am a realist, Mr. President, and I am not naive enough to think this letter will surely make an impact on your policy-making, or that one man can wipe out corruption in one fell swoop. But I've got the space anyway, and certainly one man can do something, particularly if that man is the president. He can do a lot, actually, because in this country, everything starts and ends in the Palace. Once your office is corrupted, then all the others become vulnerable. So your first task would be to try and lead by example. This shouldn't be too difficult as long as everybody else gets to do what they want, which is why you're going to have to keep your eyes wide open and get used to saying two words: "no" and "sorry." It will be a daunting task, no doubt but it will not be impossible. And just like sex and murder, it gets easier the more you do it.

I don't expect you to be the Pope. You might have to bend the rules a little bit to reach the end-goal, I understand. Especially since it's possible that you owe some favors to some gentlemen who have contributed to your campaign and without whom you wouldn't be where you are in the first place. Fine, I'll cut you some slack there, but just a little, because this is where we'll find out what you're really made of. You will have to get your hands a little dirty, I know, but if that's what it takes to clean up the whole yard, then start digging. After all, even God writes straight with crooked lines.

One more thing before I go: Assuming the elections were clean, you already have the mandate and support of the people - but that's enough. It is imperative that you have the military on your side, because they have the guns. So make those boys happy. I think they deserve it. They want nothing more than to serve a good leader who cares for his country. You're making a dangerous bet if you don't take this to heart. Why do you think the most honest president this country has ever had suffered the most coup attempts?

So good luck, Mr. President, whoever you are. You're going to have to sacrifice a lot to accomplish all these things, but I guarantee you it will be worth it. Keep yourself protected at all times and try and stay alive - your country needs you too much. Martyrdom is nice, it gets the juices going, but where is Ninoy Aquino when we need him the most?

He wasn't all talk, that man, and I have proof. For the article I wrote in Rogue's December 2009 - January 2010 issue on his friend Jose Antonio Gonzalez, I was privy to some fascinating letters Ninoy wrote to Gonzalez while he was in solitary confinement during Martial Law, and in those letters he outlined in great detail how the machinery of corruption worked in the current government and how he intended to eliminate it if he was president. I'm sure I could probably share those documents with you, as I'm sure any president would learn a lot from them. In fact, I suggest you get your hands on as many writings from Ninoy as you can. Unfortunately, I don't have much else to offer on that front aside from these letters, which aren't even mine.

But perhaps you know his family?


Jose Mari Ugarte
Editor-in-Chief
Rogue