"Still desiring for a well-founded nation"

"Still desiring for a well-founded nation"

A note brought about by a prevailing system's babbling of hope and change
and yet showing its obvious reactions to its subjects
desiring those same sentiments

"We must build the house of Philippine Democracy on a strong foundation, a viable economy and society, not on the shifting sand of palliative measures. When the storm comes, the house can stand because it is well founded."

These are the words the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos saidth in one of his speeches during the so-called "new society." It seemed to be idealistic enough that said message as he tries to invoke national renaissance, social concord, and domestic restructuring as means to create a new and vibrant society brought about by the call of times.

However, all despite its appeal to idealism, patriotism, and perhaps even hope and change, these words are rather reduced to mere appeals as the present system including those of the former ruler has much interest to keep over.

How strange it was, or even is that those who babble such good messages are contrary to their actions, that even they afforded to create some infrastructure does not translate to emancipation of the masses nor create a new course. Words like economic emancipation or political liberation has nothing to do with a status quo emphasising feudalism and bureaucratic corruption what more of neoliberalism and its globalisation.

And in a obviously semicolonial country it seems that one within the system can afford to babble the idea of shaping one's destiny as a nation, that is contrary to the fact that its policies rather continue to be dictated by nonetheless superior powers who tries to undermine growing nationalism by emphasising global unity and transnational development, that is obviously a retention of master-vassal relations.

"We may not have the power and influence to shape the destiny of our region, but we can shape our own. It is within our power to strengthen ourselves economically and socially, so as to develop our nation's resistance to internal strains and disorders, and build a viable and permissive framework of national life in which every Filipino can ultimately find his opportunities for fulfillment and advancement."

 

Again, amidst the façade of development and conditions appeared to be opportunity provoking, the order's reluctance to seriously heed the call of the people for genuine social change rather reduces all these optimistic words into plain rhetoric enough to sneer people through both eye and ear, as the supposed creation of a vibrant sociopolitical life wherein advancements and opportunities been ceaselessly cultivated are obviously façades meant to hide hidden injustices and disenfranchisements particularly against the less fortunate sectors of the society.

The system greatly benefited from bastardising hopes and turning it into theirs as if people may agree unto it. Be it economics, culture, foreign relations, military and domestic affairs, the system is as if assuming to be with the people knowing that the latter be impressed by the former's numerous "contributions" no matter how corrupt or repressive the system is least they allegedly did something assuming that their "interest" is as same those of the peoples.

Admittingly speaking, to use some of the late dictator's statements be like trying to invoke patriotism to the people in general, but like any other personage within that same old social order, those words again meant to appease the people amidst the latter's growing dissent. For sure everybody knows that the system is reluctant to make a nation truly independent as what its founding fathers been insisted. After all, will long term self reliant programs such as industrialisation truly succeed if not for those compradores who disagree due to their commercial interests? Or is land reform likely to be successful knowing that landlords and bureaucrats trying to dilute its intention in favour of keeping interests favourable to the latter? How ironic that the rotten social order had afforded to babble some words that is contrary to their usual means as keepers of their vested interests.

Anyways, as time goes by, and still seeing a system feigning as patriots or nationalists, this person and others concerned is ought to say that the struggle for the protection and promotion of national interests is but corollary to the freedom and independence a nation been struggled and gained decades back. In fact, in the once newly independent countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, there lies a quest for regaining national identity, an inquiry into native virtues and traditions and a soul searching reexamination of foreign values that had been engrafted into one's native cultures. Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, had afforded to merge both fruitful legacies brought about by its own and those of the foreign just to create something anew in their nation's identities, or rather say trying to restructure by means of bridging both past and present ideals in pursuit of making better and fruitful outcomes as progressive societies, or in case of China and Vietnam, had to undergo revolutionary means in pursuit of rebirth as a nation brought about by its once cherished legacy and of social justice.

And perhaps, it shows that ever since Nationalism has swept the face of every continent. It has acquired social awareness in which it invokes not just redemption from domestic or foreign repression but liberation from socioeconomic injustices in which the masses, known as the creators of both socoety and history truly desired for a place in the sun. In the Philippines, this has found expression in the maxim: "The Philippines for the Filipinos", but Filipinos also desired more than just that maxim commonly raped by vested interests, and that is to take it into action through creating strong, rooted foundations brought about by justice, freedom, and hope from a struggling people for generations.