MISERY HAS A SILVER LINING

As individuals, we are all different in every way, in every respect, and in every aspect of everything. Nevertheless, in the midst of all our differences, we cannot escape the fact that a widely separated family is living in the same country which is a large house wherein we have to live together—Christian or Muslim whether he be a millionaire in his mansion or a pauper in his hovel.

Since we are a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, by force of circumstance we can never live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace. The large house in which we live demands, that we transform this country-wide neighborhood into a country-wide brotherhood. Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools.

But this is not the case in our country and this is why. Among the 16 Presidents of the Philippines, 13 were from Luzon and only 3 are not, namely: Pres. Carlos Garcia, from Bohol, Pres. Sergio Osmeña, from Cebu, and Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, from Mindanao. Thus, the classification of the inhabitants in our country was born leading to tribalism or racism. The people from Luzon are the first class citizen; the Cebuanos are the second class citizen; and the Mindanaoans are the third class citizen; a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape.

The classification has been largely shown from the people appointed to the respective positions in the various departments and instrumentalities of the government. All Cabinet members and the juicy positions go to the people from Luzon, and that discriminated position without anything to expect except the salary is where the second and third class citizens are jockeying and overlapping the other.

The status quo in the bureaucratic hierarchy in the government has always been that way and the oracle of the Gordian knot was only cut when PRRD after 72 years of shrinking and bowing by the Mindanaoans to the Luzonians. The rise of PRRD had occasioned much disbelief that the Luzonians of all people should descend to such a third class citizen stature.

Nevertheless, with all the earthly comfort and riches spreading abundantly over them, they cannot see their life without it. They must cling to it though hell should bar the way. They have begun their life this way so they must never try to live any other way.

This is racism and as always as it has ever been will still be that hound of hell which dogs the tracks of our nation.