Freedom to be independent

It’s been days (or weeks) since I’ve first thought about this. While at SM on June 12, I saw banners greeting everyone “Happy Independence Day.” All of a sudden I thought about why it was called independence instead of freedom; well, I prefer the latter. The word appeals to me as something absolute (and dramatic). I want to be freed from captivity, and not be, uhm, independent from it. I don’t know if independence day is the universal term every time a nation restored its right to rule itself (pardon my ignorance if so), but whoever thought of it must have had in mind the country’s dependence to its former ruler as a point of reference. Again, as it seems to me, the importance and the power are on the colonizers. Hey, shouldn’t we be the lead character of the story?

I should have written about it the day I thought of it, when my thoughts were all fresh. But I must admit, tinatamad na kong magsulat. My lost of interest in editing must have translated to my lost of interest to writing (hope not forever). But I will never lose interest in things that concern my country. I love my country, and I believe I am a true Filipino at heart (though I haven’t given back enough to the PI).

There were two things that bothered me: the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars and the stay of the President and her alipores in the United States. First of all, typhoon Frank was a national calamity, highlighted by the capsizing of a huge ship with 800 passengers. Up to now, all passengers aren’t accounted for yet. Local governments are complaining about the smell of the dozens of dead bodies in their islands, and the national government, as well as Sulpicio Lines (owner of the ship), has a very unorganized treatment to this tragedy. Sure, Mrs. Arroyo set up a teleconference, but is it all she can do? In a household, whenever a child got hurt, the father immediately goes home to attend to the injured child. Mrs. Arroyo, as the head of the state, should attend to the hundreds of injured or dead here, or at least oversee the whole process of search and rescue or rebuilding the nation after the storm devastated us. Aside from the people, what about the crops? It has damaged hectares and hectares of land. With the issues of food security and all, why can’t she and all the politicians with her cut their trip short? Given that it is for international relations or for the Filipinos abroad, surely, that can wait. This is the immediate concern. Fine, you didn’t know the storm would hit that hard that’s why you left, but now you know, so get back. Use our taxpayer’s money to buy your first-class ticket, and please, lead the country.

Another news that pissed me off was that Mrs. Arroyo couldn’t go home yet because she would still talk to John McCain and Barack Obama. She had the appointment with McCain, but Obama was a different story. Mrs. Arroyo had to adjust to his schedule so they can meet. When finally they got an appointment with Obama, he cancelled it on the day itself. I’m not worried that you, Mrs. Arroyo, would lose your integrity, but I am concerned that you are allowing the seat of the presidency be disrespected. C’mon, he isn’t the president of the USA yet. Have some self-respect. Isn’t it enough that we had to send our highest ranking official to sign the Visiting Forces Agreement when they don’t bother?

We are already given our independence. Battles have been fought to earn this; many have died and many have lived through hell. When we have the freedom to choose, why do we have to choose dependence to others?