Legitimacy

I could not help dissent from the opinion of my fellow Atenean and fellow FEU law professor, Geronimo Sy.

In his article entitled “Presidential Power, Presidential Issues” posted online at the ABS-CBN News webpage, while he correctly pointed out that the issue besetting this president is her legitimacy, his solution is quite problematic and I quote:

“The only way to be legitimate in the present times, one cannot hope to go back in history, is to make the government work, not merely to function but to work for the people. For us, the citizens, to believe she is and will always be on our side, we must feel that our lives are getting better--economically, socially and politically.”

Really?

So, that means let us not dredge up the fraudulent manner by which she was voted into office and let bygones by bygones and end up as a race with no memory of righteous indignation or outrage.

So, that means we forget about Santayana that “those who failed to learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it” and end up in a vicious cycle of greed, cheat and weep!

So, that means we throw out the four years of law studying what is the essence of justice and fair play, dump the maxim “Let justice be done though the heavens fall” and end up with a new quip: “Let justice be damned, move on or fall”

So, that means we look the other way as long as we are getting better – economically, socially, and politically and end up a pound worse – morally, spiritually, and culturally.

So, that means illegitimacy can now be cured under the Family Code on the twin grounds of wealth and/or power, while those who have no wherewithal to earn a living or run for public office cannot hope to have the same legal remedy.

The solution to the issue of legitimacy cannot be forward looking. We are morally compelled to look back to the past. The cure is retroactive and retrospective in nature but forward looking in its application because to move forward, one has to heal the ills of the past and achieve the currency of the day –“closure”.

Closure cannot be achieved by the people becoming economically stable. Rather, the opposite is true. Achieving economic stability deadens our moral sensitivities, political power exaggerates our own sense of worth over true principles, and social stability will never occur in this country as long as overseas labor exportation is this administration’s continued revenue and social policy. Overseas employment tears up the very unit and fabric of our society.

So, tell me pañero, how does one achieve social stability when half of the basic unit is out of the country, and a few, some or most of the other half have either been co-opted by booze, lulled by indolence or tempted by companionship?

Becoming rich or powerful may be good but it is not the solution to the issue of legitimacy. History will judge her by her inability to confront her ghosts, and her legacy - one of obfuscation, prevarication and the desolation of our people’s moral capacity to judge right from easy.