Forget Halloween, real life is scary enough

During Halloween, for a few days, we pretend to scare ourselves by watching scary movies, donning scary costumes, or imagining scary creatures exist. This desire, like all things imaginary, is self-inflicted yet it appeals to us because we know that tomorrow morning, this ‘Friday the 13th’ scenario ends. But what if your life is one never-ending Halloween?

For example, because I now live in Australia, I am lucky I don’t have to endure long hours of traffic in EDSA just to get to and from work; or test my immune system with heavy and toxic pollution that is all around Metro Manila. For millions of Filipinos, real life is scary enough and they face these scary realities every day.

To many, they think the real horror are the politicians, their lies, and their never-ending and uncontrollable corruption; the bloody religious conflict in Mindanao; and the elusive march towards eliminating poverty and the injustices poor Filipinos face every day. They are probably right. Philippine society is fraught with so many problems that it is so impossible to improve it. The very institutions fail them at every juncture.

The irony here is that even if we deny there is a problem, which politicians are wont to do, or try to divert their attention thru shallow entertainment, which the media outlets in the Philippines almost always do, we are in effect helping to perpetuate it. The only way is to face the problem.

Sometimes, the solution comes from history. When Epy Quizon, son of the late great comedian, Dolphy, was asked why he remained seated throughout the entire movie, Heneral Luna, where he played the role of Apolinario Mabini, the Sublime Paralytic, he became sad because the younger generation do not know their history. The resulting furore brought a mini-renaissance and great interest in learning Philippine history.

Or, by being honest. Leah Salonga wrote what could be the tweet of the year: “Okay lang sa akin ang kababawan, pero hanggang doon na lamang ba tayo? #NagtatanongLangPo” (It’s ok to be shallow sometimes, but is that all we aspire to? Just asking). I was criticised in the past for saying Filipinos are bobotante (stupid voters). But that’s the reality, Filipinos are stupid. They criticise their politicians, yet still keep electing the same corrupt people into elected office. If only 25 million tweets for AlDub, a love tandem popularized by a noontime show Eat Bulaga, could be used to elect moral and competent candidates; to push their local mayor or governor to build more roads, hospitals and schools; or to generate strong opposition against unfair labour practices by some corporations.

Douglas Adams, in his book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, wrote ‘I’d rather be happy than right any day’. This quote probably sums up AlDub fans simplistic attitude toward life. The problem is, life is anything but simple. Life requires that we think about our decisions constantly and not expect solutions to be handed from above. The work continues even AFTER the election. Democracy requires that we fight for our freedoms everyday. Perhaps this explains why we seek strong and assertive candidates like Duterte to do the dirty work for us.

I know Filipinos have suffered enough for so long. The real horror, and perhaps insult, is not acting on our problems. As Christopher Hitchens puts it: “Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. The grave will supply plenty of time for silence.”