Here's a speech that was delivered by yours truly back in 2000. It's been such a long time already and I can surprisingly still remember the piece. It took me some time though. Thought of sharing it with you.
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More than a thousand years ago, Dr. Jose Rizal wrote an essay in which he asked, what would become of the Philippines within a century. In this particular essay, he argued for the urgent necessity of basic reforms such as the institution of a free press in the Philippines and its representation in the Spanish Cortes, that is, if Spain wanted to preserve the Philippines as a loyal colony. Still, with the penetrating insight of a social analyst, Rizal more than just hinted at the independence that the Filipinos would eventually seek. It was just a matter of time and a questiom whether the separation between Spain and the Philippines would be marked with gratitude and love, or, hatred and resentment.
That question of course, would be answered less than a decade after the essay "Filipinas Dentro de Cien Años" was published in "La Solidaridad." Now, with our freedom having been finally won and our friendly relations with Spain having been restored, we ask, as Rizal once did, if not with the same insight, at least with the same urgency "What have we, as a nation gained and learned in the past century?" "What can we look forward to in the coming years, in the advent of the new millenium?"
It will perhaps be remarked that it is only with a certain kind of hubris that we can ever dare to consider the fate of a nation in a thousand years when our puny lives barely last for a century. Pundits might even say that this exercise is laughable for a nation that sorely lacks the foresight to even plan for a decade. But we dare to consider such criticism by stressing that the import of this exercise lies not so much in our ability to foretell the future. Its value lies in providing us the opportunity to take stock of our readiness (or unreadiness) not only to face, but to rise up to the challenges posed for us by the rapid and revolutionary changes brought forth by the new millenium.
Moreover, is it not the case that the hubris of dreaming and planning for the future might very well be a necessary stage in the participation of people as well as individuals? The ability to anticipate and prepare for the future indicates a capacity to rise and break free from the captivity of needs, situations, and concerns. But when this rising to meet the needs turn into a fantastical flight of fancy, we have to open our eyes in the actual possibilities opened up by the present and held by the past. For the possibilities of the future and the realities of the present are ultimately grounded in the conditions of the past. There is indeed a lot of wisdom to be gained in that tired old truism, "Look forward to the future, be aware of the present, remember the past."
Remember the past? Why let ourselves be bogged down by the grievous errors of the past? Why let ourselves be mesmerized by the ---- accomplishments of the past? Why such a fixation for the past? Is this not ultimately counter-productive? Let bygones be bygones. A pre-occupation with the past only prevents us from as they say, "pole-vaulting" into the future.
Here, it is important that we recognize the distinction between a paralyzing fixation with the past and a productive, insightful remembrance of the past. It is the latter kind of relationship with the past that we advocate. Within this light, history is not seen as a barren collection of fossilized facts and details. Rather, it becomes a living conversation between the past, present, and future. Likewise, we become aware of the momentousness of our consciousness as historical beings. For why would we even raise the question of the significance of the next millenium if we had not some vague notion of our being borne by the tide of history?
Sadly, it is precisely this healthy sense of history that we seem to painfully lack as a nation. It has been noted again and again that we as people are characterized by the complacent forgetting of the past as if it were a heavy baggage that must be left behind in order to move forward. The fixation with progress, with the "high-tech" with the future becomes as it were the dynamo that grinds and dissolves into pieces whatever is tied up with the backward and unenlightened past.
We need to develop critical minds that do not seem to accept the bipolar opposition between the love and appreciation of the past and the future. It is a sophisticated mind after all that appreciates the beauty and truth of a paradoxical reality. A reality in which we cannot simply divorce the present and the future from the past.
What lessons then can we learn from our experience as a nation these past one hundred years - lessons which hopefully will enable us to face up to the challenges of the new millenium?
A lot has been said about the tremendous talent and capacity of the individual Filipino to do whatever it is to which he/she sets his/her mind. Just imagine the feats accomplished when those Filipinos combined their individual talents and skills to a collective effort. Yes! Who would have thought that these Filipinos would have the gall to declare their independence? Who would have thought that they would be able to come up with a constitution? Who would have thought that - almost a century later - they would be able to come up with a relatively bloodless revolution?
It is when it becomes clear in our minds that we stand and fall, live and die as one nation, that we are able to relish and experience our most glorious moments. If only we can hold this in our minds and not forget. If only we can hold this in our hearts and not forget.
From the very beginning of our history as a nation, we have always been an amalgam of many divers cultures. Whatever unity we have gained, it has not been and will not be, through an erasure and forgetting of differences. If only we can keep this in our hearts and minds and not forget.
In the face of the current dissatisfaction and disillusionment not only with our leaders but with the very institution of government, not only with the government but with the very fabric of our society, it would be a real eye-opener to realize that we can never remain as fence-sitters. We have to be vigilant and active. That is, if we sincerely desire the welfare of our society. If only we can keep this in our hearts and minds and not forget.
Amidst the arrogant proclamation of demagogues about their final solutions and shrill cries of prophets of doom about the futility of it all, it would be refreshing to humbly acknowledge that our work for freedom, justice, and peace never ends. And in all this, never to lose hope in molding a better nation and bringing forth a better world. If only we can keep this in our hearts and minds and not forget.
If only we can hold, keep, treasure all these things in our hearts and minds and not forget.
We may well be on a good and exciting journey, not only towards the new millenium, but also towards our maturation as a nation.
