Frankie’s call to arms/ His book Our Moral Malaise

National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose, who founded the Philippine Center of The International PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) in 1958, sends this call to arms.

The Philippine Center of International PEN, one of the oldest Filipino writers organizations, has launched “WRITERS AGAINST IMPUNITY,” a social media campaign on its website: philippinepen.ph. Internationally, PEN is recognized for its commitment to Free Expression and a Free Press. PEN also advocates every Filipino’s Right to Information and actively endorses and supports the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill into law.

PEN invites all Filipino writers, poets, essayists, journalists, komikeros, and bloggers of good will, to use the power of the written word to battle the persistent lawlessness and lack of accountability in our society.

These evils are abetted by the public’s lack of the Right to Information and by the curtailment of our Constitutionally guaranteed Freedom of Expression through prior restraint, the persecution or imprisonment of writer-journalists and even their murder. We shall soon commemorate the 4th anniversary of the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre where 32 journalists were among the 58 murder victims. Although this may be the single most heinous instance of media killing worldwide, since 1992, at least 75 Filipino journalists have been murdered in line of duty. The Philippines consistently ranks among the top three “deadliest countries” for journalists.

Thirty years ago, Filipinos declared Hindi ka nag-iisa and Sobra na! Tama na! in the aftermath of the Ninoy Aquino assassination and stood in solidarity against over two decades of Marcos Misrule. Thirty years later, Filipinos realize that the dark forces of epidemic corruption, chronic impunity and lack of accountability still rule the country. PEN calls on all users of media, new and old, to speak out against the Culture of Impunity and advocate the Right to Information, Accountability and Restorative Justice. Please e-mail your thoughts on these, through poetry, essays, personal accounts, cartoons, photos or other graphic artwork, for posting on the PEN Writers Against Impunity. Let us raise our voices in solidarity to drive out the evils that corrupt and destroy our nation.

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Some 20 years ago, I asked a visiting American professor what he considered the weakest feature of Philippine governance. He instantly replied: “The administration of justice.” With very few exceptions, judges and other members of law-enforcement and government agencies, senators and congressmen accept bribes. Court cases are decided at a snail’s pace. All the accused profess innocence. The few who finally land in jail enjoy such unprecedented privileges as air-conditioned cells, refrigerators, tennis courts and frequent outings as jail wardens look the other way.

Is the administration of justice any different now that our beleaguered nation faces the biggest-ever plunder committed by politicians and government leaders?

F. Sionil Jose’s “We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage”, published in 1999, still points to the administration of justice as the weakest feature of Philippine governance; instead of being imprisoned, rogues are voted into office! In a scholarly manner, the book describes the Filipino while encapsulating world history, philosophy, religion, political science and other disciplines.

For understandable reasons, Frankie looks askance at the Spanish and American colonial periods and the Japanese Occupation. That the Americans made Rizal our national hero is a myth: Gen. Aguinaldo had already set aside Dec. 30, the date of Rizal’s execution, as a day for paying special tribute to Rizal.

Further, Rizal’s achievement at 35  (when he was executed) were unmatched by any other foreign hero of the same age. Although described as “the greatest Malayan who ever lived”, Rizal  was infinitely far more than that.

I quote Frankie commenting on Filipino society. “From the detached and comfortable distance in time, I am amazed at the cupidity of the Spanish rulers, the friars most of all, because they were men of the cloth. Again and again, Rizal bludgeoned them. Looking at our contemporary society, I am even more amazed at the elite status that many Spanish mestizos have achieved with just their genes. At the risk of being labeled an indio chauvinist, I have often said that in the Philippines, the higher one goes up, the whiter it becomes — Spanish white, not American because the Americans did not stay long enough. We also know that in some big Makati companies, the best assurance for upward mobility is the whiteness of one’s skin and the capacity to pander to the bosses who almost always speak Spanish. Maybe Rizal’s novel had little social effect after all. If the Spaniards looked down on the indios a hundred years ago, so do some Spanish mestizos to this very day.”

Although the Filipino is his own worst enemy, it must be stressed that the book highly values our heroic heritage and regards Filipino resiliency capable of rising above our weaknesses and egregious ways. Indeed,  it leads the reader to be patriotic, nationalistic, and proud to be a Filipino.

Frankie’s countless works — he is more widely translated than any other writer of his ilk — make the Filipino known to the world. This is attested to by literary critics. For instance, Philippe Pons of Paris’ Le Monde des livres observes: “Seldom has a writer reflected so well the qualities and failings of his people. F. Sionil Jose is one of the best-known writers in his country and abroad. His essays and articles are inseparable from the modern history of the Philippines.”