The book "Conjugal Dictatorship" (of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos) was re-launched the other day by the family of Primitivo Mijares. Wherever Mr. Mijares is now, no one knows. In the dark days of Martial Law, Conjugal Dictatorship was, by word of mouth, a banned reading material. When I asked my lady where our copy of the book was, she reminded me that we just read it from a print that was lent to us by the late Assemblyman Natalio Bacalso.
When the re-launching was shown on television, I recalled "Sa ikauunlad nang bayan, disiplina ang kailangan" a Malacañang advisory that was constantly peddled to the public. It was a veiled threat for people to toe President Marcos' line because there was a perception that any breach of whatever disciplinary rule the dictator imposed ran the risk of arrest, with or without warrant.
Somehow, it was inculcated in our minds from the way the president's office issued the discipline byword that we then lacked discipline. And sadly still, we do. There is disorder in our midst arising from our gross disrespect of the rights of others. For example, vandals painted their names and all kinds of writings on the marble wall of the building where we have our law office. A water vendor told me that, in one occasion, when he tried to stop a young man from spraying paint on our wall, he was threatened with physical harm instead. We had to hire additional four persons the whole day last Sunday to erase the writings.
Somehow, we lack discipline. We disregard traffic laws. I was standing at the corner of Colon and Junquera Streets last Monday afternoon waiting for the traffic light to turn red. Then, two young ladies, from the opposite side, wearing the uniform of a respected university, just crossed the street. They were unmindful of the traffic sign! When they got near where I stood, I pointed to them the traffic light and what did I get? "Okay ra na sir oi, wa man mi maligsi."
Somehow, we lack discipline. We do not observe health regulations. Last Tuesday noon, I asked my daughter to drop me at a thrift shop located at the North Reclamation area. When I got out, a middle aged gentleman, puffing smoke, passed by me as he walked towards his car. A few steps farther, he spat and flicked his cigarette butt to make the sidewalk his big spittoon and trash can. He did not even care that there were other people nearby.
Somehow, we lack discipline. Yesterday, Wednesday, I passed by M. J. Cuenco Avenue. The widening is still not finished but a completed portion near the Ayala business park, bordering Hipodromo, is not accessible to the pedestrian. There are entrepreneurs now using the area as stockyard of their sand business as if it is part of their investment and not public domain's.
Our experiences from Sunday thru Wednesday showed our being undisciplined. Do we need a dictatorship, conjugal or not, to rule us with iron fist in order that we might have discipline? Shall we consider the extra judicial killings we have been hearing about as a kind of discipline byword not unlike the "sa ikauunlad nang bayan, disiplina ang kailangan"? Oh, gosh!