Two Sides of a Coin.

At one point in time, I was proud to hail from a country that has had the distinct pleasure of having two women presidents, both having toppled misguided leaders through People Power. However, as our present presidents reign began, that pride slowly lessened until it became pure disgust. From one anomaly to another, the president has truly taken away any pride I felt about having two women leaders.

In the past two weeks, our country has been shown the stark contrasts of our two women leaders: one the well-loved, honorable and respected icon of democracy, and the other, the questionable leader suspected of lying and cheating (remember the “Hello, Garci” controversy and how she “changed her mind” about not running in the past election). Truly two sides of a coin.

As the nation mourned the loss of undoubtedly one of the greatest leaders the Philippines has known, reports from the New York post revealed that our president spent almost a million pesos on a dinner at one of the expensive Le Cirque restaurant in New York City. In various blogs, social networking sites, and even micro-blogging sites, this scandalous dinner made headlines. What stark differences between our humble people-serving president Cory and our self-indulgent GMA.

While the palace may claim that a congressman paid the tab for the dinner, it still is a great disservice to our country. Granted the congressman may have the money to spare, let us not forget he still is a congressman, sworn to, as stated in our Constitution, lead a modest life.

The fact that our government officials (where ever that money came from) lavishly splurged on a million peso meal while our country is deep in debt is truly distasteful. The timing of the merrymaking and celebration, given that even President Arroyo declared a 10-day national mourning period in honor of President Aquino, was the proverbial icing on top of the cake.

This extravagant dinner is only the latest of a series of questionable acts and deeds our President has been involved in.

This has stirred up in me a more fervent desire to not be apathetic to our country’s history and to the state of our nation. With that in mind, I will make it a point to be counted in the next elections, and to be counted well.

For me to really be able to say I AM PROUD TO BE FILIPINO, I must take it upon me to be more proactive in making change happen. As a teacher, a step I will undertake is to appeal to my undergraduate students to not only register for the 2010 elections, but to also arm themselves with information so they can make the best choice for our country’s future. Much as it is difficult to remain hopeful about the way our government will run, I will try to still hold on fervently to that ray of hope our beloved Cory and Ninoy gave their lives for.

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