The Philippine Online Chronicles

"I never dreamt the American dream," was my patent answer to persistent questions why I never left the Philippines for the USA or Canada or some other prosperous country when migrating was so easy back in the 1960s and 1970s.

But nearer the truth is it never occurred to me to leave.

I probably lacked the daring required for someone to leave warm home and hearth to venture to a foreign land where nothing is certain except cold strangers and colder winters. I probably lacked ambition, easily content with the tiny professional niche I managed to build here which brought me much in psychic income but little in material rewards beyond a small home and no-frills amenities. It must be the gift of shallowness, as in mababaw ang kaligayahan. I probably lacked foresight to think in terms of "next generations" and pro-actively secure a good life for my children and my children's children.

Could it be, on the other hand, that I define the good life a bit otherly than the Pinoy-everyman does? 

Is it possible I have inherent faith in my country and people and by extension in my God. A God I cannot imagine --when pouring out His beneficence -- to distinguish between east and west and north and south and between white and yellow and brown and black. 

This is a faith that is often severely tested by biting realities in this otherwise fair land -- including an economy that wouldn't take off, a body politic that refuses to mature, graft and corruption that have grown endemic.

And now comes the most acrid of acid tests – keeping faith with my people in the face of the most appalling calamity that has ever visited Jose Rizal’s “Eden lost” outside of World War II.  A man-made calamity, it may be called -- but then how can we call them men , these creatures, these monsters and beasts and deviants that collectively and wittingly perpetrated the infamous Maguindanao massacre??!!

Two compelling questions for all of us to ponder:  How in heaven’s name did these creatures think they could murder political enemies in numbers and get away with it?  And how could a group of thinking adults have summoned the moral justification for inhumanity most foul?

The philosophy of group evil has been analyzed brilliantly by eminent psychologist and writer Dr. Scott Peck, author of the phenomenal “The Road Less Travelled” in his other best seller “People of the Lie.”

There are people who refuse to acknowledge their own imperfections, escape self exposure and ignore the voice of their own conscience, Peck propounds. So they cover up and scape-goat, blame and attack others.  People of the lie deceive and lie to themselves to avoid their true selves.   They point their finger at others first so that none can suspect them of a wrong-doing or weakness, believing an offensive attitude will prevent the need for defense.

When people of the lie get together, as in a gang or a military or para-military organization, they reinforce each other’s lies.  They build their own moral precepts, as though morality is not immutable and can be tailored to their group’s objectives.

It is the psychology of group evil that Scott used to explain how the brutal massacre by American soldiers of Charley company took place in the Vietnamese village of My Lai as well as the inhumanity perpetrated by men on other men during the Holocaust in Nazi camps.

I suppose this is the same psychology that underpin the existence and the activities of the Mafia and other Mafia-like organizations.

In the end, Dr. Peck hinted at the need for major educational and value reforms, as he asserts that traditional value-free science is no longer serving the needs of mankind. The major threat is our carelessness, our hostilities, our selfishness and pride and willful ignorance that endanger the world.

Rereading “People of the Lie” convinced me group evil happens everywhere, not just in Maguindanao or the Philippines.  And yes, that there is hope for healing.

I guess I will stay put in this  land of the morning, child of the sun returning .

Photos: “Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre” by Victor Villanueva, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

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