The campaign the movie was waging is very significant in our political context, since we are a democratic country where in our leaders comes from the votes or choices of the people. In our nation, election is the common and easiest way to take part in the political transactions in our country since it would be very difficult to take part in every political decision making the country is facing. It is also with this fact that the simple act of voting becomes our primary and heaviest political obligation for our motherland. Given these facts there are still so many Filipinos who sees voting as an apathetic act of choosing the candidate most appealing to them without due investigation on their background and qualifications. This is because of the simple reason that most Filipinos doesn’t know or fully understand the weight they are carrying when they cast their votes; that the entire nation together with its populace and their children and those that are yet to be born are depending on that simple act of voting for their well-being. The campaign that the movie was waging is very much relevant for the Filipinos to understand the responsibility, weight and sacredness of their votes. That they may truly understand that they are not powerless to aid in the development of the society, that they are not helpless to the machinery of the political candidates and that they can make a change in their own ways.
The film was basically portraying how the Filipinos perceive the elections in this country. In the movie, they were able to successfully relate the common attitudes of the Filipinos with that of elections. It presented the way in which the people view the elections in this country, where most people doesn’t believe in the credibility of the election and where some people even resent the fact of taking part in the process. The film also portrayed the ways by which candidates try to win the votes of the people, through different forms of “deception”. The way the movie presented these issues to the public, I say that it was marvelously done, in a way that it is comprehensible even to the shallowest minded person in the society and in a way that it is innocuous to any political candidate in the arena.
In the first part of the movie I had a clear view of the negative attitudes of most Filipino, as portrayed by the character “Juan” where he is very lazy and always finding justifications for his laziness. His parents representing the typical irresponsible parents where they leave behind their family for work abroad saying that it is for the well-being of their family but in truth and in fact this “well-being" sometimes comes second only to the comfort they experience there abroad, rather than the development of their family. Juan’s grandmother on the other hand portrays the common misconception of parents or guardians where they believe that the total comfort of their children is their primary obligation and would be the best for them even to the point of spoiling the character of their child. These kind of parents doesn’t realize the fact that at times children needs to be subjected to the harsh realities of life, painful teachings of mistakes and hard discipline of dedication. As General Douglas Mc Arthur said,
“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.”
The inability of parents to punish when misdeeds are committed, to console when mistakes happen, to inspire when all seems to fail, to demean when confidence soars the sky, to compel obedience when he most resents, to take orders when he most hesitates, to ignore when he knows so well, to listen when he knows nothing, in short the inability of the parents to teach their children to be “proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory” are for me, the causes for the present character of most citizens today, most especially the young ones.
The film also helped me to realize that the indolence of most Filipinos is really what is causing the country’s downfall and not anything else. As opposed to the common view that it is because of the corrupt officials that totally causes the poverty of the people, I say that it is not just because of these officials that most of us suffer but it is us ourselves who make our lives miserable. A deeper look on things would help realize that this “officials” whom we label corrupt and whom we point to be the cause of our poverty are very little in number as compared to us. All of them add up together may not even constitute a quarter of our number and so the question of how these “few” people in government able to control “all” the people in the country poses to be most intriguing in my mind. Especially with the fact that, although we may differ with the possessions in hand, either material or not, we do not differ in the capacity that was bestowed to us by God. Which therefore goes to say that what those people can do every one of us can surely do. Given these facts, that we are all equal in capabilities and we are greater in number than them, then how the hell can we blame these few people to be the cause of our misery? The answer is simple; it is simply because we allow them to. We allow them to deceive us from the moment the campaign period for elections starts up to the point where they have already extracted all that they can for their own personal use. And then we start whining about everything, saying that we are victims and helpless in their hands when in fact we are not victims but conspirators, not helpless but simply lazy to act. It is our entire fault for turning a blind eye to the right candidate and do nothing for our development and always rely and expecting on others to help us. And if we do not change our attitude then we shall forever remain in this dark abyss that is full of misery and pain.
I totally agree in the three things that the film was trying to convey about our present condition, about how we should change and about our capability to change. The first part of the movie was all about showing us about who we are that we are refusing to see. We are given a chance to view ourselves ad evaluate its truthfulness and of course to ponder about it, whether we should remain as we are or should we change for something better. Second, the movie showed about how we should change for our own betterment; to do away with the past negative attitudes and embrace a new culture of wisdom, activism and prosperity. The third thing that the movie was trying to tell us is for me the most important of all; that we are capable of change just like Juan. The third thing is usually the hardest thing to do and the most vulnerable to fail. If you engage somebody in a conversation you would find out that most people knows what is right and what should be done but when it comes to the practice and execution of what should be, we would also find out that there are only very few people who does what he knows. The ineptitude that lies within each and everyone of us and the difficulty to introduce something that goes against the flow of our culture are two great factors that makes change difficult to impose. This difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know is what spells development from stagnation.
What struck me most about the movie were the lines:
“Ako'y lumaki sa bayang hindi na nananaginip
Mga bilasang pangarap nilalangaw lamang sa pantalan
Ang buhay ng tuod ay mas pinagpala
Hindi maliligaw dahil walang patutunguhan
Bakit ko pa iiwanan ang buhay-tamad?”
For me these few lines contain the root cause of our poverty and misery in the Philippines. If we would analyze this well, then we would see that these lines have all the answer to our questions; why we are beset with misery and poverty. It shows here why we would never prosper because we refuse even the first and easiest step towards development which is the “dream” or “ambition” for a better future. Juan says that the reason for this reluctance to dream or even think of dreaming is the harsh reality that no matter what we do, we would harvest nothing from these endeavors because our land is forsaken by dreams together with its inhabitants and is always doom to fall. Therefore Juan argues that a life of a lazy vagabond is better because he would never lose his way because he has no way to go in the first place. This kind of mentality is what is rampant and is causing our nation great loss which if not given attention could bring the whole nation in a state of pandemonium.
To sum up everything, the movie has three major points in its production, first, to show us who we are; second, to show us how we should change and third to show to us that we are capable of changing. These three things if we could clearly see in our hearts understand it and absorb it without bias then I believe, this is what the movie presenting as the solution for our misery and poverty.
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