Health-wise, Vote-wise

During election time, one criterion often overlooked is the health status of a candidate. Only few Filipino voters, except maybe those in the field of medicine and perhaps those in the health/medical profession, care about it. Even politicians themselves do not give emphasis on this aspect. Though I am not from both fields, as a voter, I am beginning to contemplate on this issue and its political importance.

American President Franklin D. Roosevelt was crippled by polio, but the press abided by an unwritten rule that he was never to be photographed from waist down. But Mr. Roosevelt withheld an even graver medical condition. On Jan. 20, 1945, as he was being sworn in for a record fourth time, he was already suffering from severe hypertension and arteriosclerosis. Yes, he did not disclose his real health condition to the public and he died in office three months later.

There are three mayoralty aspirants so far come May 2010 in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. Here in our locality, health problems are not discussed and considered as anathema for politicians and a taboo subject for most of the local media, especially those owned and influenced by the the two local political giants. They focused more on senseless propaganda, mudslinging and pointing at each other’s shortcomings and blunders.

Here in the Philippines, there is no specific law mandating,- under the principle of right to information, a politician to full disclosure of her/his health record or status. But who wants a mayor who is serving his term die of diabetes or lung cancer and will not be able to complete her/his term of office? Many of us believe that the health status of a candidate is not an issue anymore. My friends told me that all we have to do is to dump the idea in the dustbin of electoral concerns. And just recycle it if time comes when our legislators are no longer dominated by traditional politicians and the traditional political culture. For us ordinary voters, the issue is as insignificant as a dew falling in a vast sea of local political events.

But here’s another vital question : “ Are the local media practitioners and election watchdogs in Occidental Mindoro ready to snoop on the medical records of our politicians (read: their bosses and patrons or even the rivals of their bosses and patrons)?” Media practitioners who are expected to be truth-bearers and champions of right to information. The local media in Occidental Mindoro, I think, is not yet ready to discuss said concern so in such climate, what the politicians have to do is to conceal their sickness or medical problems. In the first place, there is no such law mandating the candidates to reveal their authentic medical records. It is one of their campaign’s best kept secrets, so to speak.

And I am not buying this sort of crap from political and health authorities: “We must protect the sanctity of the medical records. It is very confidential.” There is a big problem. Medical records are not confidential, and they haven't been confidential as far as I could know based on my personal experience. Medical records have the same pattern of widespread use. When applying for a job, driver’s license, scholarship program, etc. If you are hospitalized, nurses, doctors and other hospital employees may see some or all of your records. Records may be shared with labs, x-ray facilities, nursing homes, physical therapists, pharmacists, and others involved in treatment. When claiming a medical benefit from SSS, the medical record of a patient can be scrutinized by anybody. Now, tell me what confidentiality are we talking about? Maybe you would say : “As medical treatment, yes. But not as an electoral criterion.” Whew! Truth is always not on our side, electorates.

Doctor-patient confidentiality stems from the special relationship created when a prospective patient seeks the advice, care, and/or treatment of a physician. It is based upon the general principle that individuals seeking medical help or advice should not be hindered or inhibited by fear that their medical concerns or conditions will be disclosed to others. But let us not forget that the duty of confidentiality is not absolute. Doctors may divulge or disclose personal information, against the patient's will, under very limited circumstances. For example, the case of Alvin Flores, the notorious criminal who just had a facelift to evade authorities. I think his doctor could not assert this thing called doctor-patient confidentiality. We, the electorates are always victimized by this epidemic called election!

As far as I know from the past local elections, no candidate have ever disclosed his medical records or health status in public. There is only one political bigwig in the province whose condition landed in pages of a national broadsheet that can be clicked here.

Anyway, the only mayor who died during his term in office is Bibiano Gaudiel, Sr., who served only for five months, due to cardiac arrest. Gaudiel was also the president of the Mayors League of Occidental Mindoro and died while rendering his speech in Ligaya, Sablayan in 1951,- if I were not mistaken. He was succeeded by his vice mayor, Ricardo Pascasio who was in the medical profession way back at the Philippine Milling Company in Central. But Gaudiel’s death was not due to a lingering illness. It was a sudden death.

I wonder if the physician who is also a mayoralty aspirant should dwell on this public concern in his campaign sortie aside from the Admittance and Discharge Policy of his hospital? Just asking.

Maybe I am getting OA but I hope someday, the Commission on Election (COMELEC), specially our national legislators should consider it …

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(Photo : From the Rotary Club of San Jose at Multiply.com)

Centennial Gimmickry (Part 2)

I am writing this from my training, formation and opinion as a community organizer for I am not a historian in the strict sense of the word. Personally, I hate people who are valuing the good side of history too much. They overvalue history by not exposing the present and past evils of society. By using the very same credulous structures (the corruption-ridden LGU) and personalities (at least some) as vehicle to convey historical facts, programs or projects. Because if we cannot co-relate or juxtapose the past and the present,- the good and the evil in our midst, (i.e. in the formulation of a syllabus integrating local history to the educational curriculum) the teaching of local history in general can always be set aside. Or, might as well to forget totally.

When an elementary pupil is asked : “Who is Lawrence Cooper?” and his reply was, “He was the first municipal mayor of San Jose.”, it is in no way connected to his being a good (or bad) citizen in the future. His ludicrous ignorance (or exemplary knowing) of history proved nothing. In short, no amount of study of our town’s history could make us better citizens. What I am saying is knowledge of history,- no doubt, is indeed a fine or good accomplishment, academically or otherwise, but ignorance of it does not hinder our success in our career, profession, our line of work or vocation or our societal position. You may disagree with me on this point but I believe that the masses and their children in general, do not appreciate history neither care much about it. Much more with the history celebrations. We have to creatively dig up why but not put entirely the blame on them. They say, "history has nothing to do with me or with my stomach." It is the duty of the historian to explain its connection or its paralellism.

Many historical bodies do not employ social criticism as a historical approach or an approach to history in their once-in-a-lifetime endeavor such as this. Criticism, for the activists as taught by their experience, is our only guarantee against delusion, deception and superstition even misapprehension of ourselves and earthy circumstances. It is the cornerstone of our,- to borrow from Moron Savant, “existential bias”. Our critical faculty is a product of our training and formation, a mental habit and power. Having said that, the historian themselves must develop and enhance this faculty. Thus, history approach or study under this faculty is the one we can truly say that develops good and responsible citizens. I salute all of the activity participants for sharing their time and talent, amidst criticisms, for such self-sacrifice and self-giving especially the youth. May your enthusiasm in cultural and theater arts transcend to the streets, in a mass action against a particular social concern or vice-versa.

In short, historians (and history students, if you want to separate the two) must wage war with the status quo and must facilitate the formation of historical awareness through exposing and opposing societal evils and their “sponsors”. This is what’s happening in actuality : the evil ways,- say for example, of a politician or a person in authority, educate faster and deeper than lessons or curricula in history. And the masses, the people in the midst of these evils either join them in their evil ways and be perpetrators of injustice or allow themselves to be willing victims of such evil acts (i.e. graft and corruption, human rights violation, etc.). A systemic wrong that requires counter systemic response. “But it is NOT our job to go out of the streets and oppose the STL, the mining companies, the unscrupulous politicians and every social ill under the sun. We will just watch you activists and report the event as it happen. As a historian we are primarily a chronicler only destined to write and compile record of events and not to swim against the tide.” To proponent of this argument I rest my case for I've done more than enough to prove my point and need say no more.

Eunice asked me, “So what kind of celebrations and activities are you proposing?” This is my reply : “Nothing.” Remember, I just rested my case…

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(Photo of the San Jose Cathedral by Ronet Santos from Flickr)

Diarrhea and Purgatory : An All Souls Day Offering (?)

I was sidelined by diarrhea in the last couple of days and during those times of ordeal, there are two things I cannot put down : a roll of toilet paper and a write-up on Eschatology by Edward Schillebeeckx. The material speaks about heaven, hell, and yes, purgatory (which is I think related to diarrhea for it came from the Latin ‘purgare’ meaning “to cleanse").

Whenever I go and visit my departed loved ones at the San Jose Public Cemetery when a was a teenager I always wonder : “Ilang kaluluwa kaya mula sa mga puntod na ito ang pinarurusahan sa impiyerno?” (How many of these souls are made to suffer in hell?) It was the time when I was still unaware that purgatory, hell and heaven are not places but are state of being. That they are state of being that cannot be easily described by an ordinary believer without using theological and spiritual lenses. Those were the wild days of my life finding ourselves snatching food offerings from the tombs of wealthy people,- specially Chinese, for our own Halloween party that often us cause us, you’ve guessed it right, diarrhea.

But there is really a place or estate of being called hell where God punishes evil or bad souls? First, according to Schillebeeckx, “All men have faults and imperfections and no one is as sinless as Jesus Christ. Even if we do good most of the time in our lives, we are still sinners. Even if a person dies in a state of grace, he or she remains a sinner”. Thus, God’s forgiveness is our final ticket to heaven.

But if someone rejects God and the idea of eternal bliss with the Lord, who do evil in a definitive way, who do evil with final intent, their physical death is also their absolute end. That is what I’ve learned from said Belgian theologian while lying on my bed and sitting on you-know-where.

This state of being of a sinner who refused to ask forgiveness of God would end even their own spiritual existence. They cannot have the grace of God for all eternity. And this is as damning as the picture of hell being painted into our imagination by our teachers in Religion subject when we were young. Or what was depicted in the Bible as a “lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). Hell in this notion is an eternal separation from a blissful and divine relationship with God. And this spiritual death is not a punishment. Ours is a loving God and not a revengeful God, if I may repeat.

On this view of purgatory, Schillebeeckx has this to say : “God’s first act of love in heaven is an act of illumination. God projects his light on human beings, illuminates them and purifies them. It is a kind of rooting in God, the first moment of the beatific vision. So all men and women go through purgatory before entering into the beatific vision of God”. And prayers from us the living, especially during All Saints day or All Souls Day is imperative in this purification process.

This is unthinkable : while joy and happiness pervades in House A (heaven) there should be people in a not far away House B (hell) on the point of expiring in the midst of infernal and eternal suffering. For Schillebeeckx, the final fulfillment is exclusively positive. There is no negative eschaton like the eternal suffering of souls. It is against the nature of God who is love for human beings to be punished for all eternity.

Thought-provoking, isn’t it? Next time, I will also read the writings of notable theologians who opposed or made revisions on this point like Karl Rahner and Tielhard De Chardin. Including other readings regarding Eschatology.

That is only if diarrhea engulfed me again…

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(Photo : Inquirer.Net)

The Centennial Gimmickry

I would not mind being called a centennial vagabond on this one. Nor being branded as unpatriotic villain. I personally believe that the San Jose centennial celebration does not provide the inspiration for genuine social transformation unless the presently-prevailing socio-political problems are juxtaposed in this historic task.

May 1, 2010 marks the centenary of the township of San Jose,- my home town, my place of birth. As early as last year, the San Jose Centennial Commission was formed with this key objective : “At the end of the year-long festivity, the Municipality of San Jose shall have conducted, in the spirit of a united community, a series of meaningful activities that commemorate the past with gratitude, celebrate the present with joy and envision a bright future with hope and faith, leaving a lasting legacy beyond 2010.” But are we going to hide our bad side?

Pardon me but I’ve seen various festivity and celebrations in the past that ended just like that and they are not instrumental in changing certain socio-political ills brought about by the ruling elite in the province. This coming November 15, Occidental Mindoro is about to commemorate its 59th founding anniversary but there were no significant changes in our political culture and how our politicians run the province up to this very moment. There are realities and experiences where the poor people in the countryside, - especially the Mangyans, are kept in social isolation. While the common people involved in the activities (i.e. the students, the youth for the contests, cultural presentations, etc.), gained the attention of the elite and politicians, the people in general have been losing their own social soul. For example, 2010 is election time, a peak season for corruption and other irregularities where every move of a politician or a political group (or even only if they fart!) is generally considered as politicking. What more if most of the women and men behind such activity are politicians themselves, their followers, or known propagandists and publicist of a politician during the last election? Do you really believe that this celebration would not be used to the advantage of a certain politician or would serve as an open target of criticisms for his rival? Or the hard line supporters to use the event pleasing their political patrons regardless on which political fence they are in? Oh, come on!

But let us not only focus our critique on the centennial celebration. Let us also include the San Jose annual town fiesta celebration. There’s nothing wrong in celebrations such as these. Festivity is innate in us humans. We are “Homo Festivus” (Somebody I love, incidentally, supplied me the Latin term). All of the cultures in the world have festivity and celebrations and that made them universal. Man does not only work and think, but we also celebrate,- we dance, sing, play, drink and dine. The question is : “What are the no-no’s of a celebration/festivity?”

I can only think of two words: superficiality and frivolity.

It is not superficial when it recognizes tragedy. When we, as a united community recognize that the biggest obstacle to our development is our political culture. We have to recognize that without a united group of townspeople that would serve as watchdog over programs and projects, performance and behavior of our politicians it would be impossible to remedy the biggest bane in our town: bad politics. It should not also ignore the evil side of our social life. The existence of a moral thorn in Small Town Lottery (STL) including illegal gambling and illegal drugs. It should not repress the bad things happening right before our very eyes : the dirty, mean and nasty public market, the use of political power for private business interests especially in public utility service such as power and transportation, the year-round hardships of our salt farm workers, farmers and fisher folks, etc. Themes, subjects and dimensions that must be incorporated in our songs, curriculum writing, posters, slogans, plays, dances, among others. Because over and above, the San Jose centennial celebration should not be considered a retreat from the reality of injustice and evil.

Without acknowledging the presence of injustice and evil, everything is mere frivolity. If what we want only is to astonish and catch the eye of the public, “balikbayan” or not. The utilization of the media outlets only to gain political edge or a venue to badmouth anybody who does not share his opinions and views. It is like celebrating the Feast Day of Saint Joseph the Worker (which also falls on International Labor Day) without spearheading an activity or two about the sad plight of the lowly workers of our town, like the sales ladies and clerks in our Christmas spirit-filled groceries and department stores. Or without even saying a little tribute to the so-called working class in our locality. Frivolity is wearing a mask to cover something that is rotten and garbage-like,- like the present socio-political realities of our time.

We don’t need a centennial celebration that is only confined to trivial activities and only try to explain and interpret the past or focus entirely on the present or bring false hope. Only with juxtaposition (Hope I used the term appropriately) we could challenge the past from the perspective of present experiences, and challenge the present from the perspective of our memory of the past. Or else, we will have no real legacy to pass on to be remembered even beyond 2010.

With these,- all of the celebration and festive activities, would not only serve as vehicle for ideas that only tend to anesthetize us and cloud our socio-political awareness. Or this would only become plain and simple gimmickry...

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(Photo from San Jose Mindoro Friendster Account)