by Rev. Dr. Mariano C. Apilado
MY prayer is that tomorrow, Monday, May 10, 2010, should go down in Philippine history as the day we made a difference because each of us made a strong determination in the exercise of a sacred duty.
You are a voter? Go out and vote. Make a difference. I-Boto mo, I-Patrol mo. Ako ang simula.
You are a private citizen? Exercise LOVE, meaning, L-iberating, O-rderly, V-gilant E-election. Be sure that you were a CHOICE, meaning, C-areful, H-onest, O-rderly, I-ntelligent, C-lean E-lector.
The greatest mistake a person can make is: he is even unwilling to try, because he is either afraid, apprehensive or indifferent.
Let us make a difference – be a genuine, honest and distinctive voter.
Abraham Lincoln, one of the best presidents the US of A ever had, said, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men.” Lincoln not only protested against slavery by issuing the Executive Order of the Great Emancipation of the American slaves, but also went to war in the name of “government of the people, for the people and by the people.”
Let us all unite to see that our government is of the people for the welfare of the most needy and powerless by people who can say, “Ako ang simula.”
Sir Winston Churchill, the hero of the English-speaking peoples in the Second World War, believed that “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” In any war against humanity, there should be no withdrawal for the man of courage, Churchill said.
Whether the choice is “Sipag at Tiyaga,” or “Galing at Talino,” or “Hindi Ako Magnanakaw,” or any other guideline, exercise your right and sacred duty.
Benjamin Franklin , a distinguished and creative political tactician and diplomat, one of the founding fathers of US of A, said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most people do.”
Criticize, condemn and complain about the evil that politicians do, yes, and they do commit many abuses and excesses. But our moral duty is to be courageous, creative and consistent in the exercise of our sacred responsibility.
There are things to complain about here in Davao – no city college, no city hospital, no city cultural center, frequent brown-outs – among others.
And so, people ask, “Change We Need” and “Change We Must”?
But there are also many things we can be proud of – peace and order, abundant supply of clean water, year-round availability of delicious and nutritious fruit, vegetables and fish, no smoking – among others.
And so, they declare, “Why Change?” when “We Have the Best”?
Each person is different. The difference makes persons unique, behave with distinguishable difference, in other words, distinctive excellence.
The election provides a crossroad in our history. Let us be inspired by Robert Frost’s immortal lines, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence; Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the road less traveled by, and that has made the difference.”
We can start by exercising L-iberating, O-rderly, V-igilant E-lection, or LOVE for the elections by being a C-areful, H-onest, O-rderly, I-ntelligent, C-lean E-lector, or being a CHOICE tomorrow.
