Today is Independence Day - a day of freedom. We thank God for the gift of civil liberties and for heroes, known, less known and unknown, for the freedom that we enjoy today. But what is freedom for if the country is imprisoned by poverty, by corruption, by fraud and dagdag-bawas, by homelessness, by disease, by life-less piety? Independence is not yet full. Freedom is not yet complete. Back then, it was easy to pin point who the enemies were – the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese. But today, who are the enemies? To whom do we blame the slavery of poverty, the indignity of homelessness and joblessness, the pain of hunger, the stigma of ignorance and the hopelessness of the future? Today, it is quite difficult to put the blame on others because such a accusation will eventually return to the self. All of us are to blame for this un-freedom.
Nagmisa ako kanina sa Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo Elementary School, bilang simula ng kanilang pagdiriwang ng Araw ng Kalayaan. Nag-iisip ako ng halimbawa para ipakita na hindi pa tapos ang pagtupad sa kalayaang ating inaasam, at kailangang suriin natin ang ating sarili, sa paraang maiintidihan ng mga teenager. I thought of the movie Spiderman III. This is the third saga. Clearly in this move, siperman had enemies – the Sandman, Venom, Goblin. But as the ads say - the greatest fight is the fight within. In the first and second movie, Spiderman threw his web around because it was a mission, because he wanted to help. But in the third offering, he was showing off his power because he wanted revenge for Uncle Ben. He was a slave of revenge. He was not really free. His greatest fight was not with Venom or Sandaman, but with himself. Thus, “the greatest fight is the fight within.”
Nilabanan natin ang mga Espanyol. Nilabanan natin ang mga Amerikano. Nilabanan natin ang mga Hapon. Pilipino na ang namumuno sa kapwa Pilipino. Pero ang pinakamahirap at pinakamahalagang laban ay nasa kalooban. Dahil ang kalaban natin ngayon ay ang kawalan ng pakialam, katamaran, panlalamang, pagsisinungaling, pagnanakaw, at marami pang iba. Ang pinakamahirap na laban para sa kalayaan ay ang laban sa kalooban.
Independence is not yet fully ours. Freedom is not yet accomplished. For the greatest fight still lies ahead of us – the fight within, the need to care more, to help more, to love more, to take pride in our nation more.
