"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY?"

Ours is a democracy, but it doesn't seem to work. We are a Christian
country, and yet we do not practice Christian values in our lives.

Our moviemakers have gone wild, if the publicly shown pornographic
movie, "Prosti," is any indication. But did our censors lift a finger?

Our young women are increasingly lured into prostitution, but we look
the other way--if we don't offer them to tourists!

Graft and corruption in all the three branches of the government is at
an all-time high, but we see the mole, not the mountain.

Crime is rampant and criminals mock the law, but the authorities are
helpless. We wait for criminals to strike, arrest some and then
release them for inadequate evidence.

Illegal drugs are gradually tightening the noose around our already
impoverished people's neck, but we arrest only the
victims-turned-pushers. Where are the drug lords? Are these sacred
cows going to run the country in no time?

We seem to have economic planners whose expertise is pump-priming the
economy endlessly. How about manufacturing what we need, from cement
plants to needles, instead of importing them? No, we would rather
prematurely open the country to free trade!

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been adept in defending the peso
against currency speculators, but look who is prematurely minting
increasingly worthless Philippine coins? Be consistent, guys!

And where are our billions of gold mined over the last two decades?
Surely, with the meticulous accounting, their sales can offset twice
the value of our present foreign debt. The Bangko Sentral governor can
do a monumental favor to the people so dearly loved by Jose Rizal and
Marcelo H. del Pilar, by merely cracking the whip.

The Abu Sayyaf? Professional kidnappers? Terrorist bombers? Why can't
these termites be stopped? The question that could be asked instead
could well be: "When will the President free herself from remaining
'hostage' to her mediocre-performing Edsa II benefactors in the
military and the PNP?"

Is the real question her mediocrity? Is it her cordon sanitaire? Or is
it simply poor professional management as chief executive of the land,
as well as a lack of political will?

What is happening to our country? What is happening to the
administration of the daughter of an illustrious Filipino leader?

While the President acts on the writing on the wall, let's pray for
her and her administration for the people's sake!

Vicente C. Falculan,

acting dean, New Millennium Institute of Technology,

Magsaysay, Carmen, Davao del Norte