They say that moving on is easy to say but difficult to do.
I have had many experiences of rejections and false hopes that lead me into actually closing my eyes from the adverse and sad reality. At one point I stuck to the thought that so long as the person I love is not yet married with another, hopes of a romantic relationship with him is still something to cling on.
Sometimes, if not most of the time, we are blinded by subjective emotion from the objective truth. Love must be mutual and not a one-way traffic relationship. Instead of blaming people from the past for our misery, acceptance and being critical to one’s self is the best way to move on and become a better person even though it could be an incredibly painful process.
[quote_center]Love must be mutual and not a one-way traffic relationship. Instead of blaming people from the past for our misery, acceptance and being critical to one’s self is the best way to move on and become a better person even though it could be an incredibly painful process.[/quote_center]
This process could be a thought which is either dismissed or plainly beyond the comprehension by no less than the President of the country resulting to his incompetent and non-directional leadership. Based on what the President has been saying for four years since he assumed the most powerful post in the government, it appears that our country is trapped in the horrors of the past administration and his leadership has been so occupied with fixing the errors of his predecessor that he can no longer do anything good at all for the country.
The midterm period for the President has passed but all his blame-game never ceased. From all of his State of the Nation Addresses to interviews regarding corruption. And even outside the country, blaming others seems to be an itch the President cannot resist. President Noynoy Aquino must not have any achievements at all in his administration that all he was able to take pride to the international community, during his recent Europe and US tour, was his struggle of rectifying the almost irreversible effects of former President and now under hospital arrest, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s misdeeds. While not exempting the lady tyrant for her own atrocities during her 10-year presidency, doing nothing but to point fingers is one most annoying thing about the Aquino administration.
It is worth noting though that ‘moving on’ is not the same as the moving on proposed by the Marcoses in an attempt to erase the gross human rights violations and plunder to the country from the annals of history. Accountability should remain, but a sitting President should never use it as a cloak to hide incompetence.
But the blaming fiasco is not an exclusive game of President Aquino to Arroyo. It can be remembered that after the onslaught of super typoon Yolanda at the central region of the country, his incompetence and criminal negligence were exposed, and the good President resorted to simply blaming the disaster-paralyzed local government of Tacloban for the poor disaster response.
While the Government refused to honor its prior commitments, the President also pointed fingers at the National Democratic Front for the delays in the peace process.
Such actions made the President gain the infamous title ‘Boy Sisi.’ And like in any other fruitless romantic relationship, every moment wasted by the President in staring back keeps the whole nation from moving forward.
[quote_center]Such actions made the President gain the infamous title ‘Boy Sisi.’ And like in any other fruitless romantic relationship, every moment wasted by the President in staring back keeps the whole nation from moving forward.[/quote_center]
The art of moving on can be related to the twists and turns of love and politics in the country under President Aquino. During his 2010 presidential bid, he made a lot of promises, like a persistent suitor attempting to woo a tired and almost hopeless person.
Years after he was catapulted into power by a hype created through his mother’s death, the promises of the yellow man until now remained as such. He vowed to end corruption but until now, the public coffers are continued to be exploited through different forms of pork barrel, even through devising his own–Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). While the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill has not yet been passed by the Aquino allies-dominated Lower House, poverty worsens, and violation of human rights continue.
After four years of a rather turbulent relationship with the President we are now able to prove more than ever that he betrayed us. We feel not only neglected but also battered by the president’s anti-people policies.
Given this tragic situation, it is then our urgent task to break free from this miserable relationship. The answer to the question of letting go and moving on from this disastrous relationship lies on whether to continue or put and end to the affair.
We must decide objectively on the following:
1. How can we go on if our partner continues to live with the ghosts of the past?
While it is true that a rightful partner is someone who accepts your previous relationships, it is not acceptable for them to just dwell on our pasts. True love is liberating. True love frees us from chains that tied us for the longest time. True love launders our closets from the cobwebs of the past. Sadly, President Aquino knows not this concept.
2. How can we continue if our partner remains insensitive on how we think and feel?
Having an insensitive partner is like not having a partner at all. During Aquino’s 2010 inaugural speech, Aquino and his Liberal Party declared that Filipinos can now start to dream for they now have a government that will listen and will be sensitive to their needs. Four years have passed, yet the present administration remains heedless and deaf to our long-drawn clamor for genuine social change and independence.
3. How can we still love if our partner cant make us feel the same?
Martyrdom over love has its finish line. On the onset of the love affair, majority of our people showed Aquino the love and hope that one day he will change for us and will eventually love us back. But nothing changed significantly for the benefit of those who loved and hoped. Aquino proves us that he only loves himself. And if we think that it is only us that is giving love and that our partner is not returning the love we truly deserve, then we must decide on whether to stay or stay out of the relationship.
4. Will we fight for the relationship when issues remain unsolved and unanswered?
Fighting for a relationship lies on issues that simplifies or complicates it. Struggles within partners are indeed normal and healthy if concerns being raised were either resolved and answered accordingly. But if your partner is like President Aquino who is just brushing off social problems without properly addressing it, then may be it’s time to fight back rather fighting for the relationship.
5. Will we still trust our partner if betrayal of the trust we gave seems to be a habit?
Worst of all, will you still love someone who keeps on betraying the trust you are giving him? Will you keep on loving a person who seems to be fooling you around habitually like what President Aquino exhibited as he deceived the nation with his policies like PDAF, DAP and the obsolete sell-out of our national patrimony through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Critics pointed out these issues as a clear betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution that led to the filing of three impeachment cases against Aquino last July. Trust, having an important role in every relationship should be kept sacred. Once broken, then it is time to move on and start anew.
As what Congressman Egay Erice claimed when he was defending his move to ammend the Constitution, giving way to a second term for President Aquino, “President Aquino is married to the country,” and if we are to subscribe to the notion of this delusional solon, we are then in dire need of a divorce.
About the author:
Kathy Yamzon is a self-proclaimed poet of love and struggles. A member of the LGBT community. She is the current deputy secretary-general and media officer of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Metro Manila. She is looking for true love.
