THERE WAS this running joke on how a foreign tourist could determine if his plane already landed in Manila. All it took was for the tourist to put his hand out of the “window” for a few seconds, put his hand back inside the plane and if his watch, bracelet or rings were gone then he is definitely in Manila!
Many Filipinos laughed at this joke, took it very lightly and some couldn’t care less; not even realizing that it speaks volumes about the Filipinos’ integrity, or the lack of it.
During the two-day concert of British band Coldplay for their “Music of the Spheres” world tour at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, it was reported by the Philippine Concerts account that the return rate of the band’s reusable LED wristbands during the first day was only 87%. Among the countries shown on the leaderboard, Japan had a 97% return rate, the highest so far. Denmark had a return rate of 96% and Malaysia had 90%.
Known for its advocacy towards sustainable living, the band encourages its audience to return the LED wristbands so they can be used for future concerts. Made from 100% compostable, plant-based materials, they are worn by the concert-goers to create a colorful light show during the concert and are collected afterwards so they can be sterilized and recharged for the next batch of users.
While there were many fans who were utterly disappointed by yet another showing of our lack of integrity and discipline, many of us simply shrugged our shoulders. There are some who said it is what it is, and the leaderboard simply confirmed what we Filipinos are known for.
But are we really this kind of people? Is this truly our identity as a nation? I think this indifference is the same reason for the continuous erosion of the Filipino values we used to practice and value highly in our daily lives. Added to this is our penchant to focus on issues and to waste our energies on matters that do not necessarily have a direct impact on our lives or on our identity as a people.
We are more concerned about the supposed “rigging” in the Miss Universe 2023 judging that allegedly “robbed” us of our fifth crown than knowing how it was possible for the 20 million votes to be reflected in the transparency server one hour after the polls closed on May 9, 2022, or why the several election returns that the transparency server received from different vote-counting machines had the same internet protocol (IP) address.
This time around, people might say why make a big fuzz over the non-return of the reusable LED wristbands if P203-B worth of estate taxes have not been paid by the Marcos family headed by no less than the sitting president? If our elected officials and the big corporations they protect do not follow the basic rule of declaring and paying the correct taxes to increase government revenues, why crucify the lowly Pinoy concert-goer for dismissing the policy to return the reusable wristbands?
There are no excuses to all these because integrity is a reflection of what we do and who we are when no one is watching. Whatever happened to some of the basic lessons our parents taught as at home?
The dismal honesty and failed accountability displayed by people in government or even in the private sector are not reasons for us to follow suit. In fact, they show and tell us what we should never do in our lives. Our leaders may continue to fail us. Let us take the higher moral ground, and let us never fail our country.
