The Office of the Eye of the Bull

Originally published March 5, 2013; republished March 17, 2013. This has been one of JoeAm's most popular blogs. It was withdrawn due to potential violations of COMELEC rules for engagement in elections by a foreigner. Comments pertaining to political parties and their principals or candidates have been removed. Support of the President is non-political. It advocates for a strong, unified nation.

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I'm not sure why the classic circular target for archery or darts has a small red or black dot in the middle called a "bull's eye". Maybe in the American wild west that was the best way to shoot a crazed bull, I dunno. Or Robin Hood's comrades had a good imagination or sense of humor.

But the bull's eye is the place where everyone aims this weapon or that.

And I suggest that President Aquino give a name to his office at the Palace, rather like Obama works in the "Oval Office". President Aquino can call his office "The Eye of the Bull". 

This idea struck me as I watched people criticize President Aquino for the deaths of Sutan Kiram's people in Mindanao rather than criticize the Sultan.

How in God's great and glorious green earth people could lay this outcome on the President is beyond me. I suppose there exists a need to find culprits for anything gone wrong. And he is the catch-all culprit. If he had done something different the deaths would not have occurred.

Am I the only guy in the Philippines that believes that if the Sultan had done something different, the deaths would not have occurred?

By my reckoning, the deaths occurred BECAUSE PRESIDENT ACQUINO WORKED HARD to get an agreement structured to stop the murder and mayhem in Mindanao. In so doing, he generated jealousy among those not invited to the peace table.

The Sultan could not wait for the peace progress. He had to push it, because he was not at the table. He waited all his life, some 74 years, most of them in strife, and then, as peace was on the horizon, he took it upon himself to insert himself and assert his claim with an unwanted physical presence in the contested land of Sabah.

Let me tell you, that peace table would have to be as big as my island of Biliran to host all the various Sultans, Emirs, Governors, Mayors, Rabbis (a little humor there) and Clan Leaders who were jealous because they did not get to sit down to carve out their piece of the peace.

I've popped off a few comments on Rappler news reports regarding this incident and I am considered a foreign and unsympathetic - and unwanted - critic of the Sultan's acts by Muslims and their sympathizers, as well as a lot of "normal" Filipinos (a little more humor there) who seem to have an uberpatriotic bent.

I admit to having some measure of cynicism about the incident.

• The Sultan claims it is his homeland, which is why he is there. He is passionate about it. Yet he would be willing to entertain offers to leave if the rent he receives from Malaysia were increased. I guess his passion is really with his wallet. And for that, people have died.

• The Mindanao Peace Agreement would provide the unified Filipino negotiating framework for deciding what to do about Sabah. It is a complex situation, and Malaysia has a lot to say about it. Short of outright war, the Philippines is in no position to dictate to Malaysia EVEN IF the Sultan' claim is completely legitimate. The agreement is on track to be finalized next month. Why, then, did the Sultan pick now to provoke an incident?

So the President's great success in Mindanao offends people. Just as his crackdown on the corrupt offends the corrupt.

Because he orchestrated a huge diplomatic breakthrough in Mindanao, President Aquino has evidently aroused jealousy, not only from the Sultan and other wanna be Muslim leaders, but from former President Arroyo's backers, who could not claim this achievement. President Aquino showed them up. Read this interesting article at ellen tordesillas' blog: "Aquino fell into saboteurs' trap".

In the Philippines, that is grievance number one. Doing something better than someone else. It is the cause for vengeance. Never mind what is good for the Philippines.

What counts is what is good for ME!!

Do you want to know why President Aquino works in the Office of the Eye of the Bull? Because, by working to develop a clean, honest, productive Philippines, he is offending people who are corrupt and jealous and angry that their sacred cows are being targeted for reform:

• The Catholic Church
• President Arroyo's Cronies
• Smugglers , Tax Cheats, Kick-Back Scammers and Bribe Experts like LTO, PNP, Customs, and DENR Officials
• Generals, Governors and Mayors Indicted for Corruption
• The Monopolists and Oligarchs Preserving their Easy Road to Riches
• Muslims Not at the Table

You know, about the only friend the President seems to have most days is the People.

And when the noise gets so loud, the critical arrows whizzing toward the bull's eye, even the people lose confidence. They join the ranks of the critics, unable to say "I support President Aquino as the leader of my nation" because peer pressure is like envy pressure, a huge power to conform. They can't stand firm in the face of fire and say, "I am for my country, and the leader of my country".

They bend, they break, they start criticizing their President.

Do you want to know why the Philippines self-destructs every few years?

Envy. Greed.  And people who are unable to give of themselves to make a community.

I'm an outsider, from a land where patriotism means sacrifice. On some days there seem to be precious few patriots in the Philippines. From the Humpty Dumpty New World Dictionary:

• Patriot: A citizen who is so committed to the well being of his fellow citizens that he will give of his heart, his mind, and his body to preserve national unity.

Well, if the nation cannot rally around its President, who does it rally around?

Sultan Karim? Senator Enrile? Manny Pacquiao?

Then there are those who argue it is patriotic to criticize.

I answer, "yes, if that criticism is constructive, not personal." If it is solution-oriented, not destruction oriented. It is not patriotic to undermine and divide. That is the opposite of preserving national unity.

And, of course, the guy with the bull's eye on his desk is President Aquino, who catches it all.

Well, it's a free world, a free nation, so all you archers and dart throwers fire away.

But I support President Aquino. I personally don't expect some unrealistic Jesus ideal. The gap between the unpredictable, error prone, imperfectly informed realities of day to day living and that idealistic, unreachable perfection is the easy space into which critics write or speak sometimes divisive, destructive words.

It is a choice to go into that gap, or not go there.

On days when I have this urge to take the man to task about what he says about China or a certain skulking sultan in Malaysia, I think about what a different impression the Philippines makes to outsiders when people see her as unified, versus bickering and divided and one general away from a coup. And I chew up and swallow the critical words I might otherwise write. And I pen support.

Because I am for the Philippines, and I am for her earnest, decent President.