Time goes faster for old people. I was 50 years old when Rodrigo Duterte became President. I am turning 56 in a few days. It is on the same day that Imelda Marcos turns 93. Who would have thought that she would live to see the day that the Marcos’ make a grand comeback to Malacanan?
I was watching the video of PRRD at Baste’s oath-taking as Davao City Mayor. The surfer dude in 2016 is now a Mayor. Duterte will surely season him now that he has the time and is back home. Baste will eventually come into his own as a politician. The torch is now passed from the father to the children.
We are back to having a “sosyal” President. I will miss Duterte’s simplicity in everything. Duterte ends his term as the most popular post-Marcos President because the average Filipino identifies with him. Those who did not vote for him in 2016, he won over, which paved the way for Marcos to become President. Not for anything but I think it is best for Marcos to dial down the pomp and pageantry.
In 2016, we were not in the midst of a pandemic and a global economic crisis but Duterte kept his inaugural simple. Today, the peso is at P55.00 and looks to fall further. Gasoline and diesel are almost level in price. Inflation is hitting the average Filipino hard. It would have been better to do away with the pomp and pageantry but the Marcos’ cannot help themselves. This was how they did it before. But it is really best to keep their feet on the ground in the same manner Duterte did during his term. Duterte always had the pulse of the public which is why he is not only popular but looked at fondly and favorably.
Life has changed so much with the advent of technological advancement and innovation. I began working in Makati at the time telephone line were hard to come by and there was no regular water service in Paranaque. The landline is now almost dead and there is now regular water service in Paranaque.
The way people have fun now is no fun for me. With social media, a social life is not the same as it was before when you really had to go out to meet with the opposite sex. There were plenty of bars then. Smoking was still allowed. Political correctness was non-existent. People were smarter and could actually carry on intelligent conversation.
Old school is now getting old. It is not as cool as it was before. I was watching this Polish mini-series on Netflix entitled Queen. It was about a Polish homosexual who left his wife and child in Silesia. He came a bespoke tailor of men’s suits in Paris by day. By night, he indulged in his being a drag queen. Sylvester Borkowski became S. Bork, bespoke tailor.
Gone are the days when men dressed well. Not a fan of formal wear. Back in the day, it was button-down shirts in Oxford cotton and wool pants. Comfortable but not exactly casual. It did not help that my American boss dressed as if he had just stepped out of page of GQ.
That could not be helped because he was an old rich San Francisco native who pronounced Los Angeles the old way; the “Angeles” pronounced the Spanish way. For him, it was always a three-piece suit, bespoke all the way, tortoise shell glasses and custom footwear as well.
I do not have any regrets about being born earlier. I would not have it any other way. I am an old soul who looks at the past fondly. Good taste is fast disappearing as well in everything. The lines have been drawn blurry by technology. It used to be you needed to land in a society column for you to be able to flaunt what you want to. Maurice Archache and Johnny Litton. Today, there is TikTok and vlogging and you can count your number of followers and make money on YouTube.
What is really disappointing is that nothing much has changed in governance in the past thirty-six years. We are still behind our ASEAN neighbors. My work in the 90s took me to Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok and Hong Kong in Asia. Singapore was the best for business. You did not need to ride a cab even. The subway was fast and convenient and with walking you got your exercise in. Why could not we have what Singapore does?
The answer lies in our government and the mindset of our elected and appointed officials. It is never about the greater good. It is only about thier own good most of the time. Friends who have settled abroad, mostly in America, are in a quandary now as they are about to retire but there is also social unrest and economic uncertainty in Uncle Sam’s land of milk and honey. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
My friend, #datachimp, who is a millennial, is more nuanced in his views about life. He is very accomplished but at 36, he is also under no illusion that there will be radical change in the country and the Filipino. His plan is work less and earn more for his retirement. He has been exposed to the system in government and does not see any way that it would change for the better. It was he who pointed me to stoicism as a philosophy of life.
I tend to agree with him now even if the biggest difference between he and I is that I am an empath by nature. I wonder what would have happened to the Philippines if MacArthur had not let his pride prevail and bypassed the country on his way to Japan? Manila would not have become the second most devastated city in the war after Warsaw.
To my mind, what happened to Manila after World War II is symbolic of the problem we have as Filipinos with our mindset. What is valued more than anything else are money and power. I have seen this firsthand walking the corridors of power when I had the chance. I also went through the stage of material trappings and I am honest enough to admit that they were only good for what they were worth for a short period of time. Peace of mind, contentment and happiness can never be bought.
My life has gone full circle. I was 20 years old when the Marcos’ were driven out of Malacanan. I had ringside seat to the their time at the palace because I was born and raised in San Miguel, Manila. Thirty-six years later, the Marcos’ will go back to the palace which they left under ignominious circumstances. Not too many are given second chance after going through a life-changing experience. I will be 62 years old in 2028, assuming I am still alive at that time, when Marcos’ term ends. I can only hope that what he has gone through in the past has made him realize the direction which the country needs to go to under his watch.
In the meantime, I can only sit in the sidelines and watch.
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