Quezon was right

We can choose to “believe while others are doubting; commend while others are criticizing; persist while others are quitting.” (William Arthur Ward)

We can choose to live outside the “chambered nautilus of our own mental construction” and live in “faith in the wisdom of our people” (President Manuel Roxas).

We can choose to assume responsibility for our lives. “Take time to accept responsibility. Your life is exactly that – It’s your life. It is created by you. You are constantly making choices, constantly creating new experiences. And although we can be affected by circumstances which can seem to be completely out of our control, essentially, we decide the direction in which we walk.” (Nicolas Watkins)

We can choose to love and renew ourselves. “The Bible says you love your neighbor as yourself. If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love your neighbor. People treat people poorly because they have a negative self-esteem. They put down others to make themselves look good. All of this is ‘mindsets’. Some of you may be running looking for deliverance. No! You don’t need deliverance with a demon cast out of you; you need to change the thinking in your mind. We do not need anything removed from you; we need it renewed in you.” (Bishop E. Bernard Jordan)

We can choose to remake ourselves. “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world … as in being able to remake ourselves”. (Mahatma Gandhi)

We can choose to believe in our own capacity to change our lives for the better. For we are “…as powerful and strong as (we) allow (ourselves) to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision.” (Robyn Davidson)

Yes, we can make the choice of taking the first steps towards improving our government, no matter how bad it might be. We can make the exercise of our suffrage heavenly the next time we have one. Quezon was right in his substantive point. We can bring about change for the better.

We can choose to realize our common dream of being a people who assume responsibility for our own independence and interdependence with others.

We can decide to say, and even shout to the world: our past is not our future!

“We have much to do together. Let us do it in wisdom and love and joy. Let us make this the human experience.” (Gary Zukav)

Yes, we can make loving each other, respecting each other and working together the exhilarating Filipino Human Experience!
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*Edwin D. Bael was Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles (2000 to 2002). He now works with ASK Law Group, an immigration law firm with offices in the States of California and Nevada. He serves as Member of the Board of Directors of the New Americans Immigration Museum and Learning Center and as Member of the Advisory Council of the Charles Hostler Institute of World Affairs, San Diego State U. He continues his linkages with the consular community as Emeritus Member of the Los Angeles Consular Corps and Associate Member of the San Diego Consular Corps.

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