What is this country? What sort of leaders do we have that they act out of fear of what other countries will say or do? And all the time I thought that we regarded ourselves as an independent country, even independent while we were a colony of the United States since we trace our independent status to before the US forces took over this country and before the Japanese occupied our land.

Are we truly an independent country?

A reader writes:

"Why is the Japanese Government having difficulty in the Philippines? Is it because by its very nature they adhere and submit themselves to a much higher ethical standard so required of their public officials?

"Mr. Paredes, if you haven’t heard, please be advised....

"The Republic of the Philippines is a wholly owned subsidiary of the People’s Republic of China. – J. Cruz"

***

Of course, I reject this but I have to accept that this country is run by people who seem overwhelmed when they find themselves in front of foreigners of every stripe. Each time she goes abroad, she seems to bring home another basket of goods that is more helpful to the country that was visited than to the home country. Why is this?

A country whose leaders consider the concerns of other countries before that of her own people will never amount to much. Unfortunately, this is where we are now.

Is this why Intel Corporation of the US seems more impressed with Vietnam now than it is with the Philippines after being in this country for several years?

How can one see a future for a country where whistle-blowers (Trillanes and Cayetano) are elected to the Senate; yet, once in the Senate they seem to have forgotten what they blew the whistle on and go on to whatever shiny new toy (issue) is before them. Still, no one seems to mind.

How about the present type of whistle-blowers who, having no proof to everything that they are saying, speak as though their words were written by a professional copy writer; then, to prove that point, they come up with a book of their cute sayings calling it a "corruptionary," Still, no one seems to be wising up to them.

Imagine a senator who condemns the purchase of automatic counting machines worth P1.2 billion that would have covered the whole country but now pushes for automation just for the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARNN) to the tune of P800 million!

Why are our senators complaining about a condominium in the Subic forest when it is already practically finished? Why did they not talk about this before the building was constructed? On that issue, too, didn’t President Cory take that out of the concerns of the SBMA and gave the forest to the DENR secretary to care for? So, why should the SBMA think that it has the authority to build there?

The excuse given was that there was a building there even during the time of the Americans. Sure, there was but that building only stored armaments. No one lived there. Imagine the destruction that thousands of workers living in these condos will do to the forest.

Besides, it makes no sense allowing a building within SBMA if this will not be earning money for the SBMA.

Imagine too that there seems to have been corruption in our agriculture not only in fertilizers but also in rice, corn, Chinese salt for coconut fertilization, swine and a lot of other things. It is easy enough to blame Gloria for these but where are the Pinoys who love their country? A lot of other persons – at all levels – handled the funds and the goods that resulted in the corruption. Are we so amoral now that we no longer know what is right and wrong?

The Church that should be the morality policeman is busy selling rice for the government. Sadly, the church has not changed from the time of the frailes. What counts for the Simbahan is the political and economic power that it can wield. As for the salvation of souls, that seems to take a back seat.

If no one listens to the Church anymore, if it has been relegated to a rung below the politician, it is mostly the fault of the Churchmen. How many of us, even when we are in a Church can understand what the priest is saying? Sadly, even the sound systems in most of our churches are so bad that what we hear is noise and not the words of God.

We need leaders for this country. Sadly, the ones who are presenting themselves for the presidency in 2010 are not leaders. They are bright, even brilliant but not one of them is a leader who can move this country and its people the way that Quezon, Magsaysay and Marcos could and did.