“The Policies and Achievements of the
Government and Regeneration of the Filipinos”
(excerpt)
National
strength can only be built on character. A nation is nothing more nor less than
its citizenry. It is the people that make up the nation and, therefore, it
cannot be stronger than its component parts. Their weakness is its failings,
their strength its power. Show me a people composed of vigorous, sturdy
individuals, of men and women healthy in mind and body; courteous, brave,
industrious, self-reliant; purposeful in thought as well as in action; imbued
with sound patriotism and a profound sense of righteousness; with high social
ideals and a strong moral fiber; and I will show you a great nation, a nation
that will not be submerged, a nation that will emerge victorious from the
trials and bitter strifes of a distracted world, a nation that will live
forever, sharing the common task of advancing the welfare and promoting the
happiness of mankind.
We
are engaged in the epic task of building our nation, to live and flourish, not
for a day but for all time. We must find the flaws, if there be any, in our
concept of individual and community life, as well as in our character, and
proceed at once to remedy them.
I
have an abiding faith in our people. I know that they have all the faculties
needed to become a powerful and enlightened nation. The Filipino is not
inferior to any man of any race. His physical, intellectual, and moral
qualities are as excellent as those of the proudest stock of mankind. But some
of these qualities, I am constrained to admit, have become dormant in recent
years. If we compare our individual and civic traits with those that adorned
our forefathers, we will find, I fear, that we, the Filipinos of today, have
lost much of the moral strength and power for growth of our ancestors. They
were strong-willed, earnest, adventurous people. They had traditions potent in
influence in their lives, individually and collectively. They had the courage
to be pioneers, to brave the seas, clear the forest and erect towns and cities
upon the wilderness. They led a life of toil and communal service. Each one
considered himself an active part of the body politic. But those traditions are
either lost or forgotten. They exist only as a hazy- mist in our distant past.
We must revive them, for we need the anchorage of these traditions to guide and
sustain us in the proper discharge of our political and social obligations.
The
Filipino of today is soft, easy-going. His tendency is towards parasitism. He
is uninclined to sustained strenuous effort! He lacks earnestness. Face-saving
is the dominant note in the confused symphony of his existence. His sense of
righteousness is often dulled by the desire of personal gain. His norm of
conduct is generally prompted by expediency rather than by principle. He shows
a failing in that superb courage which impels action because it is right, even
at the cost of self-sacrifice. His greatest fear is not to do wrong, but of
being caught doing wrong. He is frivolous in his view of life. His conception
of virtue is many times conventional. He takes his religion lightly. He thinks
that lip-service and profession are equivalent to deep and abiding faith. He is
inconstant; he lacks perseverance; the first obstacles baffle him, and he
easily admits defeat. The patriotism of many Filipinos of today is skin-deep,
incapable of inspiring heroic deeds. There are those who are apt to compromise
with ethical principles and to regard truth as not incompatible with
misrepresentation or self-deceit.
This
appraisal of the character of our people today may sound too severe. You will
realize that I would be happier if I could only shower praise upon my
countrymen. But my responsibility as head of this Nation compels me to face and
state facts, however disagreeable they may be to me or to our people, for it is
only thus that we can remedy existing evils that threaten to destroy the
vitality and vigor of the race. Because I have not lost faith that there is,
within us, all the spiritual and moral forces needed for the building of a
great nation, I am ruthless in pointing out our present shortcomings. Our
task—it is a heroic task—is to awaken and apply these faculties so that our
people should become what of right they should be: morally strong, virile,
hard-working, refined, enterprising, persevering, public-spirited.
I
want our people to grow and be like the molave, strong and resilient, rising on
the hillside, unafraid of the raging flood, the lightning or the storm,
confident of sits own strength. If we have the will to survive and the will to
achieve social efficiency, we can not delay this task of spiritual
regeneration. Let us begin to mold the typical Filipino.
To
insure the accomplishment of this task of national spiritual reconstruction, we
shall formulate and adopt a social code—a code of ethics and personal conduct—a
written Bushido—that can be explained in the schools, preached from the
pulpits, and taught in the streets and plazas, and in the remotest corners of
our land. We shall indoctrinate every man, woman, and child in its precepts. By
every means and power at my command, I shall strive to enforce its principles
and to require that they be so universally and constantly observed, that our
children may breathe it in the air and feel it in their very flesh. Every
Filipino is a part and an objective of this great national movement, the
success of which depends upon his own success in building up his character and
developing his faculties.
This
undertaking—the regeneration of the Filipino— constitutes the paramount
interest of my administration. My most cherished ambition is to see it
realized. It is the greatest prize that I can crave for my life. I call upon
all the teachers, the ministers of every faith, the political and social
leaders, and particularly upon you the young men and young women to be at the
vanguard of this crusade.
We
have attained our freedom, but our spirit is still bound by the shackles forged
from the frailties of our nature. We owe it to ourselves and our posterity to
strike them down. Other peoples of the world are straining themselves to attain
higher levels of progress and national security. We shall not lag behind. The
Filipino people are on the march, towards their destiny, to conquer their place
in the sun!
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