Disruption and entropy in November.

November 8, 2016 will be a most memorable day. It is memorable in the Philippines due to the infamous decision by the Supreme Court paving the way for the dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. This was historic due to many aspects of the decision and the eventual burial of Marcos at the cemetery that is supposed to be reserved for people recognized as heroes including past presidents, war heroes, national artists and others who were found to be deserving of the site. 

While Marcos was a soldier, an officer in the USAFFE during World War 2, his claimed exploits and decorations have been found to be bogus. It is a wonder how the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine government continues to recognize him with its highest Medal for Valor when he was proven to have faked his accomplishments during the war. 

Marcos was also a former President of the country. He was supposed to have presided over a country during a period when the Philippines was second only to Japan in Asia in terms of economic development. What many apologists and fans fail to mention though was that it was all downhill from that position in the 1960s not just because of turmoil at home and abroad but because of the rampant corruption and abuses of the government under him. 

While it is true that a lot of infrastructure were completed under his term, many of these were implemented under shady conditions and usually with costs that included much that he and his cronies pocketed and benefited from. The brilliant minds he surrounded himself in the form of cabinet officials who appear to be only too willing to collaborate and do his bidding for them to attain their own glories have no excuses for the horrors of Martial Law. It is sad to know many including relatives and friends denying the murders, corruption and other atrocities during that time simply because they did not experience these first-hand. I can only pity them while trying to understand their position and lack of empathy and perhaps even humanity and critical thinking.

November 8 is also memorable in the United States, a country with whom the Philippines seems to share similar fates with in the past 100+ years. The US just elected Donald Trump as their President, trumping (pun intended) the country that elected a self confessed killer, womanizer only last May 2016. I won't delve into the so-called qualities of Trump but history will now record the US as a nation still unprepared for a woman to lead them, instead choosing a person who has yet to serve in any capacity (he has no previous elective or appointed posts in government and he is has not served in the US armed or police forces) that country, and likely one who has also cheated in his taxes.

These two are already realities people have to face even if it seems to many that these were like something shoved up their asses, forcibly and painfully. The only positive thing I see here so far is that these events should be wake-up calls to those who consider themselves progressives but who have also let their guards down to allow these people to rise in power. Disruption and entropy should be considered as likely blessings for us to learn and become more proactive in education and be protective against revisionism of our history.

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