‘Puede na’ and ‘di bale na’ dangerous Filipino habits

In his July 19 column (“What’s wrong with us?”), Conrado de Quiros, decried the Filipino culture of “awa” that makes us forget and forgive the crimes committed by presidents and government officials against the people.

He cited the “pabaon” gift to Gen. Angelo Reyes and his suicide; the election case and resignation of Sen. Miguel Zubiri; Congress’ resolution endorsing the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani of Ferdinand Marcos, “the most hated person in this country before Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came along”; the plunder charge against and ouster of Erap; and the senators’ vowing to take it easy on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo until she recovered from whatever surgery she has had. Indeed, what is wrong with us?

In other countries, government officials who have committed crimes against the people are hounded to the ends of the earth for retribution. Here, alas, in our country, we exalt them or turn them into heroes.

I too have decried our culture of “puede na” and “hindi bale na.” “Puede na” makes us accept defective work, or wrong practice, instead of insisting on getting the work done correctly or the wrong practice corrected. The equally repugnant “hindi bale na” habit, makes us accept our fate if we are shortchanged, fooled, misinformed, cheated or insulted.

For example, because of these habits, our national flag continues to be wrongly displayed vertically today with its red field on the observer’s right, as if our country were in a state of war. Under Executive Order 23 issued by President Manuel L. Quezon in 1936, the blue field of the flag should be on top side of the flag in time of peace, and the red, in time of war. Thus, when the Pacific War broke out, the flag was displayed with the red field on top of the flag. EO 23 did not mandate how to display the flag vertically, but the general practice then was to simply turn the flag clockwise to vertical.

But the wartime way of displaying the flag persisted long after the war had ended in 1945. We reverted to the blue field on top only in 1950 following President Elpidio Quirino’s Executive Order 321. But like EO 23, EO 321 did not mention anything on the vertical display. President Quirino probably thought people would remember to simply turn the flag clockwise as they used to before the war.

But the people did not remember.

In 1998, then President Fidel V. Ramos just signed into law Sec. 10 of Republic Act 8491 which in effect legalized the mistake.

I wish President Aquino would persuade Congress to amend Sec. 10 of RA 8491 to put the blue color back where it was before the war. It would be a turning back from our old Filipino values, it will signal the rebirth of the Filipino—a rebirth P-Noy has committed to midwife during his administration.

Otherwise, that red field will haunt and taunt us as weaklings who have no courage to correct a wrong no matter how easy it is to do. If we don’t watch out, other nations might take advantage of our bad habits as a people.

—AMADO F. CABAERO,
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