Is the Filipino worth ‘lying’ for?

Ninoy Aquino made the memorable statement: “The Filipino is worth dying for.” Ninoy had a high regard for Filipinos, that is why he said that famous line.

Watching on TV the Senate hearings on the choppers scam allegedly orchestrated by former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, this question came to my mind: Is the Filipino worth “lying” for? Just a play on words, but what I want to say here is: Are you worthy to be called a Filipino if you keep on telling lies?

I can’t help thinking that the Philippines has become a nation of cheaters and liars. Of course, that is saying too much. But to many Filipinos, especially the rich and the powerful, lying has become second nature. It is amazing to see how these people can lie through their teeth till they are blue in the face. Common sense tells me that they are not telling the truth. Some of our big-time politicians are simply oozing with lies.

In our courts we have lawyers who won’t treat telling a lie as a crime, so long as it is to the interest of their clients. Such outlook has become part of our judicial system. If you tell a lie under oath, the system has a legal term for that: perjury. But in reality it is blasphemy because you call on God to witness that you are telling the truth when in fact you are telling a lie.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness.” This is one of the Ten Commandments of God. Telling a lie is a sin, nay, a crime. Hereabouts, one does not realize that anymore because lying has become so common.

—ARNOLD VAN VUGT,

P.O. Box 237,

Cagayan de Oro City