Rebuild

The new year has arrived.

- ALEX MAGNO

The surveys say pessimists outnumber optimists amongst us — not a cheerful sign.We have shiny new calendars but tired old problems. The country is not in its best shape. It is at its most fragile.

The sad news is that 115 million Filipinos cannot flee abroad to more pleasant havens. We have no choice but to rebuild our badly shaken country. We have to do it mainly by ourselves. We have leaders who are uninspired and uninspiring. We are ruled by a traitorous political elite by way of malignant institutions.

We all have a stake in how this country goes. We all have to meet the challenge of transforming the sordid situation handed us. We might not have the means to do that; but neither do we have the choice to do nothing about it.

Our people speak their mind through the public opinion surveys —not through demagogues. The year-end opinion surveys brought chilling results: support for our elected leaders are cratering perilously.

This is more than just the numbers. In the end, this is about political legitimacy —a precious good without which we cannot expect order to be maintained.

The latest surveys almost replicate each other, showing President Bongbong Marcos’ trust rating move into net negative territory. In one survey, nearly half of all adult Filipinos express serious distrust for the man who is tasked to lead us out of the current mess.

Palace spokesmen were quick to assure us that the President is unperturbed by the survey results. But he should be. That is how democratic politics works. Elected leaders should reconfirm their mandates given prevailing public sentiments.