The Honorable Pig’s Tale

“For those who has been honored,
Dishonor is worse than death.”
-Bhagavad Gita 2:34 (The Song of God)

Three Philippine Presidents: Ferdinand E. Marcos, Josef E. Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, were once honored and miserably dishonored not just in the eyes of the Filipino people, but also in the perceptiveness of the whole world. Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari, and the late DILG Secretary Angelo Reyes, among others, had also undergone this appalling ordeal. Ironically, among these six accused, only the latter, who was a soldier, succumbed to the weight of humiliation. Guilty or not is not my issue on this EDSA DOS Hero (deceased Gen. Angelo Reyes); for me, it is enough that he knew the true value of honor of which others are seemingly ignorant about.

”A person’s honor is larger than life”; this might be the reason why, sages and warriors of the past, knowing that they are spirit souls (therefore eternal) gave away their worldly lives in exchange for honor and lasting fame. Other heroes may not as knowledgeable; nevertheless, perhaps unknowingly, driven by passion or by love, in pursuit for happiness, they had chosen honor over life to become famous. Dishonor also last longer than a lifetime, but who in his right mind would ever want such kind of a lasting recognition.


High respect, admiration, reputation, dignity, glory, pride, distinction; all these intangible assets, more or less, are taken away from a person who had lost his honor. If we look at it deeper, we can consider that a person without honor is a person without a head, without a face, and without a heart. And what is a man without these vital body parts? If he is still alive, his life is worse than of a living dead. In a rich country like Japan, dishonor means death. Clearly for them, a man without honor is without life. Their rulers are not without shame like ours. Ironically, in our poor country, honor has no value without wealth; honor is for sale. It’s More Fun in The Philippines; where corruption is everywhere and everything has a price.

Considering how people disregard honor just to accumulate wealth; and why a First World Country like Japan (whose people knew and give utmost importance to the value of honor) is so rich; I declare that honor is wealth. And if we want progress, we should change the way we educate our children by putting more emphasis on values like honor. For obviously, judging by what and where we are now, and the kind of leaders that we have; our present educational system is a failure. We are more focused on the outcome not on the essential. With no knowledge of the true essence of our beings, we are moving on to the wrong direction, and the real goal is unknown.
It is not possible for those without honor to truly understand the importance of honor. We cannot lose what we do not have. Those in darkness, those who close their eyes, and those who had chosen to be in the dark will not understand the importance of clear daylight. The Scriptures asserts, “The owl close its eyes at daytime and pronounce that the sun is not shining”. “Ignorance is bliss”; and clearly, “there are those whose glory is in their shame”. There is no shame in being poor; however, let torrents of shame fall on those revered beings who affluently lived by exuding the blood, sweat, and tears of others, especially of the poor.I expect those who are accused to fight for truth, for life, for family, for country and for honor. So many painful words were uttered against them already. I ask for forgiveness; I for one, seeing the rampant corruption and the plight of the poor, am guilty of shooting a handful of loaded arrows. It is only a matter of duty, and I have nothing personal against those who are involved in the Pork-Barrel Scam. I must admit, thinking of their current situation, sometimes my heart bleeds for them. But truth and justice must prevail, and it’s time to hear the side of the accused in the court of justice. Some of them may not be guilty; some of them may later on be acquitted, convicted, and later on pardoned. Filipinos can be so passive, kind-hearted, tolerant, forgiving, and with short-lived memory. Needless to say more, huge amount of money was involved; and ours is a dirty politics and a questionable Judiciary. “The arms of the law is long”, and the “Law of Karma” is even longer. I have full faith in justice, but not in the justice system of man.

No doubt the evil of Pork-Barrel is real. It would have been more convincing if the accused had confronted their accusers in the dynamic arena of public opinion, rather than hide in the technical legalities of the law process. The cliché, “I will answer in the right forum” is an overused motto of a coward, if not of the guilty.”. The wise counsel of The Good Book states, “The righteous are bold like lion. Righteousness is not righteous without honor. Everyone needs compassion; and pigs by nature are shameless: it’is unfair for anyone to neither expect nor demand honor from a pig.