The whole world was in shock when the longest-living monarch died. What a coincidence that the Queen of the British Empire died on the day Catholics commemorate the birthday of our Queen, Mary, the Mother of God. After this sad incident, many Filipinos became interested in British Royalty. Professors teaching European studies were invited to various morning talk show hosts to discuss the lines of succession to the throne.
Little did we know that our country has been like that ever since we tolerated political dynasties, and we treated positions in public office like a throne passed on to their next of kin. Even the presidency is not spared from this “royalty succession” type. Our country now has presidents who are children of former presidents. One might argue, “well, they’re qualified and have a concrete plan of action for our economy.” But right now, that is still subject to debate. Qualifications are there to ensure you are the right person for the job. This is an essential requirement to ensure you succeed in the role. It is not simply something passed on to you because of entitlement or bloodline; it is something you have to possess because your part is not just to cut ribbons, smash wine bottles on ships before their maiden voyages or appear in social functions because of your nobility.
To make matters worse, the public office that is viewed by the voting public as a royal succession has the Herculean task of improving the economic, social and financial condition of a local government unit. These things matter as the lives of every Juan depend on the health of the economy, the improvement of the quality of life in our society, and the fiscal conundrum a predecessor has left that needs to be resolved.
But no, all these things don’t matter now because there’s been a lot of birthdays that need to be in and join in the revelry. It seems that the “kings and queens” are back in our country as these “royalties” have been seen from one party to another. They party like there’s no shortage of essential commodities. They can do whatever they want, whatever they can imagine, despite the rising inflation and the falling peso. But let’s not be killjoys because birthdays should be worth celebrating.
So how does one make one’s birthday memorable to your constituents? First, create a law allowing people to take off their face masks in public open spaces. Second, disregard the 10-percent infection rate and the fact that we’re the lowest booster rate in Southeast Asia. That makes a birthday worthwhile because who wants to keep their mask on?
Going back to Great Britain, France has been their long-time ally, but this country has no monarchs at the present day. Why? Because their monarchs abused their power, the French revolution ensued. Then to cut (no pun intended) the long story short, King Louis XV and his wife Marie Antoinette died through a guillotine. What a sad death. It reminds me of my favorite childhood tale, Alice in Wonderland. But, how we wish, we can all be like the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland that whenever we are not happy with the actions of those summoned in court, we can always say “off with his head!” Deep inside me, with all that’s happening in my country and seeing these “royalties” party like there are no economic woes to deal with… makes me want to say: “Off with the heads!”
Alvin Neil Gutierrez is an Assistant Professor from the Department of Management and Organization of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business, teaching Organizational Development and Strategic Human Resources & Organizational Behavior. He is also a DBA student working on his WFH and Organizational Culture dissertation. He is an adrenaline junkie, EDM aficionado, and sympathizer of diversity. E-mail: [email protected]
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
