You have the chance of the century to do for your country what your father died for. Your mother with her kindness did not succeed as she wanted to but got the love of her people. Your success will depend primarily on the Lord and on the cooperation of others at least not to obstruct your path. Any enterprise needs clear goals. What is it that you want and what role do you want to play? Asking the basic questions should clarify your position. No doubt your goal is to push the country to prosperity with loving God and practicing justice and love for each other.

Among your assumptions, the first should be that there is a God who intervenes in history and answers prayers. He created nature to run its course but is willing to derail its working on the request of His creatures. Secondly, you are not perfect or an angel (neither is any human being). The third assumption is that you will be judged by the Almighty and your fellowmen on your good will and effort to love God and fellow man even at your expense. Presuming you have the right objectives and the proper motivation, you can still fall short of what you set out to do. But more than that, you will make mistakes and even fall short of probity. That is the human condition. Yours is not to question such possibilities but to resolve to get up as soon as possible and ask the Lord for mercy. You will be blamed for mistakes ,even those not yours. These should not slow your thrust forward for the good of your country.

Going back to objectives and resolves to serve, there are different kinds of serving and different consistencies and qualities of service. There will be no end for the need to make up for mistakes. Among the talents the Lord has given we use only 10% of our potential. So no need to compare with others, just push forward. To a certain extent, you will be the sacrificial lamb for the good of the community. You need to be prepared for this because it is needed in this vale of tears. Yet the glory is also great and love is a great reward.

Some specific objectives: Cut down corruption. (You will not be able to eliminate it all because of human frailty.); Provide peace and order. (This is the basic function of government. And it can be done in the Philippines as shown by Marikina and Davao City.); Rev up infrastructure projects. (Farm-to-market roads are badly needed.); Build trust. (We are not yet a nation but a cluster of self-seeking groups.); We still have to believe this is a country worth making sacrifices for, as your father said.) Get the cooperation of everybody or at least as many as possible to eliminate poverty. (We are not famous for cooperating in prosperity although we help each other in difficulties. And it is a shame to have 50% of our people in poverty.)

Good luck and the Lord Jesus provide you His help. If you follow your vocation, you may need sympathy more than congratulations if you win the elections. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>