WE seem fated to the Curse of Sissyphus since Filipinos have the tendency to focus on issues involving personalities rather than on fundamental reforms that will nourish the tree trunk of life and the future instead of its individual branches.

Thus, the "Hello Garci" controversy is no big deal.

To paraphrase the Bible: He who is without sin, and who did not "cheat" or "massage" his votes in the 2004 elections, let him cast the first stone.

In short, there are more profound issues that cry for political will and national leadership.

By the same token, nothing is served, for it is a fool’s paradise, for Filipinos to constantly indulge in nostalgic reminiscences when the Philippines was supposedly Asia’s top dog shortly after the Second World War up to the end of the Korean conflict.

This is a myth that is grossly exaggerated, and saddens today’s generation upon inquiring what has happened to the Philippines since then.

The fact is that the countryside, apart from Manila which was razed to the ground by Allied forces during World War II, had retained its pristine Amorsolo-like rural serenity with ready-to-go labor force assisted by American assistance and surplus.

Likewise, while Yokohama and Nagasaki industrial centers took the brunt of the atomic bombs, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the American Caesar, enlightened that he was, saw to it that the monarchy was preserved to restore the people’s unity and pride; the "Zaibatsus," while ostensibly de-fanged, were allowed to re-ignite the furnaces, so to speak, and restore manufacturing capability as the Korean War threat and economic requirements were looming large in the horizon, which started Japan’s phenomenal economic recovery and hegemony.

In the Korean peninsula, meanwhile, the brutal and catastrophic war eventually broke out in 1951 between the UN Allied Forces and the Koreans with the assistance of the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) of China which eventually led to the partition of the two Koreas along the 38th parallel.

Ironically, most of the vast mineral resources and hydro power were located in North Korea while South Korea, without mineral wealth, was razed to the ground by friendly fire.

In China, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party eventually became victorious and took power in 1949 after decades of civil war.

In the meantime, the beleaguered and vanquished Kuomintang Armies of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek retreated across the Taiwan Straits, and imposed themselves on the small island of Formosa (Taiwan) which is about the size of Luzon. Taiwan, too, has no mineral resources other than its hardworking population.

To make the long story short, economists, politicians, and analysts are in awe at the awesome success then and now of Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan.

The question is: What happened to "Top Gun" Philippines that we have been bragging about?

The bottom line is that the hyper-sensitive issues and politically risky reforms have been perpetually swept under the rug and given cursory cosmetic debates.

Take for example, among innumerable issues according to one’s priorities, the 1987 Constitution, the Presidential form of government, the parliamentary system, the population time-bomb, the death penalty, and others.

The 1987 Constitution, with all its laudable features, is a biased, anti-Marcos reactionary document of kilometric length which is overdue for review and upgrading.

The Basic Law does not only carry outdated doctrines and protectionist provisions but is also a Constitution where the infrastructure and features resemble remarkably like a parliament with party-list and multiparty provisions, but the superstructure is presidential in form which lackadaisical outcome is the source of our continuous squabbling.

Among the many agreeable and disagreeable features of the presidential and parliamentary systems, respectively, the fact is that, in the former, once elected, the President and unelected Cabinet members and senior advisers are not "accountable" to the "people" until the next election campaign comes around.

In the Parliamentary form, where the Prime Minister and his elected Cabinet members are accountable to the public on a daily basis, a mismanaged government can fall at any time, and new elections are called.

Thus far, no administration has had the "gallstones" to put the Catholic Church in its place, and formulate clear population-reducing policies.

Last but not least, with pressure from the church, do-gooders, and human rights activists, the Philippines, if its Judiciary is to be respected, must decisively make clear its stand on the death penalty, heinous crimes, and economic plunder.

These policies can make or unmake presidents.

Hence, enough of memory lane daydreaming, and focus more on the future and vision over the next 20 or 30 years.

You be the judge. (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)