racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

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I used to say that my generation had a special mission of our own. We are accused of being a generation without an identity, and maybe there is some truth in that. It has been said that every generation is defined by a cause. But unlike the last generation who rallied on EDSA, this generation does not have a definite wrong to correct, or a distinct institution to oppose. But we grew up with the Ninja Turtles, Spiderman and the Power Rangers – we want to be heroes too. So we fight our own battles, we slay our own demons. We find our own causes.
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Today, I write knowing that much of what I stood for and defended was untrue. I am a writer; I trade by my word. I have been in the business for less than five months, but I grew up knowing that truth is a journalist’s only weapon. A writer’s power goes only as far as her credibility. As I write these words now, I am filled with both helplessness and anger. More than the fact that I was deceived, it is infinitely more painful to be responsible for others’ deception. My responsibility is to correct that untruth.

I still have a cause. I may be the least person now with the credibility to speak of serving the country, but I will try. There are many who warrant the praise that Faye has unjustly received. In time, I’ll take up that cause again, in the hope that this one failure will not taint the names of all those who still deserve their recognition. I stand for my convictions, and can only wish that my doing so would in some way aid this cause.

In a world where change is the only thing that’s constant, there are a few things that I still count on. I count on my family’s support. I count on my friends’ understanding. I count on the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening. Most of all, I count on the idea that all people are basically, inherently good.

After all that has happened, it’s hard to hang on to even that. But I’m nineteen, and I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not-quite-grown-up yet. I still believe in the goodness of people, and the greatness of the Filipino. It is one of the few truths that no lie, however big, can ever blot out.

Thank you, Patricia, for your idealism. Perhaps someday idealism will indeed be able to change the world.