“A small rock holds back a great wave.”
- The Odyssey by Homer
Corruption in government and in Philippine society happen everyday. This culture of corruption envelopes the whole system as if it is a malignant tumor. The main beneficiaries of this sick system are big time corrupt politicians who regularly rake in millions of pesos in kickbacks from multi-million projects.
Now, why will you scold the lowly barangay captain from pocketing one thousand pesos intended for a barangay project? In proportion, a thousand pesos is an insignificant “candlelight” in the hellfire of muliti-million kickbacks.
The management of solid wastes is a global concern. These wastes pollute the earth’s water, air and land resources in such disturbing rate. Industrialized countries such as the US are the leading generators of solid waste as they churn out millions of tons of solid waste per day such as tin cans, tires, plastics, styrofoam and bottles that end up in land fills and don’t get recycled.
So why will you scold Juan who tossed his garbage over the bridge and into the river? In proportion, a bagful of garbage is an insignificant “candlelight” in the hellfire of millions of tons of solid wastes.
Fraud is rampant every time we hold our elections. Vote rigging seems to be a given, an accepted feature in our electoral exercise. Wholesale cheating is done by “operators” the likes of Garci and also with the aid of military officers. Thousands if not millions of votes get padded up to the trapo (traditional politician) with the highest bid.
Now why will you scold the one flying voter who cheated by voting twice thereby adding just one fraudulent vote? In proportion, one vote is like an insignificant “candlelight” in the hellfire of millions of fraudulent votes.
The examples I have given above utilize the same argument Fr. Espiridion Celis is using in support for the proposed construction of a coal plant in Iloilo City.
"China definitely will open two coal-fired power plants every week for the next three and half years. It is like opening a very, very big oven for global warming. Will you scold Iloilo for lighting a candle because it will heat the world? I don't think we are proportion here. There are 24 coal-fired power plants in the Philippines, why Iloilo should have not one? I do not understand," he was quoted by the local media.
Celis also added, “I'm sure that Iloilo will not contribute one-twentieth of China's (emission)”.
We human beings are supposed to be stewards of the planet we live in – a planet, which in Christian teaching, is god’s creation. So priests I suppose would be in the front line of these efforts. I also suppose that religious leaders would have higher standards than say an economist or a capitalist or a politician when it comes to the protection of mother earth.
It is simply hard to believe that a church leader will say that it is okay to pollute a little and not mind the bigger global picture. It is hard to believe that a spiritual leader will say something that is tantamount to declaring that small actions do not affect the bigger world.
Asserting that the act of putting up one more coal plant could not possibly factor materially to the planet’s pollution and contribute to global warming is exactly the kind of mindset that is worsening a lot of the world’s ills.
Simply go back to my earlier examples on corruption, solid waste problem and electoral fraud. One thousand pesos, one bagful of garbage and one fraudulent vote are certainly not in proportion to the totality of the respective problem. But can we really dismiss them as insignificant?
Corollary to this, history has proven that small actions have caused both uplifting and devastating impacts to the world.
If Mahatma Gandhi has the same mindset as articulated by Fr. Celis, then the struggle for India’s independence could have been longer and violent. Apartheid in South Africa would not have been abolished sooner if Nelson Mandela did not believe in small actions.
The end of the horrible racial segregation in the US could not have been expedited if Rosa Parks gave her bus seat up to a white person, thereby giving no spark for Martin Luther King to initiate small protest demonstrations.
Our own Andres Bonifacio could not have inspired a revolution if he did not believe that his small band of katipuneros could one day defeat the mighty Spanish military.
On the opposite side, Adolf Hitler could not have brought mayhem to the whole world if he was stopped initiating his small propaganda about his superior race that placed him on the leadership of his nation.
Now, if the quote attributed to Fr. Celis came from the prospective investor or their paid consultants, I would understand as many of them think only of the benefits to their bank accounts with little consideration to the impact to the environment and society as a whole.
Coming from a priest however makes it different as you anticipate a more insightful opinion, a profound reasoning, a moral stand. Obviously, with all due respect to the parish priest of Mandurriao, I think he has not realized the true meaning of the dictum: “think globally, act locally.”
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
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