Back when President Bongbong Marcos and relatives were seriously discussing the idea of a ‘presidential run,’ one of his cousins claimed to have opposed the idea for several reasons.
First of all, the Marcos-Romualdez clan had gone through the experience under a Marcos presidency and ‘look where it got us?’
The relative also pointed out that the second generation as well as the third generation Marcoses and Romualdezes were all doing well and occupied various positions in government. Something hard to imagine after EDSA 1.
God forbid, would the clan be willing to go through a repeat of history and who would be there to protect their necks or what army could they rely on to defend them? Little did he realize his words were prophetic.
As it turns out, they now have an extended simmering family feud, complete with scandalous public revelations and veiled threats. Even worse, they are embroiled in much the same way their parents, titos and titas were, neck deep in claims, suspicions, even charges of corruption, conspiracy and amassing ill-gotten wealth.
George Santayana said: ‘Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it’ and we often think this applies only to the Filipino people who keep voting or choosing the wrong set of leaders.
I would say that the warning also applies to the Marcoses and the Romualdezes. Clearly, only one short branch of the family knew enough to know what disaster awaits all if things got out of hand, which they have.
Unfortunately, like all Filipino families, that does not relieve them of the embarrassment, discomfort and annoyance towards family members who have caused the innocents so much ‘kahihiyan.’
What about the rest of us? What lessons can we derive from what Harry Belafonte called ‘shame and scandal in the family?’ How can it be that, with all the power and the wealth, people still recklessly ‘gamble’ for more, and sometimes at all cost? How much is enough?
The first cause is pride. We become too full of ourselves when we are able to get away with something. It’s not an adrenaline rush, it’s a shot of pride fueling our ego and making us believe that ‘We did it!’ or it was because of us and that we can do it again.
There is a direct warning from God concerning the inevitability of pride misleading us and he wrote this specific warning in Chapter 8 of the book of Deuteronomy:
8:2 ‘Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness all these 40 years, to humble and test you in order to know what is in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.’
8:3 ‘He humbled you… to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’
8:10 ‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you today.’
8:12 ‘Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God…
8:17 ‘You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.’
8:19 ‘If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods (idols) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.’
As it turned out, that level of power and amount of pride became the undoing of King David who covets, consumes his lust with Bathsheba, arranges the death of her husband, simply because he could.
God confronts King David through the prophet Nathan and tells him in 2 Samuel 12:7-9: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms.
‘I gave you Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?’
12:11 ‘This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household (family) I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.
You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’
King David lost one child, one of his sons drove him out of his own kingdom and did exactly what the Lord said would happen. May this be a lesson to all of us.