Gone were the days when the enforcement of discipline and the instruction of right behavior falls within the province of the home. We now look to the government to make sure our children are disciplined. We have made a society that is rich ground for the success of any self-styled candidate who's made it his sole responsibility to enforce discipline on behalf of all fathers, mothers, lolos and lolas everywhere. We are convinced that it is discipline this nation needs, and that discipline it must get. Not from strong parental units however, but from the archetypal strongman from Davao - enrobed with the awesome powers of the State - the policeman who shall never sleep.
But suppose for a moment he slumbers? With all the expectations we place squarely on his shoulders, is he not bound to disappoint? Who must we blame then?
Is there any wonder we are fascinated with the character of the crusading villainess-heroine in the person of Lola Nidora? The character who single-handedly insists that her own ward and granddaughter follow the strictest Filipino values and traditional virtues. Have we lost our Lola Nidoras in our own families? Have we become so weak ourselves that we cannot be strong even for our own loved ones?
The family still is the basic unit of society. It is in the family that personal responsibility is expected and demanded. We must all work for strong families above all, or personal responsibility will weaken, and we continue to have a society all too willing to abdicate responsibility to an imperfect government.
