Getting Dirty in Life

In a gathering of supporter groups at his Laurel House in Mandaluyong City on 7 May 2010, Nationalista Party standard-bearer Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. said: "How can there be mud on you (referring to Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III) when you do not even wade through mud." (Maila Ager, "Villar to bow to 'Lord's will' but continues attack on rival," Inquirer.net, 7 May 200)

Precisely. We don't get dirty unless we go into a dirty situation and do dirty. But that does not mean we're not doing anything. Life has many temptations on its own; we're amidst the mud of this world, of this life. We don't have to join the criminals to make the wrong decisions, do the wrong things. If Noynoy keep himself away from wrongdoing in public service, I believe that's because he chose not to do the wrong things many do.

So we have a choice--to do dirty or avoid it. We don't have to choose to be in a dirty situation. Dirty options are thrown at us every day, in fact every minute, for the rest of our lives. Convenience in life is never an excuse for staying clean; in fact, temptations can be much more subtle here. Neither financial hardships in life can be an excuse for doing dirty; thinking so would be a negative judgment of those many poor people who live a life of exemplary honesty despite the financial insufficiencies.

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