By Col Dencio S Acop (Ret), PhD
Ours is a society that puts so much emphasis on the accomplishment of worldly ambitions: wealth, power, honor, and pleasure. We have defined the meaning and fulfillment of our lives as the attainment of lofty status and titles, and the accumulation of material resources that go with them. Fine. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the pursuit of such using our God-given gifts. But I argue that there is everything that is wrong with such pursuits if they are done without character. There are several points I wish to make in this regard. One, there is nothing wrong with competition to reach all the way to the top of a career and institution. But there is everything that is wrong with it when it is pursued without character meaning lying, cheating, stealing, or tolerating any of these was resorted to in its attainment. Some may argue that toleration or even acceptability of Machiavellian principles to justify such is alright. However, I argue further that although such may be justifiable in the context of a just war, it is hardly justifiable in any other context that does not involve life or death but merely the choice between vested or public interest in a moral and legal sense.
Two, I also point out the danger to the individual or society which the pursuit of unprincipled ambition without character ultimately brings about. There is danger to the mortal soul of any individual who is able to prioritize worldly ambition over moral values. This occurs if the attainment of an individual goal is at the expense of the larger good. Selfishness is always the opposite of love which is intrinsically selfless. History is ripe with real-life examples to illustrate this point. Thomas More, despite his high rank in the court of King Henry VIII, chose to be in order with God than man saying ‘I am the king’s loyal servant but God’s first’. Joan of Arc and Jose Abad Santos are other examples who, despite the allure of worldly gains, chose to die for God or country over self. In the august halls of learning, we were taught integrity which was adherence to all that was right and true even when no one was looking. It was called the inculcation of character. Now, the pursuit of anything believed to be right and true but lived in reality in falsehoods and error is intrinsically disordered and magnifies the error if done in full knowledge of it. Which is oftentimes the case today in the era of fake news and alternate reality.
Finally, anything achieved without character amounts to nothing. The lack of character negates the claimed achievement. It is merely form lacking in substance; a masquerade able to fool the eyes of men but not the eyes of God. History is once again replete with claimed achievements of men eventually proven to be false. Human achievements without character. The claimed World War Two exploits and medals of Ferdinand Marcos for instance. This error is in fact magnified by the insistence to bury him in the Libingan ng mga Bayani which is the resting place for fallen soldiers of character. The claimed Oxford degree of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The claimed achievements of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte despite the extra-judicial killings meriting an investigation by the international criminal court. The claim to living up to the ideals of courage-integrity-loyalty by many corrupt alumni of the Philippine Military Academy. The hypocrisy of many in high office who claim honor in service to the people when the opposite is true. Therefore, I finally argue that even the ways and means of our edification are often devoid of character. However flawed the attainment of high office is in our land, most institutions honor individuals based not on character but merely on the achievement of high rank even without the exemplification of character. Character matters. In fact, in most cases today it is all that matters.