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It is one of the virtues of Filipino society, and yet it is forgiveness that often trumps accountability. And thus the forgiving Filipino loses this virtue and has become a slave to it. A tragedy, maybe.

To forgive, divine. Is this what the religious Filipino society has done all throughout the ages, so that we must be held at a high moral light? But what is moral about having criminals pay no restitution, giving freedom to those who do not deserve it, and giving an enemy of the state a high position in government?

What can we say of morality, when we let God-forsaken criminals stay in office for the sake of forgiveness. Let them stay so that they can continue desecrating, plundering, and criminalizing the highest office in the land? What good is forgiveness when all it does is keep our countrymen among the poorest in the world?

Yes, in The Philippines, politicians and the oligarchy get richer by the day, and the rest of the masses forgive their poor hearts out.

A travesty it is, this forgiveness. Because when used blindly, and without accountability, it has become the preferred weapon of the elite.

Let the poor cling to forgiveness, and let the damned elite reap the rewards of forgiveness.

And so, we ask, is forgiveness wrong? I say yes, when seen in the context of suffering and letting go of accountability. What is of higher morality? To forgive, or to do our nation right?