A New Year’s Message ACCEPTING PEOPLE AS THEY ARE BEST FORMULA AGAINST CONFLICT

By Manny Pinol

As the year comes to a close, I would like to share with the followers of this page a thought which was borne out of my experiences in life over the last 12 months.

I do not want to offend anybody, especially not today as we are about to welcome the New Year.

But looking back at 2014, I saw it as a year of so much conflict not only in the Philippines but all around the world.

We hear of the war in Syria and Iraq, the killings in Pakistan, the age-old and almost endless conflict between Israel and Palestine.

I believe the reason why there is so much conflict in this world is because some of us would like others to act like we do, think like we do and talk like we do.

We even like others to like only those who we like and hate those who we hate.

We even want others to belong to the same religion as ours and hate those who do not believe the way we do.

This brings us to the comments about Rody Duterte posted in this page where people say: “I like Rody Duterte, but…”

People now would like Rody Duterte to distance himself from Joma Sison, from Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, from President Fidel V. Ramos, from Nur Misuari, from Bongbong Marcos, etc. etc.

But Rody Duterte was already Rody Duterte before we even heard of his name.

He is who he is. His brand of leadership is unique. His personality is unique.

Let’s stop dreaming that we will ever change him one bit. Let’s like him for what he is.

If some people do not like a part of him, they should just look at the other parts of Duterte which are likable.

If some could not really like him for his frailties as a human being, there’s a long list of other political leaders they could like and embrace.

But believe me, unless those people are hypocrites, they will tell you they won’t change who they are one bit because a hundred thousand voters are asking that they change.

This goes for you and me too.

I am what I am and I say sorry to those who I have hurt, offended or displeased.

I am sorry if I failed to live up to the expectations of others. I am just another human being.

The moral lesson?

Let’s take and like people for who they are. Then, we will have peace in this little world we live in.

Happy new year to all the followers of this page.