THE CULTURE OF REPENTANCE By Philip Jr Lustre The Japanese people are exceptional on one issue: their culture of repentance. Because of the countless acts of atrocity committed by the Japanese troops during the last world war, Japan has to repent and show to the world that it has mended its ways. This is Japans way of contributing to world peace. When I was working at the Manila bureau of the Japanese news agency, Jiji Press, I once told the Japanese correspondents here that my grandfather was abducted by the retreating Japanese soldiers at the closing days of the war and he had not resurfaced since then. It could be presumed that they had killed him. We have yet to see his remains. I could sense my Japanese colleagues genuine sadness to learn that I had lost a grandfather because of the cruelties of their own troopers here. They felt sad because I never felt the warmth of affection and care of a grandfather. Lately, I read a feature article about Eric Lomax, the erstwhile British soldier who met the Japanese military officer, who tortured him to near death in the last war in Singapore. The reunion highlighted the Japanese soldiers profuse act of asking for forgiveness from his former captive and atonement for his sins. The Japanese peoples Buddhist culture is a big factor for such cultural tendencies. In contrast, we have yet to show a culture of repentance. As a people, we have yet to learn to accept our wrongdoings, repent, mend our ways, and atone for our mistakes. What we have is the embarrassing capacity to lie and pretend as if we are angels. Look at our politicians. They even have the temerity to claim that they are the victims instead of admitting they are the culprits. Vice President Jejomar Binay was even angry at the people who called him a thief. He keeps on refusing to give any statement under oath in the Senate, even as he accuses his critics of the very crimes he has allegedly committed. Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada have not indicated any remorse, when they remain angry over the sad fate that has befallen them. All we could see is their distorted culture - or lack of culture.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 08:27:26 +0000
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