A question raised during the current impeachment trial of the Vice President made me think further. The defense counsel objected that anything with regards to the use of confidential funds while Sara Duterte was still the Mayor of Davao City is irrelevant and immaterial. The presiding officer ruled that the use of confidential funds while still in Davao City is immaterial as to the determination of her innocence or guilt. But it can be relevant in relation to the attempt of the prosecution to establish a pattern of behavior.
This reminds me of what Jesus says, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones” (Lk. 16:10).
My comments here would go beyond the context of the allegations against Sara Duterte. In itself, the biblical passage speaks volumes about the evolution (or devolution?) of our moral consciousness. Big-time corruption does not start when we cannot account for hundreds of millions of pesos. It starts when we look at petty theft as insignificant.
The truth that big things start from small things is not limited to money matters. Adulterous relationships, for instance, begin with seemingly harmless flirtation. Big-time dishonesty in selling one’s products may have started with a plagiarized paragraph in one’s college thesis. Violence with the use of guns starts with an attitude that every conflict must be settled through a fistfight. The refusal of a national official to be held accountable may have started as abuse of power on the level of a local government unit. It may even have started at home. And so that I may not be criticized for not looking at my own backyard, let me add that failure to give a proper liquidation report in one barrio parish may lead to further dishonesty as one climbs the ecclesiastical ladder.
One small dishonest deed does not make a person fundamentally dishonest. But every dishonesty, no matter how small, weakens our moral fiber. It may lead to more blatant dishonesty until telling lies already becomes a bad habit.
But the flip side is that big-time heroism starts from small deeds. Ninoy Aquino’s decision to return to his country despite the strong possibility of state-sponsored assassination may have started from his principled opposition even while in prison for seven lonely years. Pedro Calungsod’s decision not to abandon the Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores and face possible death started with his daily loyalty as sacristan.
Most of us do not have to face that one moment in time when we are asked to choose between continued existence or martyrdom. But actually, in small moments, almost daily we are asked to choose whether we live by our principles or go along with what is wrong for the sake of pakikisama. Almost every day, we are between indifference and empathy, principles or convenience. When we choose our principles, we also strengthen ourselves to choose the same when some big moments may come.
I have always believed that the story of Jesus’ temptation by the devil capsulizes his whole life story. The temptation by Satan story was not a one-shot deal. Jesus had to face temptation often. When he faced strong opposition from the Pharisees and later from the temple authorities, there was the urge to abandon the mission given him by God. The same temptation came when his disciples often failed to understand his message. He faced the big question to escape or not when he was in the garden of Gethsemane. And if you believe in Kazantzakis’ fiction, there was temptation even while he was already agonizing on the cross. But Jesus’ daily yes to his Father strengthened him when the big moment came.
Let us end with questions with which we started this essay: Is there a pattern in the behavior of the Vice President? If there is, describe that pattern.
