When Senator Ping Lacson was asked last April 17 if their declaration to continue their campaigning  is “a display of macho culture,” he replied thus, “Ako, I don’t think that deserves a comment or an answer. I’m sorry.” Manila Mayor Isko Moreno chose to be more explicit with his rejoinder, “I told you this is not about being a woman and a man. This is all about the (sic) character. Character has nothing to do with the (sic) gender and I wish them good luck.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines character as “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”  

Interestingly, character is what is at the heart of Virtue Ethics. In Virtue Ethics, what is right is not determined by way of one’s duty to a moral code. Neither does it focus on whether an act would result in the greatest happiness for the most number of people. Instead, Virtue Ethics focuses on whether a choice you are making in a given situation is what a person of good character would typically choose.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle tells us that “the excellence of the eye makes both the eye and its work good” in the same manner that “the excellence of the horse makes a horse both good in itself and good at running and at carrying its rider and at awaiting the attack of the enemy. Therefore, if this is true in every case, the virtue of man also will be the state of character which makes a man good and which makes him do his own work well.”

To develop such a “state of character,” Aristotle recommends the relentless practice of virtues. That is to say, if you want to be truthful, make it a point to always tell the truth and refrain from telling a lie. If you want to be generous, make it a point to always be generous and refrain from being selfish.

This insight is by no means exclusive to the west. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said something analogous, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it  becomes your destiny.”

To guide his students in building habits out of their relentless practice of virtues, Aristotle anchored the practice of virtues to the Doctrine of the Golden Mean – the doctrine that asserts that virtue is what lies between two extremes or vices.

An extreme could either be a defect (i.e., an act that falls short) or an excess (i.e., an act that goes overboard). For example, if one is being lied to, tolerating the lying by not calling out the liar is a defect because it falls short of what would put a stop to the lying. On the other hand, reacting violently to the liar is an excess since it goes beyond what would suffice to put a stop to the lying. What lies in the middle of tolerating the lying and using violence to stop the lying is the act of tactfully but firmly confronting the liar with facts.  

Perhaps presenting the facts to thwart the lies was what Senator Lacson was trying to do in clarifying the rationale behind their Easter Sunday joint press conference. “It’s not all about against Leni. It’s not all about against Marcos or for Marcos or for Leni. This is offering other options.”

I agree. Ultimately, May 9, 2022 is not just about former senator Bongbong Marcos or Vice President Leni Robredo. But neither is it all about offering other options. No, the stakes are much bigger than Marcos Jr. versus Robredo or the well-meaning aspirations of Senator Lacson, Mayor Moreno, and Secretary Gonzales to give us more options. What is at stake in May 2022 is nothing less than the culmination of the historical revision of 1972 (i.e., that Martial Law was all about “nation building” and “saving the republic”) and the repudiation of 1986 (i.e., that the People Power Revolution was nothing more than the cunning machinations of the Aquinos and the Yellows to subvert “nation building” and “saving the republic”).

Given all these, is the act of holding the April 17, 2022 press conference, after being approached in private to explore the unification of the opposition, a vice or a virtue? – Rappler.com

Von Katindoy is a graduate student and a college instructor.