Last night, while searching YouTube for the Alex Eala - Iga Świątek Wimbledon match, I joined millions of Filipinos cheering for Alex. For two glorious hours, I escaped our own national reality show.
I forgot the Iglesia ni Kristo's three-day mobilization - marketed as a crusade for "transparency, accountability and institutional reform," though many suspect its transparency extends mainly to protecting a favored ally, Senator Marcoleta.
I forgot the Senate's political acrobatics, Congress' endless theater, and the BBM administration where investigations seem to produce more headlines than convictions. It was refreshing to watch a contest where the scoreboard - not surnames, dynasties, or political patrons - decided the winner.
THE MERIT THAT POLITICS FEARS
When Alex Eala walked off Centre Court after defeating defending Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek, she won far more than a tennis match. She demolished one of our favorite national excuses.
For decades, we have blamed history, colonialism, corruption, geography, and bad luck for our shortcomings. Convenient - but incomplete. Eala reminded us of a harder truth: talent is abundant; institutions that reward it are not.
Sport remains one of the few arenas where merit still rules. The scoreboard ignores family names, political endorsements, dynasties, and manufactured reputations. It asks only one question: Who performed better today?
Imagine if our public institutions operated with the same honesty - where promotions rewarded competence, appointments demanded ability, and public office resembled Centre Court instead of a family inheritance.
TWO VERY DIFFERENT SYSTEMS
Alex did not arrive at Wimbledon by accident. Her success was forged through disciplined training, world-class coaching, relentless competition, and a culture where excuses earn nothing.
Meanwhile, back home, our political class deserves its own annual awards night: Best Dramatic Performance, Outstanding Parliamentary Gymnastics, and Lifetime Achievement in Political Acrobatics. The cast changes, dynasties rotate, alliances mutate - but the script never does.
While politicians perfected the art of appearing indispensable, a young Filipina quietly prepared for the biggest match of her life. She was not courting patrons, rehearsing sound bites, or counting Senate votes. She was doing something almost revolutionary by Philippine standards: becoming better.
One system rewards performance. The other rewards proximity to power. One produces champions. The other produces politicians who inaugurate projects paid for by taxpayers, then congratulate themselves as though they had personally invented competence.
THE HARDER MATCH
That is our national paradox. Filipinos excel wherever merit determines success. Our nurses, engineers, scientists, seafarers, entrepreneurs - and now our Alex - prove that every day.
The shortage has never been talent. It has always been institutions willing to reward it. Alex's victory belongs to no administration, no political dynasty, and certainly no politician scrambling for a photo opportunity. It belongs to every Filipino who believes excellence should matter more than pedigree.
Centre Court offered a lesson our politics still refuses to learn. The scoreboard counts results - not surnames. Alex defeated the defending Wimbledon champion.
The Philippines still has to defeat its oldest champion of all: mediocrity protected by pedigree, sustained by patronage, and repeatedly elected by those it has failed.
For comments: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.000
THE SCOREBOARD NEVER LIES – Alex Eala and the Meritocracy We Still Refuse to Build Featured
Comments:DISQUS_COMMENTS
-
font size
decrease font size
increase font size