COMMENTARY: The Truth About Loyalty
By: Taher G. Solaiman
The current political movements in our region are revealing a profound truth.
Those who left the United Bangsamoro
Justice Party (UBJP) simply because they were not nominated have, through that
very act, confessed the nature of their original commitment.
Their departure is a self-indictment. It proves they were never driven by the party’s principles, its platform, or its sacred cause. They were in it for the transaction—the reward of candidacy, the prestige of position, and the lure of electoral opportunity.
When the slate was finalized and their
names were absent, their "loyalty" dissolved instantly. This is
Kant’s "child" grown up—the individual who views the world through
the narrow lens of personal advantage, choosing right or wrong based solely on
what serves their interest.
Conversely, those who remain steadfast despite not being nominated demonstrate something increasingly rare: a commitment that does not depend on a prize. In a political landscape as transactional as ours, staying when there is no personal gain is the only genuine measure of conviction.
Kant would argue that these are the
only people worth building a movement with.
Take, for example, a high-ranking officer of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) who recently shared a telling encounter. He was invited to a meeting by an opposing party and offered a nomination, paired with a P1-million "mobilization fund."
The officer refused without hesitation. To him, the offer wasn't an "opportunity"—it was an invitation to betray the MILF and the UBJP.
While some walk away when they aren't given a title, others stay even when offered a fortune to leave.
I salute you, Sir. Your integrity is
the bedrock of the Bangsamoro struggle for the right to self-determination and
freedom.
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