When many Filipinos were calling for the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos, his supporters’ main retort was, ‘Who shall replace Marcos?’. To answer that question, the first Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL) chose 50 Filipinos who could replace Marcos. The one who eventually replaced him was not even among the 50.
Now, the supporters or apologists of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) are asking the same question: ‘Who shall replace GMA?’.
In both cases, the questions are misleading and even immaterial. The question should not be ‘Who shall replace the President?’ but ‘Should the President be replaced?’
If the manager or president of your company is found to have committed or caused somebody to commit a crime, would you ask, ‘But who shall replace him/her?’ Wouldn’t you want that person to be removed from your company?
The President is a public servant. She needs to retain the public trust. If the public does not trust her anymore, shouldn’t the public / people be correct if they demand her ouster?
If you have a maidservant whom you had lost confidence in because of some bad things she had done, would you ask ‘Who shall replace her?’ or would you rather she goes first and you deal with the replacement afterwards?
CRIME DOES NOT PAY
Any person who commits a crime or an illegal act must be punished. That is the law. And no one, not even the President or Head of State, should be above the law.
There is also the principle of Command Responsibility. This doctrine of hierarchical accountability was established by the Hague Conventions IV (1907) and X (1907).
This is also called the Yamashita standard. Japanese General Yamashita was found guilty of crimes done by his men in the Philippines during World War II. Yamashita was charged with "unlawfully disregarding and failing to discharge his duty as a commander to control the acts of members of his command by permitting them to commit war crimes."
As President of the Republic, she has command responsibility over her Cabinet, military and police.
In a republic, “sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.” This is clearly stated in the Philippine Constitution (Article II, Section 1). If the people believe that the President is guilty of crimes, either by commission or omission, or even under the Command Responsibility doctrine, then the people have the inherent right to replace that president – by whatever means. This is what People Power means.
IS GMA GUILTY?
She was part of the cheating in 2004 elections as proven by the Hello Garci Tapes. She asked a COMELEC Commissioner to cheat for her.
The Jose Pidal investigation uncovered more corruption directly linking her husband. The brother-in-law’s claim that he is Jose Pidal is unbelievable and does not absolve the President and her husband of wrongdoing.
The ZTE-NBN Senate investigation has opened a can of worms. There were massive kick backs for her husband and political allies – up to US$ 200 million worth from a US$ 329 Million project.
She was told by Sec. Neri of the bribe offer yet she still ordered that the project be approved. Bribery is a crime.
There was abduction and an obvious rub-out attempt of Jun Lozada.
There are probably more corruption from CyberEd, Northrail and Southrail projects.
The China and PNOC agreement over Spratly Islands might be unconstitutional. It is linked with the massive loans for the Philippines from China – to the tune of US 8 Billion in 5 years.
PP 1017, EO 464 were struck down by the Supreme Court. Yet her Cabinet officials still invoke EO 464 and still implement 1017 powers or even beyond such as the imposition of a dusk to dawn curfew.
Journalists were arrested without cause, without warrant and without being apprised of their Miranda rights.
Opposition congressmen were threatened with arrests. One was arrested and jailed while the others had to seek sanctuary in the halls of Congress.
There are countless extrajudicial killings including the late Jose Burgos’s son, Jonas. Even the UN special rapporteur reported on the dismal situation of the country’s extra-judicial killings.
New York-based Freedom House has downgraded the Philippines from a free and democratic country to a ‘partly-free’ country.
Et cetera et cetera…
THE QUESTION
SHOULD GMA BE REPLACED? That is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler for Filipinos to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous mis-governance and untrammeled corruption of the Arroyo administration or to rise up in People Power against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them.
The calls for President Arroyo to resign are mounting. In behalf of all my inarticulate friends, relatives and lovers, I call on Madame President to heed the call of the people. It is time to go.
She has destroyed any semblance of fair play in the Philippine electoral process. This was revealed to the people through the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes; and now, through the huge kick backs allegedly for then Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chair Ben Abalos.
She has destroyed whatever semblance of normal electoral process in Muslim Mindanao. The ‘Hello Garci’ tapes showed to all and sundry that Mindanao elections are controlled by Manila politicians, military and government officials. The tapes even presented how top government officials planned the cheating — including kidnapping Moro civilians.
She has destroyed any semblance of independence of the House of Representatives through her overthrowing of the supposedly powerful House Speaker Jose de Venecia. She also had thwarted three impeachments attempts against her.
She has destroyed whatever credibility the Civil Service has. The outgoing Civil Service Commission Chair Karina Davd revealed that she (PGMA) stuffed the bureaucracy with retired military and police officials as well as other unqualified political appointees. Jun Lozada revealed that a hundred million dollar or so project study was based on figures taken from a tabloid. And the Director-General of the highest economic planning body of the government (NEDA) said that his staff tried to verify a 300 million dollar project by going to the Internet and came up with nothing.
If 300 million dollar project studies are based on tabloid figures and verifed by our technocrats through Internet research alone, then how can we even hope to progress as a nation?
She has destroyed the people’s perception of supposedly pro-people, pro-freedom political icons like Senators Joker Arroyo and Miriam Defensor-Santiago. These senators had to defend her presidency despite the mounting evidence of corruption.
She has destroyed the people’s trust in the security forces in the country. People like Jonas Burgos, son of Press Freedom icon, Jose Burgos, can simply disappear while his alleged police / military abductors and probable killers remain at large. And people like Jun Lozada could easily be picked up from a very public place like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and be driven around Southern Luzon while the powers that be mull his fate.
She tried to destroy again the image of the Moro people as head-hunting savages through the Beheading of Marines episode in Basilan. In spite of the gravity of the alleged offenses, the official findings were never published or disseminated to the public except to say that they were done by the government’s favorite bogeymen, the Abu Sayyaf. There was so much sound and fury but ended up with nothing. About a dozen Marines were beheaded but the public was not told of the whys and wherefores and no one was punished.
She has destroyed the country’s image as having the freest press in Asia by having the journalists handcuffed and arrested without warrant. And she then tried to intimidate the media people by issuing guidelines and practically threatening to revoke media organizations’ franchises if they don’t tow the line.
She has destroyed the reputation of the country as a democratic state. International organizations like the New York-bsed FREEDOM HOUSE has downgraded the category of the Philippines to a ‘partly-free’ country.
She has put restraints on the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution such as the freedom to assemble to seek redress and even the freedom of the Press.
And finally, she has destroyed the concept of people power.
When the people gathered at EDSA to topple the regime of then President Joseph Estrada, they wanted Mr. Estrada to answer for the crimes he commited against the people. The court (Sandiganbayan) found Mr. Estrada guilty of plunder. But after a few days, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pardoned Mr. Estrada. So what was EDSA 2 all about then?
Together with the Filipinos, the world rejoiced when the Filipino people toppled the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 through ‘People Power’ at EDSA. The world was quite surprised when the Filipinos again used ‘People Power’ at EDSA to topple a populist president who was impeached by the House of Representatives. Because of the perceived bias of the majority of the senators, the people thought that the senators would not give a fair verdict and so the people went to EDSA to deliver the verdict themselves.
But the person put into power by the second EDSA People Power revolt, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, turned out to be allegedly even more corrupt than Mr. Estrada. Thus, many Filipinos have lost their faith in People Power. They are afraid that the next people power might bring in an even more corrupt president.
Madame President, please help restore the people’s faith in the government and its agencies back. Please help restore the people’s faith in People Power back by graciuosly resigning.You have already served more than 7 years, longer than a presidential term. Be kind to your country and to your people. Madame Glo, it is time to go.
AS THE COOKIE CRUMBLES
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is feeling the heat. She finally admitted that she knew of the anomalies regarding the ZTE-NBN deal. But she said she was told about it only on the eve of the signing of the agreement in China. And that she couldn’t possibly back off at the last minute since it is a contract with another country. Her own words were: “Someone told me about it the night before the signing of the supply contract… But how can you cancel it the night before, considering that you are dealing with another country?”
I don’t know what Ms. Arroyo think of the Filipino people. In the Garci Tapes scandal, she admitted that she spoke with an Elections commissioner during the election period of 2004. She passed it off as a mere “lapse of judgment”. It was a small miracle that she weathered that political storm. Perhaps she believes she can survive this one as well by using the same technique.
As the great Abe Lincoln once said, “You can fool all the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all the time. But you cannot fool all the people all the time.” This time, nobody in the Philippines is getting fooled.
LYING G-MEN
If Ms. Arroyo knew that the project was anomalous and still signed the bilateral agreement, isn’t she guilty of graft?
And how about all the Government’s men who keep on defending the viability of the project, especially DOTC Sec. Mendoza, Asst. Sec. Formoso and even Romulo Neri. They are guilty of perjuring themselves in the Senate, to say the least.
But the stakes are getting higher.
Jun Lozada filed charges against Sec. Lito Atienza and Police Chief Razon, among others, for Attempted Murder! It’s about time to call a spade a spade. Most of the media had been calling Lozada’s experience with the airport and police escorts as abduction or kidnapping. In my previous posts, I called it “attempted rub-out”.
AMATEUR HIT MEN
The government boys really botched it up. The first mistake they did was to assume that Lozada was only in touch with government men. They did not know that Lozada was constantly in touch with friends and family while in Hong Kong. And these people were in touch with the Senate, with people’s organizations and with the media. Secretary Atienza kept on saying that he thought Lozada was speaking only to him with regards to his coming home.
The next big mistake they did was not to have the passport stamped at the Immigration. They should have done that in the evening after Gen, Razon already admitted that they had custody of Lozada. That unstamped passport is evidence of bad intention on the part of Lozada’s escorts.
Then there are the La Salle brothers and Catholic nuns who could testify that even in La Salle, Lozada was not free. As La Salle University President Brother Armin Luistro said, “I felt that the brothers are hostages in our own house.”
ARROYO’S INCREASING NUMBER OF ENEMIES
Arroyo is now faced with an array of oligarchic families starting from Cory Aquino’s clan. Making an outright enemy out of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia was a very bad move on Arroyo’s part. She is now being backed up by only a handful of business tycoons. They may have some money, but hardly any political and military clout.
Trying to take the Lakas party for herself not only angered de Venecia but even the “spiritual” Lakas head, former President Fidel V. Ramos.
It has also been rumored that Arroyo was set on removing Ramos’s men from her Cabinet, beginning with Executive Secretary Ermita. But for now, she could not remove anyone as it would be seen as resignation and withdrawal of support for her government and not as sacking of an official.
EDSA SPIRIT
Arroyo’s opponents are hoping that the EDSA Spirit will come to the people as we are celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the so-called EDSA revolution. Well, miracles do happen. Arroyo became president in an almost miraculous manner.
Tomorrow will be a gauge on how all of these events are going to turn out.
© by Datu Jamal Ashley Abbas
In a speech in Wisconsin, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that he is running for the US presidency because, quoting from Martin Luther King, of the “fierce urgency of now.”
Indeed, there is a fierce urgency for the US to change its foreign policy now. Bush’s adherence to the “Clash of Civilization” scenario is alienating America from international communities like most of the Muslim world, the truly non-aligned countries and even the still powerful Russia and the awakening giant China. Even tourists have shied away from the US.
Domestically, the “Clash of Civilization” mindset is pitting the so-called Whites – those of European descent – against their hyphenated co-citizens – the Blacks (African-Americans), Hispanics or Latinos (Mexican-Americans et al), Asians (Indian-Americans, etc.) and of course, the Muslims (Arab-Americans, etc.).
(See Clash of Civilizations post )
IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Senate hearings have highlighted the fierce urgency for change now. The country is fast sliding to become a failing or failed state.
THE PRESIDENCY
First, the legitimacy of the Presidency is in question. The “Hello Garci” tapes and all other evidence of fraud in the 2004 elections is enough to convince any doubting Thomas that Ms. Arroyo could not possibly have won over the ever popular Fernando Poe, Jr.
CREDIBILITY OF ELECTORAL PROCESS
Second, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has no credibility at all. The involvement of the COMELEC Chair in the current ZTE-NBN scandal is proof positive that there was fraud in the 2004 and even in the 2008 elections. The mind-boggling “commission” allegedly asked by the Chair from the ZTE-NBN project is an indication of the magnitude of fraud perpetrated by the COMELEC in the last two elections. The COMELEC Chair was simply calling in the chips. As Mr. Joey de Venecia said, it was the Chair’s "last hurrah" before retiring.
With the COMELEC in such a situation, how could the Filipino people trust the outcome of future elections?
There is a fiercely urgent need to implement computerized elections. The computer system to be chosen should be able to greatly minimize cheating in the counting of ballots.
BLEEDING THE GOVERNMENT DRY
Third, the gigantic amounts of “commissions” allegedly being asked or given by government officials is hemorrhaging government coffers. These kickbacks are loans to be paid for by the Filipino people. The Philippines already has massive debts inherited all the way from the Marcos administration.
What would the common tao think of people getting kickbacks of US$ 70 MILLION or P 3.5 BILLION (at P 50 : $ 1) or even just US$ 10 MILLION ( P 500 MILLION) to “back off” from a project? These are HUGE AMOUNTS.
And more kickbacks of that magnitude will soon be exposed. The Southrail project allegedly involves a minimum of US $ 70 MILLION DOLLARS kickback. The Cyber Education project cost is around 26 BILLION PESOS. Surely, there are MASSIVE commissions hiding there. After all, as somebody said in the Senate hearing, it is just like doing another “Knowledge Channel”.
The government should not be a milking cow for a few people. The hemorrhage of government coffers should stop now before the Filipinos are burdened with insurmountable debts.
MILITARIZATION OF BUREAUCRACY
Fourth, the militarization of the bureaucracy is becoming more apparent. Every Army and Air Force General Tom, Police General Dick and Admiral Harry, who retire from the service, is immediately given a government post. In the ZTE-NBN-Lozada scandal alone, former generals are involved — from Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Mendoza to Airport Asst. Gen. Manager Atutubo . Even Jun Lozada’s former patron was a former general – Gen. Victor Corpus. The head of the Cabinet – the Executive Secretary – is a former general.
Civil Service Commission (CSC) chair Karina Constantino-David, in her valedictory speech, said that more than 90 former military and police officers are now enjoying top government posts. She asserted that these people are "not necessarily qualified."
(See Civil Service chief: Govt needs to sack 20-30% of workers)
It is unfortunate that Ms. Constantino-David only found the courage to publicly speak up when her term was already up. The Civil Service Commission is an independent constitutional body. She was not there for the pleasure of the president. She could have spoken up while she was still incumbent and she should have initiated reforms in the Civil Service.
There is an urgent need to stop the militarization of the bureaucracy.
BLOATED AND MEDIOCRE BUREAUCRACY
This brings us to the fifth item, the bloated and incompetent bureaucracy. In the media report cited above, the former CSC chair said that “Around 20-30 percent of government workers should be removed from the service because of the excess number of employees being employed by the state.”
She further said that “4,000 qualified personnel were not appointed to executive posts because these positions were filled up by people close to the President. She said that of the 6,000 managerial positions in the government, 3,500 were filled up by presidential appointees instead of career officials.”
Like all politicians pandering to the government workforce, she gives the impression that career bureaucrats are necessarily qualified and competent. That is a non sequitur. In the first place, a great majority of so-called career civil servants got their jobs not because of competence or qualifications but because of padrinos who are either politicians or people within the bureaucracy. And a great majority of these bureaucrats get promoted depending on how good they suck up to the powers that be.
In fact, these bureaucrats act and think that they own the government. They call the political appointees like Secretaries and Undersecretaries as “transients.” These civil servants could not care less about the people. They certainly do not think they are servants to the people. In fact, most of them do not even act in a civil manner to the public.
In an office I used to work, the Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries were even afraid of the Treasurer or Cashier! This woman civil servant had the “power of the purse” and her superiors bowed down to her!
These career people get a lot of perks, too. They get to go abroad and even study abroad for free and at the same time still get paid their salaries. What is worse is that these people are sent to seminars or conferences abroad even when they know absolutely nothing about the topic of these seminars. The bureaucrats call these foreign travel “junkets”.
These countless junkets cost the Filipino people millions of US dollars a year. The bureaucrats get a clothing allowance and a per diem of US$ 200 per day for accommodation and at least US $ 100 a day for meals. This does not include the airline expenses and seminar / conference fees.
Once I went to such a conference. The topic was well within my field of expertise. I attended all the conferences and meetings, and gave a comprehensive report afterwards. I even gave back around half of the per diem because the hotel gave me a 50 % discount on the room accommodation as requested by the host organization. It is rare for a government employee to give back part of the per diem money.
But I saw officials from other Philippine state institutions who mostly played golf and didn’t even bother to attend the conference.
Also, it is very common for example, for a Treasurer or Cashier to be sent to a seminar in Europe on say, Petroleum Engineering or Geophysics, subjects which they have absolutely no knowledge of. This I know through personal experience.
The problem with our bureaucracy is not just the political appointees. The problem is MEDIOCRACY. Our bureaucracy is full of mediocre people. And because of their mediocrity, they become “mendicants”, as Mr. Lozada puts it, to the powers that be.
The Senate hearings revealed the extent of mediocrity in our civil service. A multimillion dollar feasibility study used a TABLOID as source of important data. Also, the former NEDA chief said that his staff tried to research on the INTERNET but could not find sources. This same NEDA chief had to ask a friend to evaluate multi-million dollar projects without any contractual obligations or accountability to NEDA or the government.
The fierce urgency of change in the Civil Service is obvious. A mediocre civil service invites graft and corruption.
RULE OF (WO)MEN, NOT LAWS
Sixth, while administration officials keep on trumpeting that they are for the rule of law, they keep on violating those laws. People are picked up by military or police without arrest warrants. And if they are unlucky like the son of the late Jose Burgos, they do not return. No less that a United Nations report concluded that extra-judicial killings are happening in the country.
Even congressmen are arrested on warrants issued decades ago and are already superseded by subsequent government policies.
Only in the Philippines one could find several congressmen / women seeking sanctuary in the halls of Congress because they would be arrested if they ventured outside the premises of Congress. Congressmen are supposed to be the law makers. Yet the government’s police force has no qualms in arresting them based on trumped up charges.
Senate subpoenas are not honored by the President’s men despite any Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
Arrest warrants issued by the Senate are ignored by the police. In fact, Police Chief Avelino Razon told the Blue Ribbon Senate Committee hearing that the police do not recognize arrest warrants by the Senate outside Senate premises despite any Supreme Court ruling.
Journalists are arrested without warrants and without grounds whatsoever. And they were arrested without being read their Miranda rights.
We must bring the prosper respect for law now before impunity becomes the norm.
SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOM
Seventh, basic human freedoms are suppressed. The right of the people to assemble and seek redress for their grievances, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, is undermined by the ‘no permit no rally’ rule of the government.
The freedom of the press is curtailed as evidenced by the arrest of journalists after the Trillanes episode at the Manila Peninsula hotel. The government has issued guidelines which the Press should follow in pain of punishment, such as revocation of the organizations’ media franchises.
And the most basic of all, freedom from want. Millions of Filipinos are without jobs, without homes and even without food.
As one American hero once said, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.”
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS
The Asian Human Rights Commission in 2007 concluded that “The continued failure to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances and other grave violations of human rights, illustrates how deep the problems concerning human rights are today in the Philippines. Despite repeated assurances, commitments and pledges by the government that it would take action, investigations are cursory at best and legal remedies for the victims and the families of the dead remain beyond reach. In reality, the perpetrators of these killings - whether they are the police, military or paramilitary groups - are not yet being held to account.”
The report continued with “United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, Philip Alston, visited the Philippines in early 2007 and concluded that the military are responsible for a large number of the political killings taking place in the country.”
Jonas Burgos, son of Press Freedom icon Jose Burgos, was kidnapped allegedly by the military and is still missing. I believe he was a victim of extra-judicial killings.
(See my post IPS INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM AWARDEE JORGE BURGOS’ SON KIDNAPPED)
Jun Lozada would have been a number in the statistics in the extra-judicial killings had he not taken precautions by telling his relatives and friends that he would be coming that fateful day and so the media and Senate people were waiting for him at the airport.
Nothing demands more urgency than the cessation of extrajudicial killings.
EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS
Ninth, nowhere in the world are the workers more exploited than in this country. The minimum wage cannot feed a family of five. The minimum wage is just enough to pay rent for a decent apartment, the electricity and water bills. Most minimum wage earners either live with their parents or relatives or become squatters.
Most of these minimum wage earners have no insurance or health care. Worse, many are hired on a “casual” basis every 6 months. I know people who work for the government as “casual” for 20 years!
Even having education is not enough. Most fresh graduates are hired on a minimum wage. The money spent on 4 or 5 years of education – tuition and other fees, books, allowances, etc. amount to practically nothing. A fresh Accounting graduate can get as much as a janitor.
For on-the-job training of students, the students work in companies either for FREE or a minimum allowance (just enough for bus fare.) Worse, some companies even ask the student TO PAY to work in their prestigious firms. Where in the world can one find anything like these?
When I had my practicum in Germany, I was paid 800 Deutsche Marks a month. When I had my on-the-job training at ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia, I was paid US 1000 (one thousand) dollars a month.
I once met a Malaysian who was the Country Manager of CITIBANK. He did not even have a college degree! Aside from his high pay, he lived in an expensive condominium in Makati. It is unconscionable for a government to allow its college degree-holders earn salaries 1000 times less than those earned by non-degree holders from other developing countries.
The exploitation of workers has to stop now.
NO PEACE NO WAR
And tenth, in Muslim Mindanao, there is no peace but there is no officially declared war. But it is teeming with soldiers, including American soldiers.
The money spent on troop deployment, war materiel and other war expenses reach billions of pesos. Meanwhile, there is no development in Muslim Mindanao.
Even Christian populated places in Mindanao suffer because people are afraid to invest. Foreign investors are loathed to come to Mindanao, what with the regular negative travel advisories of the foreign countries and embassies.
More importantly the number of displaced people in Mindanao keeps on getting higher and higher. And of course, countless deaths of Moros and government soldiers simply add to the worsening situation in the land.
The "no peace no war" scenario in Mindanao and Sulu affects the whole country. Military spending is sky high, productivity in affected areas is practically nil, and development in nearby areas is hindered by fear of investors to come in. And the reputation of the country is impaired.
And pretty soon, the poverty of Moroland, discrimination against Moros’ development, militarization of Mindanao, wanton disregard for Moros’ rights, continued exploitation of Moro resources without benefits going back to them, continued Bush-like rhetoric against Muslims, etc. will finally take its toll. And when the Moros’ will feel that their backs are against the wall, they will have no choice but to rise again just as they did in the early 1970s. And like before, Malacanang’s cronies will not be able to help the administration.
It must be remembered that the Moros won the 1970s battles but they lost the war in the negotiating table.
The Mindanao conflict needs to be solved now. When the Bangsa Moro people(s) strike back, the Abu Sayyaf menace would be remembered as the good old days.
PANEM ET CIRCEM
Marcos and Imelda used the panem et circem strategy to the hilt. The cronies’ pockets were full but they were in the shadows not in the limelight. Inflation was low, employment was high, the peso was high and stable, and the people (except for Moros and communists) were generally well-off financially.
And the people were fed with circuses – the Miss Universe pageant, the Manila International Film Festivals, the constant media hyped parades, etc.
This time, like in the Erap administration, the circus is on TV – the Senate hearings. And the spotlights are on the cronies. They are the clowns. And the people get to see how much bread (commissions, kickbacks, bribes, etc.) are thrown the oligarchs’ way. Meanwhile, much of the people are suffering. The OFWs may have some money but they suffer socially – separation from families which causes so many dysfunctions such as break-up of these families.
NOT A DEMOCRACY
It is now internationally acknowledged that the Philippines is not a democratic country. We never were. We have always been ruled by demagogue politicians and their supporters – the rich oligarchs. Our form of government is plutocracy – rule by the wealthy.
The New York-based group Freedom House de-listed Philippines from a “free” country to a “partly-free country.” According to Freedom House “a partly free country is one in which there is limited respect for political rights and civil liberties. Partly free states frequently suffer from an environment of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic and religious strife, and often a setting in which a single political party enjoys dominance despite the façade of limited pluralism.” (See Tony Lopez’s column at Manila Times.)
NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE
Before sliding further into chaos, the Filipinos are again called on to stand up and act. The act of granting independence to a country does not make that country a nation. So many nations-states created after World War II have now disintegrated. Kosovo has just declared its independence this week from Serbia, which was itself once part of the nation-state Yugoslavia created after World War II.
The process of nation-building is long and eventful. Nationhood cannot be taken for granted. After EDSA 1986, the Filipinos had the opportunity to correct all the wrongs done to it by the Marcos administration and his new oligarchs. But the people were not vigilant. The old oligarchs simply came back to power. And later, the old and the new oligarchs joined forces and cut the Philippine pie among themselves.
We do not have the luxury of having an Obama for a leader. But we can lead the change ourselves – each of us advocating for truth, transparency and accountability from the government. Sovereignty resides in the people, not in governments. The people must assert its rights – the right to a free press, the right to assemble, all the basic freedoms, especially the freedom from want, and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
There is a “fierce urgency of NOW”. Before it’s too late, we must all act. We can all become co-creators of a new Philippines- a pluralistic, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural equitable society that is based on Freedom, Justice, Truth, Knowledge and Merit.
