By Lester Cavestany, Contributor
INQUIRER.net
IT would always be the same crooks, the same money interests who would take fullest advantage of democracy or any kind of government in the Philippines, while the poor and the brave would always lose out. The batters change in the game of Philippine politics, but the baseball team remains the same and the game remains fixed.
– Ninoy Aquino[1]
As we celebrate the 22nd8th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, it would be good to look back on the wisdom of the man who inspired us to unite as a people and to defend our country against a corrupt government. We are more aware of Ninoy’s oft-quoted, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” but I chose the one above because it is more suitable to our present times.
To fight again another day
After two weeks of excitement about Jun Lozada’s testimony, the opposition has yet to come up with more witnesses and more evidence that will prove the corruption in the Arroyo administration. Even after the show of support that the public has done to encourage more people to come out and testify, no new witness or evidence has appeared.
To be honest, I am a bit confused as to how other leaders can continue to demand for President Arroyo’s resignation when we haven’t even proven anything yet. We are being led to believe that having another People Power Revolution (EDSA III) will solve the problems and issues that our country is facing today. But if we listen to what our great hero Ninoy Aquino said, I hope you will also realize that many of the problems we face today are systemic ones and they can’t be changed by having another EDSA.[2]
Systemic problems need systemic changes
Last week’s Inquirer Opinion-Talk of the Town article, “Poverty reduction: What we know and don’t know,” gives us a concrete example of a systemic problem: the lack of rural development in the Philippines.[3] Nothing much has changed since 1781 when Gov. José de Basco y Vargas introduced commercial farming in the Philippines[4]. Moreover, no authentic land reform has been implemented in our country since the feudal Spanish times. The Americans tried in 1903 when Gov. Gen Howard Taft bought the friar lands in the Philippines from Pope Leo XIII with the intention of reselling it to Filipino peasant-tenants. The good intention never materialized of course, as wealthy Filipino businessmen and politicians (whose descendants still have clout in Philippine society today) stepped in and bought the land and converted them into their private haciendas.[5] And as they say, the rest is history.*
In a country where 70 percent of the population live in rural areas and where 2/3 of the people get their livelihood from agriculture, we must make sure that we have programs that promote genuine rural development. This is just one example, but it is a major one. Other systemic problems include public education, economic development, good governance, population control, environmental sustainability, peace and order, and many others. Other bloggers have also written their issues in Janette Toral’s Important Issues on Philippines 2010.
Of course somewhere in the wish list for political reform, you will also find fighting graft and corruption. But I hope we can all see that it is a small piece of the puzzle. In my personal opinion, we cannot call for President Arroyo’s resignation unless we have court-admissible evidence against her. Just because some opposition leaders are trying to convince us that President Arroyo is corrupt doesn’t mean we all have to believe it. The opposition leaders bear the burden of evidence. I say to them, Show us proof! Stop using us as your pawns! Stop using the court of public opinion to gain the upper hand. Take your accusations to the court of law and let your evidence, if you have any, speak for itself. And speaking of evidence, what proof or track records have you got to show the public that if you replace the present administration, you will do a far better job than President Arroyo’s government in addressing our systemic problems.[6]
Happy 22nd8th People Power anniversary!
In light of the lack of evidence plus the personal and social troubles that this J-Lo fiasco has caused, I believe that it might be best to set aside our calls for a change in the government and perhaps we should concentrate more on asking for changes in the government and in our country. Unless we are presented with new witnesses or new evidence in the ongoing political raucity, we, the Filipino people, should join the rallies and demonstrations with more focus on the the public outcry for truth and social reforms. I, for one, would love to join in!
And so from here in Hanoi, I would like say “Happy 22nd8th People Power Anniversary!” to all my kababayans in the Philippines and around the world.
Mabuhay po tayong lahat! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
=== Notes:[1] The Martyrdom of Ninoy Aquino Revisited, Joker P Arroyo
[2] Systemic problems have been with us even before the presidency of Pres Arroyo; even before 1565 when Spaniards who left from Mexico led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu; and even before 1521 when Magellan claimed our archipelagic country for Spain and called it Las Islas de San Lazaro. [3] “Poverty reduction: What we know and don’t know,” By Arsenio M. Balisacan
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 16 Feb 2008
[4] In Search of Southeast Asia: A Modern History. David P. Chandler, William R. Roff, John R. W. Smail, David Joel Steinberg Robert H. Taylor, Alexander Woodside, David K. Wyatt, David Joel Steinberg. Allen & Unwin. Sydney, N.S.W. 1971 [5] The US Congress passed the Cooper, or Organic, Act of 1902, which authorized the American commission to sell Philippine government bonds to finance purchase of the friar lands in the Philippines from the Vatican — Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines. H. W. Brands. Oxford University Press, New York. 1992. * Atty. Ma. Gracia Rinoza Plazo has recently started an online forum to discuss agrarian reform issues. Please join the discussion and share your inputs. [6] Mom knows best! My Mama wrote a comment in my post, Sundin ang Utos ni Supremo. Also posted in www.lestercavestany.com
Loading ...
February 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
People Power does not exist anymore! I will only join the march if it is really to prove something worthy. But Having politicians who are “balimbing” at ” mga trapo” at mga militanteng walang magawa kundi mag martsa….wag na lang…..Ang hirap kasi may mga personal motives ang mga nagpapaka hero ngayon…..bakit nangangati na ba kayo para makaupo sa puwesto? Enough of Cory Aquino…wala na man siyang nagawa sa term niya. She better take a full rest kasi masyado na siyang matanda. Saka sa mga La Salle Brothers magsilbi kayo sa panginoon at magdasal ng taimtim wag kayong showbiz. You are an educator, you should observed code of ethics and be role models of peace and forgiveness. Jun Lozada minimize mo yong ka kenkuyan mo sa TV nagmumukha ka ng si chiquito…crying baby saka naginginig pa.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The main problem in our country is actually the culture especially in politics. Even a barangay captain receives commissions on public dealings such as road pavement so what more the higher officials of our land. I just want to say that receiving a commission is treated as normal when you are a government official. Another thing is Filipinos are fond of “kampihan” (patronage). Even his family or friend is wrong, he will still condone it because he does not want to lose allies. So how then can our nation move forward? Do we still have leaders who will not care whether their friend or relative will be hurt so he can govern wisely and effectively?
They say “blood is thicker than water.” This is true but we have to think not only of our self or family’s interest but the interest of our country. Kapag umunlad ang bansa natin, lahat naman makikinabang.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:35 am
GMA is confident of military support because she “feeds” the military heads very well. In order to succeed in removing her, the junior officers who still practice the PMA motto (courage, integrity, loyalty), must be convinced that we are all victims of this evil, and to break the chain. The majority of the representatives in Congress are also “fed” very well, these congressmen do not represent their constituents but themselves, and should be dissolved to create a new set that could not vote on an issue unless their constituents say so. Anything that causes misery is evil, and it is easy to tell. If we can get this new people power to succeed, we would be better off building a new system of government after the experience we learned in previous people powers. Let us let the senate run the country after GMA leaves and setup the automated polls quickly. I am IT professional in the US for a large multinational corporation, and I can tell you that technologies currently exist that can count millions of transactions per day (including voting) in real time (similar to visa and mastercard transactions), duplicate the database to others servers without affecting the online transaction processing, so voters can verify their votes after voting via the internet or SMS. This technology already exists in the Philippines because the same IT suppliers I work with here also have offices in Manila. The reason why this poll automation cannot push thru is because some of the elected officials who are lawmakers do not want to lose their edge to cheat.
February 26th, 2008 at 9:49 am
That’s right. Let’s just leave everything to the courts. The same one that is led by Gonzales who barks at , scoffs and threatens every one who tries to criticize his master.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:42 am
People Power again?
Well, nakakasawa na.
Did we gain something when Marcos was kicked out because of people power?
Did we again, gain something when Erap was kicked out from office?
Did we go from good to better to best or we became worst?
Nothing, we gained nothing and we became worst.
Because, we were wrong in the first place by using .001percent of the population in kicking out the presidents.
People power is unconstitutional. It is not one of those listed by law in removing or replacing the president.
Because of people power, a different breed of politicians ruled our country without parliamentary and constitutional knowledge.
We elected a housewife, an actor, a police officer whose only passport to elected office is popularity.
Now, people think that people power is really a mean to oust the president without following the constitution. Just an issue of corruption and thousand people with mob like atmosphere and go to Malacanang, with slogan resign is enough to force out the president.
As the administration of GMA is beset by corruption scandal, which we know that the NBN deal has been scrapped, nullified by the Supreme Court, yet our opposing leaders won’t stop to have Gloria resigned.
We don’t condon corruption. And if there is one, then let’s go after those that are involved.
Go to the court. That is democratic. Observance of due process and not observance of people power.
Enough of people power. enough of few people power. the people are tired and most importantly, let’s respect the law.