Political Musings

Politics in the Philippines? Before, I used to equate politics to the word dirty; now, politics is tantamount to CORRUPTION. I will not subscribe to the chant, "only in the Philippines." Corruption is embedded in all governments around the globe. The only difference is the degree to which a certain government 'adheres' to it. Here in the Philippines, corruption is deeply rooted in the system. Those who are in power want to have more of it and those who were stripped of it are still desperately trying to hold on to that little power. Greed precipitates corruption because power is the great factor in it. It is always been one of the reasons why any man delves in the darker, sinister side.

Sometimes I cannot help thinking where PGMA's administration is heading to. The mess in the Palace started when the jueteng scandal about the First Husband and the son broke out. Imagine, the First Family in hot water. The President was not involved in that scandal but she had her own. Should I say, she has her own scandal to face? Hers came like an ominous warning. The "Hello Garci" thing stirred the smoke and Her Excellency's admission inflamed the brewing smoke into a full-blown fire. The country was divided; either to accept her "I'm sorry" or to put her totally down for being so foolish to admit her fault. Each had a comment, a reaction. Some remarked that it was very honest and humble of her to claim her mistake and apologize for it. Others found it revolting and unbecoming since she is the incumbent president of the country. Soon, her appointed Cabinet secretaries filed their resignations one by one. With that, rallies everywhere and any kind escalated in numbers of occurence. It was believed (and still is) that she had lost the moral ascendancy to govern the country. Oh, it was chaos in Ayala Avenue-Paseo de Roxas for 2-3 weeks or so.

Calls of impeachment and her immediate, voluntary resignation resounded loudly everywhere from thereon. Take for instance the area I stay each day of the week. I work in Makati and the building that houses our office stands in the Paseo-Ayala streets. I was a witness to this - whether I was looking way down from the topmost floor of the building or walking amongst the rallyists while they set-up their platforms and stuff in the morning or I was leaving the building as my work has been dismissed for the day. I remember the grand anti-GMA rally held a few months ago. They were there very early in the morning, blocking the main streets of Makati to poor commuters like me. I did complain, yes but I believe that it is everyone's right to get involve in such activity. It was mid-morning when I went down to check. Going down there and be amongst the crowd brought flooding memories of my college years. I was not the hard-core activist that was usually marked upon UP graduates. I was not also one of the few pathetic ones that graduated from UP. I consider myself to be one of the 'mild' activists, if that is an accepted term. I wanted to hear how other people perceive the events unfolding in front of us all. People from all walks of life were there. I was not just sure if they were all there for the one and the same reason; but of course, I knew that all were not after the same thing. It was usually typical. Politicians, actors, actresses, singers, vendors, students, teachers, businessmen, slum people, yuppies, rich people, poor people, middle-class people and even the so-called popular 'uzis' were present. As I said, I was there for a while but I had seen and heard enough. I came across a bunch of college students standing near the sidestreet near the Aquino monument. I was curious so I asked why did they join the rally. This handsome hell of a guy stude remarked that their professor asked them to attend, listen and make a reactive report about it. Ok, I knew what university they were from. Then, I saw some rowdy high schoolers and did not hesitate to ask again. Hahaha. Their lazy teacher asked them to choose - whether to go to class or join the rally. Of course, what would one expect? Proof of their choice was their presence in the rally. Politicians and showbiz people were there - delivering their positions as one. Most of the yuppies that I saw were not actually interested in the rally. It was the fuss outside their buildings plus the street food being peddled that brought them out of their air-conditioned solace.

It was a pathetic thing to bring slum people in such rallies; not because they believed in the cause but because they were lured to go. A promise of a couple of hundred bucks did the trick. Hahaha. I recalled an interview with this actor Rex Cortez. He claimed that the estimated number of people to crowd at the Ayala rally would be around 13-15 million people. Another wretched thing that I encountered was this uniformed man shouting to a passerby (who had no idea of whatsoever) handing him a coupon. Wondering what the paper was, the passerby handed it back to him. The uniformed man pointed to him to join a group near the monument for about a few hours and make sure that he would have the coupon signed by the group head. Later on, I learned that it was a cash coupon from the Office of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. My goodness.

Those were mere observations of mine and I might have contrued it incorrectly.

I do not want to join calls for PGMA to resign from her post as the President of this country. I do not think somebody from the hoard of wannabees and old 'trapos' are fit enough to be her replacement. No one is less evil, manipulative enough to be her successor.

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Dear Me,

I had this written during the first week of August this year. I was supposed to finish this up but I just did not find the time to do so. Maybe when my schedules permit me so.

4 comments:

  1. pro-GMA or not, we have to accept the reality that there is no other person RIGHT NOW who can rightfully replace GMA as the republic's president. She's supposed to be good as an excelling economist. let us give her the chance to prove her worth. anyway, who would we want to be in power if she is ousted?

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  2. Jon, as I said, I don't think there is someone better enough to replace her. The idea is ridiculous and even scary...

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  3. It is sad to see politics in the Philippines as bad as it is right now. I hate going back to my homeland on vacation and seeing how much the country is not progressing because of how the government runs it.

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  4. Ken, no matter how ugly our politics has become,
    please do not hinder yourself from coming back in your homeland
    for a vacation. The Philippines is so beautiful and
    having a vacation here is one good reason enough.
    Just forget the politics and hit the beach. You'll see. =)

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