Ohohoy!

I will have to reiterate my claims that change will not come soon for the Philippines despite what has happened the past few days. With the impending declaration of NoyNoy Aquino of his entry to the presidential race, I have seen in people a renewed hope that this country will change for the better. I have my doubts but we have to start somewhere. Of course it will change for the better as long as the Arroyos step down from power in 2010.

Corruption has been so deeply ingrained in the system of the country that change will take time. It will not come overnight nor will it come in this generation and probably even in the next. But I think everyone will have to agree with me that it has to come and it has to start now.

Right now the country is mired in a vicious cycle of corruption, injustice and moral degradation. What the country needs is a change of values and attitude. We cannot let the rich and powerful continue to control the system nor can we let the poor continue to make poverty an excuse. We need to teach the right values to our children and their children.

We need role models. I’m not talking about the dimwit yet arrogant noontime show host. I’m not talking about the self-centered gossip girl. And definitely, I’m not talking about the president from hell and her minions. We need someone who can be a good example of leadership (or at least not the one who initiates and directs all the dealings).

Our moral degradation is happening right now and with the president and her family spearheading it, we need to act quickly. We could at least stop it from getting far worse.  In 2010, the country votes for the next president. The country’s challenge doesn’t lie there. It lies in what happens after. She who will not be named will try to run Congress and use her vast ill-gotten wealth to change the Constitution and install herself as the Prime Minister of the Philippines. When this happens, I’m not betting my future on a convicted plunderer or a real estate magnate. I want an AQUINO on my side. I’m voting for NOYNOY…. And Kris, please shut up.

The Marcoses did not only steal from the Philippine treasury, violate human rights and put their friends and relatives in positions of authority. They did something far worse. The Marcoses taught everyone how to do it.

Our country is experiencing right now a culture of corruption that seems to be more widespread than the Marcos years. Graft and corruption seem to be present in every contract starting from the barangays up to Malacañang. It is so rampant that commissions, bribes, patong, lagay, suhol, grease money and other terms have been replaced with the operative name – SOP or Standard Operating Procedure. Just ask any government contractor and he will definitely know what SOP means. What’s even worse is how corruption has already seeped into private organizations. It is not unusual to encounter purchasing managers asking for commissions from contracts from their suppliers.

I honestly don’t believe that electing a new president alone will change the destiny of the country, although this is a good first step considering the current president’s (lack of) moral leadership.

Just looking at the possible replacements makes me shudder. There’s the convicted plunderer, the self serving senator, the media hugging bachelor, the crony’s son who was taught to talk like a politician from birth, the voice over announcer turned anchorman turned second highest official of the land and his anchorwoman rival/peer, the devil’s minister, the politicizing priest who can’t get any support, and the lesbian nuisance candidate. There’s also the apprehensive heroes’ son who will probably get my vote (even if it means that I will be supporting the annoying gossip girl). Not one of them will change the country.

I admire Mr. B’s optimism but sorry to all the hopefuls out there - change is not coming.

To be continued…

The emotional days after the passing of democracy icon and former president Corazon Aquino have left the country reminiscing the glory days of the People Power revolution. As images of the past revolution against the Marcos dictatorship are flashed on TV and tunes such as Bayan Ko (beautifully sang by Lea Salonga during the Cory’s funeral mass) and Magkaisa are being sung again, I can’t help but reflect on the state of the country after Cory Aquino’s death.

After the ouster of the Marcoses in 1986, everyone seemed hopeful that change will come and the Philippines will emerge out of the hole that the dictatorship had so deeply dug. Fast forward 23 years after and what do we see? Imelda Marcos on TV being adored by fans, the Marcos children and the Marcos cronies and their children are back in power, the president of the country is Marcos Light (both literally and figuratively), the Congress is a haven for the president’s lapdogs, the Senate is tainted with self-serving media whore politicians, the justice system favors those who can put gold on its scales, and worst of all no one really cares.

The streets are always filled with protestors but few protests are actually genuine. Some are done by groups who are more than ready to raise their voices and march the streets if the price is right while some groups would do it with the slightest provocation (i.e. date gone bad) because that is what they do and that is what people expect them to do.

It would be unthinkable right now had the People Power Revolution not taken place. Can you imagine Imelda Marcos as the president of the country? I shudder to think.

So where did we go wrong? The Aquino government held so much promise and hope. It was what all of us wanted – a new beginning, a clean slate.

Could we be experiencing a different Philippines now if the fervid RAM (Reform Armed Forces Movement) headed by the should-have-been-hanged-for-treason-a-dozen-times-already senator had just been patient enough to cooperate with a transitional government? Would it have made a difference if the Aquino administration did not act as vindictive against the Marcoses and their cronies?

OR should the question be WHAT did we do to help the country stand up again?

…to be continued

The EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 paved the way for Corazon Aquino to emerge as the Philippines’, nay, the world’s quintessential icon of democracy. And why not. Cory and the Yellow Revolution shared the same qualities that held everyone in awe: nonviolent, prayerful, life changing.

23 years have passed and many thought that the spirit of EDSA had long been dead, only to see it reawakened by Cory’s passing last August 1. Such twins they are. If Cory’s funeral were any indication, Filipinos are not EDSA-fatigued, after all.

Or are we?

Some people would say the big crowd that gathered and marched along the funeral route included a large number of usiseros (kibitzers) and usoseros (bandwagon riders), hence it should not be equated with anything as spectacular as People Power. These same people would say that compared to the funeral procession for Cory’s husband Ninoy – a virtual march borne out of anger and that which served as the impetus for the 1986 revolt – the multitudes that paid homage to Cory were mere warm bodies marching without a cause. Perhaps. And from where Mr. A and I stood while waiting for the cortege to pass us by, those rubberneckers and fad-a-holics must have been so damn determined to do their thing that they didn’t mind standing on the road for 7 hours while soaked in the rain.

Okay, the collective mood of the crowd that day may have been too festive to stir up public opinion, but that didn’t change the fact that the Filipinos are still waiting for the fruits of EDSA to materialize. The 9-hour procession may have been too tiring in these times when everyone has his own politics, but that didn’t keep the common enemy out of focus.

If anything, Cory’s death gave us a stark contrast between the vile and the precious. It amplified fears that the same kind of government we overthrew at EDSA is actually back and has taken an even worse form – one that knows all too well how to use its power and vast resources to render people apathetic, but it also made us think in serious wonderment if Cory’s death, as in Ninoy’s, was what we needed to be jolted from this long stupor of indifference and inaction.

"So you are the son."

Personally, I think God is so good to our country that in taking Cory He gave us the perfect candidate for next year’s presidential elections. It is much clearer now why avowed presidentiables, many that they are, hardly appeal to our collective consciousness. No amount of pedicab pedaling or V-sign spin-offs or catchy nicknames or shameless plugging of achievements can apparently top the ultimate campaign platform that is Cory Aquino. Yes, it’s Flower Power once again, but without the psychedelic benefits of LSD that went with it.

And who embodies the Yellow Spirit better than the Son who chose his Parents well.

Maybe it’s much too early in the game, ah but I thought I’d ask you just the same:

Noynoy Aquino, will you be our next president?