Political Awakenings
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
By Rabindranath Tagore
They call us Martial Law Babies. The generation that grew up during the Martial Law era which began September 21, 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos put into effect Presidential Proclamation 1081. This began the spate of a dictatorial regime that plundered the country, curtailed the basic freedoms and enriched those who were in the graces of those in power. To the outside world it painted a pretty little picture. Underneath, it brewed unrest, disconcentent and a longing for democracy. I was born to the presidency of Marcos and until I was married and a mother did not know of any other president.
In college, I actively campaigned for the opposition, joined the yellow ticket tape protest rallies on Ayala Avenue, enlisted with NAMFREL (National Alliance for Free Elections) and guarded the votes until they were counted. I had put myself in danger against the gun-yielding soldiers of the Armed Forces from Sangley Point and had only Joe Arnaldo to thank for because during that election day in May 1983 he was my only shield against these Marcos loyalists. When the counting of the votes were altered on their way to the COMELEC, I protested with the rest of those who belong to the ‘new generation’ of Filipinos who have had enough of political manipulation.
I actively joined the rallies of the Catholic Church for Cory Aquino, tied yellow ribbons on all our cars’ antennas at home and joined the singing of political hymns with a clenched fist. And that fateful date in February, 1984, I left my daughter at home with my parents and with my husband joined the millions of people who came to EDSA to make a difference. And we eventually made history by ousting a tyrannical regime and hoped we have found ‘democracy’.
Flash forward to 2004, twenty years later, I am a widow with a daughter on her way to graduating from the university. I am based in New York City and she is in Manila. When we talk she tells me about the politics and how pitiful the country had turned out to be - corruption abounds, an economy on the edge, rampant criminality and the political arena being staged for the upcoming elections next month is a circus. Somehow I feel embarrassed that this seems to be my fault, my generation had not been able to successful ensure that theirs would have something to be proud of. Where did we go wrong?
Democracy is the principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community. That's according to Webster. To me democracy is being allowed to enjoy a life based on what you've worked for, have the freedom to speak out with an opinion and having to life without fear of losing life at the cost of a bullet - stray or intended. I also believe there is no single meaning for democracy that applies to all people.
In 2000 when Joseph Estrada was elected to the presidency, I watched in disbelief as the country went from workaholic to torpor. No one said said movie stars cannot run for public office. I had just wished that Filipinos had given more value to their ballot by using their coconuts when voting. The qualities that you are searching for in one who entertains you musn't be the same as for that who'll run your country for you. I shook my head in disappointment when jokes about the president’s lack of social skills, lack of skill in the English language and his love of family (he has 4 wives) became the daily media diet. Short of hitting these people on the head to remind them that this president was how we reflected ourselves to the world, then hollering at them : BOBO! (stupid).
At another crossroads in y country’s history, a vote is will made on May 11 for a new president to lead the country. The choices are few and the choices run from the devil to the deep blue sea. Gloria Arroyo is the current president, put into power by the ousting of Estrada in 2000 after another show of power at EDSA. What she lacks in charisma to the mass-based electorate she makes up for brain power. Filipinos, however, I feel have gven up on the basis on intelligence for the presidency. I think they disappointedly have banked on so many intellects to run the government and then realized it had brought them nowhere beyond the slum dwellings, meager income and mediocre life. Her challengers include Roco, another intellectual choice but who never seem to find his way into the masa’s heart; Lacson, Estrada’s rumored henchman; Eddie Villanueva, a religious preacher who had a vision that God made him run (and did the COMELEC had the same vision for letting him run?); Eddie Gil, the candidate who said he'd help pay for the country's debt with his own money (I fell off my chair after reading that one) and the most possible contender, Fernando Poe Jr. (or FPJ), another movie star, best friend to Estrada whose English is worse than Estrada and whose only credit to his name for this exercise is that the people from the movie industry and the mass based are voting for him. Most likely, too, he will win.
Where is the reason? Where is the hope? And where have all the braincells among my countrymen been busying themselves with? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO HELP IMPROVE THE SITUATION? Sadly, embarrasingly, nothing. My friends and I planned to register at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan in September to vote. That didn't happen. So who am I to complain?
I understand that one or two acts of nationalism doesn't count as a contribution to democracy. Democracy requires vigilance. I remember Sister Mary John Mananzan, OSB reminding us that democracy is not a handmaid of the indolent. Vigilance and consistent hard work are the only guarantees to an orderly society.
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
By Rabindranath Tagore
They call us Martial Law Babies. The generation that grew up during the Martial Law era which began September 21, 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos put into effect Presidential Proclamation 1081. This began the spate of a dictatorial regime that plundered the country, curtailed the basic freedoms and enriched those who were in the graces of those in power. To the outside world it painted a pretty little picture. Underneath, it brewed unrest, disconcentent and a longing for democracy. I was born to the presidency of Marcos and until I was married and a mother did not know of any other president.
In college, I actively campaigned for the opposition, joined the yellow ticket tape protest rallies on Ayala Avenue, enlisted with NAMFREL (National Alliance for Free Elections) and guarded the votes until they were counted. I had put myself in danger against the gun-yielding soldiers of the Armed Forces from Sangley Point and had only Joe Arnaldo to thank for because during that election day in May 1983 he was my only shield against these Marcos loyalists. When the counting of the votes were altered on their way to the COMELEC, I protested with the rest of those who belong to the ‘new generation’ of Filipinos who have had enough of political manipulation.
I actively joined the rallies of the Catholic Church for Cory Aquino, tied yellow ribbons on all our cars’ antennas at home and joined the singing of political hymns with a clenched fist. And that fateful date in February, 1984, I left my daughter at home with my parents and with my husband joined the millions of people who came to EDSA to make a difference. And we eventually made history by ousting a tyrannical regime and hoped we have found ‘democracy’.
Flash forward to 2004, twenty years later, I am a widow with a daughter on her way to graduating from the university. I am based in New York City and she is in Manila. When we talk she tells me about the politics and how pitiful the country had turned out to be - corruption abounds, an economy on the edge, rampant criminality and the political arena being staged for the upcoming elections next month is a circus. Somehow I feel embarrassed that this seems to be my fault, my generation had not been able to successful ensure that theirs would have something to be proud of. Where did we go wrong?
Democracy is the principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community. That's according to Webster. To me democracy is being allowed to enjoy a life based on what you've worked for, have the freedom to speak out with an opinion and having to life without fear of losing life at the cost of a bullet - stray or intended. I also believe there is no single meaning for democracy that applies to all people.
In 2000 when Joseph Estrada was elected to the presidency, I watched in disbelief as the country went from workaholic to torpor. No one said said movie stars cannot run for public office. I had just wished that Filipinos had given more value to their ballot by using their coconuts when voting. The qualities that you are searching for in one who entertains you musn't be the same as for that who'll run your country for you. I shook my head in disappointment when jokes about the president’s lack of social skills, lack of skill in the English language and his love of family (he has 4 wives) became the daily media diet. Short of hitting these people on the head to remind them that this president was how we reflected ourselves to the world, then hollering at them : BOBO! (stupid).
At another crossroads in y country’s history, a vote is will made on May 11 for a new president to lead the country. The choices are few and the choices run from the devil to the deep blue sea. Gloria Arroyo is the current president, put into power by the ousting of Estrada in 2000 after another show of power at EDSA. What she lacks in charisma to the mass-based electorate she makes up for brain power. Filipinos, however, I feel have gven up on the basis on intelligence for the presidency. I think they disappointedly have banked on so many intellects to run the government and then realized it had brought them nowhere beyond the slum dwellings, meager income and mediocre life. Her challengers include Roco, another intellectual choice but who never seem to find his way into the masa’s heart; Lacson, Estrada’s rumored henchman; Eddie Villanueva, a religious preacher who had a vision that God made him run (and did the COMELEC had the same vision for letting him run?); Eddie Gil, the candidate who said he'd help pay for the country's debt with his own money (I fell off my chair after reading that one) and the most possible contender, Fernando Poe Jr. (or FPJ), another movie star, best friend to Estrada whose English is worse than Estrada and whose only credit to his name for this exercise is that the people from the movie industry and the mass based are voting for him. Most likely, too, he will win.
Where is the reason? Where is the hope? And where have all the braincells among my countrymen been busying themselves with? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO HELP IMPROVE THE SITUATION? Sadly, embarrasingly, nothing. My friends and I planned to register at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan in September to vote. That didn't happen. So who am I to complain?
I understand that one or two acts of nationalism doesn't count as a contribution to democracy. Democracy requires vigilance. I remember Sister Mary John Mananzan, OSB reminding us that democracy is not a handmaid of the indolent. Vigilance and consistent hard work are the only guarantees to an orderly society.