to the hopeless middle class

NOTE: this is a response to an email that found its way to my hs egroup. I am responding to it and hope to hear your thoughts. please comment.

Yes, this is compelling Bogart. But it is compelling
to me for a different reason altogether.

This email has been going around in different egroups
and it has inflamed passions from both sides of the
divide. I heard that it is even printed as a paid ad
in the Inquirer today March 19 and it is sure to be
the talk of the town in the days to come. Wittingly
or unwittingly, it has dictated the terms through
which the current political crisis is being debated
especially among the wired middle class. And judging
from the reactions it has elicited, it mirrors the
great divisions that the current political crisis has
wrought among citizens of our country.

For our friends who are abroad and for those who are
just plain busy with their lives allow me to provide
you with a background of our country's troubles the
past few months. Of course our problems as a nation
date back to the times of kopong-kopong and it would
be belaboring to launch into a discussion of how
colonialism and elite rule have damaged our social
institutions breeding such ills as graft and
corruption, a 30 year civil war in the countryside,
and abject povery for most of our countrymen.
However, Arroyo's administration represents the most
terrible symptom of all these ills. Her family
through the FG Mike Arroyo run government like a
private enterprise. Have your heard about the Diosdado
Macapagal Highway and how it was many times
over-priced? The DA fertilizer fund scandal (nothing
x-rated here just plain corruption) wherein millions
were given to congressmen who were known supporters of
the administration even if they did not have farmers
for constituents? And of course, the mother of all
Arroyo's scandals, the Garci controversy. I used to
be proud to identify myself as a Kagay-anon. Heck,
when the CDO scandals came out I was even proud of it
(the best amateur porn of all time). It just saddened
me that Garci, Arroyo's electoral operator, learned to
do his dirty tricks first in our beloved city and
nearby regions. He was so good at rigging elections
that Arroyo just a few months before elections,
appointed him as a commissioner despite negative
public opinion.

One can dismiss all these accusations as politicking
but when Arroyo's response to all attempts to discuss
these issues in the proper democratic venues is to
employ the tactics of repression and political
patronage, then matters become obvious. Especially
when her allies in congress squashed the impeachment
complaint and did not even allow the Garci controvery
to be discussed. She prevents all attempts by the
public in knowing the truth. Remember when Marine
officials came out to say that the elections in
Mindanao were rigged? How did Arroyo respond? She
imposed Executive Order 464 which bars government
officials from testifying in Congress without her
prior approval. And finally, Arroyo brought down, last
February 24, Proclamation 1017 which to many people
was a declaration of de facto Martial Rule.
Congressmen who were elected by a national vote of 2.4
million (a larger constituency compared to many
congressmen) are now detained indefinitely under
trumped-up charges of rebellion. Many pundits and
they have been proven right by recent events observe
that 1017 was brought down to quell all legitimate
opposition. The killings of activists goes on unabated
(in the hundreds since the start of GMAs term) and the
media is being watched. For those of us who have long
been concerned and vigilant over the fate of our
nation, these are scary times.

This is where I am coming from when I respond to the
blog by Mr. Bong Austero a copy of which found its way
into our egroup. He seems passionate with his ideas
by claiming to be a spokesperson for the silent
majority who has finally had enough with those who are
out to oust Arroyo. And I would like to match his
passion with mine.

In my observation, Austero is attempting to register
his involvement in the current state of affairs which
is a healthy indication of his citizenship. Let us
give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not a
paid hack who has direct interests with the present
administration. It seems to me that he is the type
who once in a while watches the news, shakes his head
and say "Bulok talaga ang Pilipinas" and continues to
work out his options of migrating to C.anada or
somewhere else. What is interesting for me is that
all of a sudden, he wants to get involved. This
involvement came in the form of a blog. Bakit kaya?
(Ngano kaha?) Allow me to imagine. One day, while
holding a cup of starbucks cappucino on his hand, he
finds himself in his car stuck in Makati traffic
because of the regular mobilizations against the
present administration. He is furious over this
incident because he missed his favorite reality tv
show (Joe Schmo) on cable. To vent his frustration, he
trudges off to his mac and types away in anger. He
makes a case against the motley of opposition
politicians who are strange bedfellows and appeals for
an end to all this disruptions to his normal life. He
imagines many others who missed their favorite shows
because of the traffic and now regards himself as
their spokesperson. He is now the defender of the
voiceless, an activist for democracy against the
communists and the others who will "burn this nation
to the ground". Of course, I am conscious that I am
making a caricature out of him and I maybe alienating
the many others among you my friends who think like
him. My apologoies but you see, to my mind, Mr.
Austero is a johnny-come-lately wanting to secure
controversy and relevance for himself in these
difficult times.

When they squashed the impeachment complain in
Congress, he probably just snickered and shook his
head. And when young kids knock on his car to sell
sampaguita, I hope he is not just plain annoyed and
instead take the occasion to contemplate on where this
nation is going under the leadership of a corrupt and
illegitimate president. Mr. Austero is a fence-sitter
who finally casted his lot for GMA. He dismisses the
growing ranks of disgusted citizens as pawns of
opportunistic politicians from the right and the left.
What is amazing about his logic is that he is cynical
about the motives of citizens who subject themselves
to truncheons and water cannons, even arrest, while
believing the unbelievable propaganda of the State.
Just as GMA is the greatest danger to democracy, it is
precisely guys like Austero who emboldens this
illegitimatete President. It just disheartens me to
find out that some like Mr. Austero has lost all hope
for this country and are able to express their
pessimism with so much passion. It is this attitude
of cynicism that only the detached and comfortable
could suddenly muster that allows Arroyo to proclaim
herself as the best person to lead the country. It
has even gone into GMAs head that she is God's
ordained leader (god-forbid!).

Like him, I am wary of the politicians who represent
the same ills that Arroyo manifests. But this does
not paralyze me to the point of inaction. Because as
a citizen, what GMA is doing violates me. A president
who cheated her way into elections and now so brazenly
employ the violence of the state to squash legitimate
dissent is unforgivable and unacceptable. We have
sunk so low as a people if we are willing to endure
this kind of President. And if we cannot trust our
fellow citizens as they subject themselves to beatings
from the police and possible arrest, then perhaps
there is reason to be hopeless.

But because of these people who rise above their
differences to express their disgust over the present
state of affairs and have formed groups to resist, I
am believing in hope. It is not as if these
cause-oriented groups which I count myself a member of
where formed overnight. Many of them were formed in
the wake of the Garci controversy. Their resolved has
been strengthened even more as new scandals are
discovered and the true nature of this administration
is exposed.

In the meantime, all of us should get involve in
determining our alternatives. There are many
solutions that are being discussed and over the
months, a consensus has been forming that presents a
transition council as an alternative in preparation
for an election. It would be naive to think that as
single individuals you can register opinions on these
matters. Thus, it is important to get organized.
Form groups or join existing communities on the
internet, in schools, in parishes. Many are being
formed as we speak. Our participation in these
important processes would ensure their success. But
it would mean rising above our cynicism to achieve
this.

Our path to a modern and viable democracy is laden
with so many obstacles and there seems to be no quick
and easy solutions. But that is how it is in a young
fledging democracy like ours. When we participated in
the movement to oust Erap, we were aware that GMA was
not the solution to the country's problem. This is
the same attitude that I hold at present. In the end,
change will come if we are able to engender a vigilant
citizenry who are not paralyzed by pessimism. These
citizens will watch over their leaders and make sure
they do not do the failures of those who came before
them. What we are doing in the movement to oust
gloria is a step in that direction. If there is a
lesson that we need to learn in the past Edsa events,
it is that true democracy is kept alive by a vigilant
citizenry involved in the affairs of the state. We
should not trust the politicians and the military to
do the work for us. We ourselves as citizens are the
best guarantors of democracy.

Thus, I present hope as a counter-point to Austero's
pessimism. And I challenge those of us who share the
same hope for this country to prove to Mr. Austero
that we are not as cynical as he is. Our hope will
mean marching into the streets, face possible arrest,
allow ourselves to be beaten by truncheons and water
cannons because we have hope for this country. This
hope means we will not accept cheats and tyrants to
run this nation and we will continue to look for
alternatives. Not as fence-sitters but as involved
citizens who are hopeful about the future of this
country.

And as a parting shot, I challenge all of you who like
Mr. Austero remain cynical and pessimistic to get
organized as well. If indeed you guys are as sure
about your convictions, and if indeed you are silent
majority and not the hopeless few, then show us your
numbers.

arnold a.