RP Needs Love

Filipinos don't love fellow Filipinos

INQ7.net

FILIPINO life has been restless since the world wars. It's too tiring. Too much politics in our daily life is poisoning the minds of future generation. How could we inspire the youth to make the nation a brighter side of the world tomorrow? The future seems to be dimmer for them; they would rather dream of working abroad when the time comes.

We have hardworking teachers and good education, but who benefits from these brains and hard work? Wasted time, wasted effort, wasted brains.

The primary Philippine export is its own people, because everybody wants to get out of the country. Getting away -- from pollution, overcrowding, protest rallies, rebels, kidnappers, high prices but low wages, and politicians -- is an easy reason to take the way out. But this would mean doing "the supreme sacrifice" of leaving the loved ones.

I admire how we care for family bonding. We would do everything to help our siblings survive. When I see Filipino professionals do low-paying jobs abroad, I can't stop asking myself, what went wrong? Are we destined to become domestic helpers, janitors, laborers of the world?

God gave us a great country, bright minds, scenic islands, and happy people, but why did God let us make Philippines so -- it may be becoming the hardest place on Earth to live. Filipinos have to sacrifice more to take care of the future of their families because the system will not allow and guarantee a brighter future for the children. Because of the shortcomings and incapacities of the system, we have to be slaves of the world to assure us a decent life in the Philippines.

If we sent the politicians to work as slaves around the world, then they would realize their shortcomings. A former president of the University of the Philippines and of the Senate who supported actors as candidates to lead a nation has nothing but personal interests in mind. A Senate president who publicly admits to corruption of his principles in a matter of days doesn't deserve to lead the Senate. Old-timers in the Senate are enjoying overstaying too much, improving their own lives while creating more misery for the poor.

Kindergarten politicians (like Panfilo Lacson and Francis Escudero) are wasting taxpayers' money by throwing mud at the government every day. Party-list representatives who were formerly shouting in the streets still shout against the government that they are supposed to help, now that they were given seats in the legislature. These people cannot be compared to the class of Arturo Tolentino and Blas Ople, who honestly served the people quietly and without grandstanding. I wish they were still there.

The problem of our land is the politicians who never care to find solutions to the agony of the dying nation. Greed and selfishness rule their hearts. Money rules their minds.

Filipinos only want a simple life, good job, a decent place to live, peace of mind, and a bright future for their children. We as a nation don't love one another. We don't care when we see fellow Filipinos sleep on the streets. We don't fight for our principles no matter what, we don't care that we have to be slaves of other nations. We have no self-respect and dignity as a nation. We never care for the future of our race. We never care for the future of our nation. We never care to be Filipinos at heart. Because we don't love fellow Filipinos.

If we and the politicians can do nothing to improve the quality of life of our nation in this period of our lives, then, I would say, it would be shameful to be a Filipino. God save this nation!

ARMAND PEREZ, 4-1425 West 70th Ave Vancouver (via e-mail)

GloriaGate Analysis

Posted by Yvonne Chua 
PCIJ

FOR those who'd like to bone up on the implications of the juetenggate and Gloriagate before President Arroyo's state-of-the-nation address (SONA) on Monday, the Institute for Popular Democracy, a political research and advocacy organization, has compiled the analyses it has written on the current political crisis.

The compilation, entitled "Gloriawatch" and downloadable in PDF format, includes Joel Rocamora's piece "Weteng for Reform," in which he predicts that the crisis should be the "last nail on the coffin of the country's bankrupt political system."

Rocamora stresses that the "Hello, Garci" controversy brings to the fore the problem not only with the electoral system. "What is in crisis is the whole system of representation, the heart of any democratic system," he says.

A local research consulting group, Stratbase, meanwhile, has put out a 20-page analysis on the crisis in time for Monday's SONA.

The paper, "Deconstructing the Crisis: The Real State of the Nation," states: "The problem of the Philippines is not just Gloria, it is far worse. The biggest problems we face now are the weaknesses of our institutions."

Stratbase laments that Filipinos are today stuck with captured political institutions, money politics, a fraudulent electoral system, a wanting political party system, weakened judiciary and law enforcement agencies and an "impasse-able" Congress.  

The research group proposes a way out: a broad alliance or social coalition for reforms.

Download IPD's "Gloriawatch" and Stratbase's " Deconstructing the Crisis."

Gloriagate Blogs

Posted by Alecks Pabico
PCIJ

LET a thousand (journalist) blogs bloom.

No doubt about it, the current political crisis rocking the Arroyo administration has made blogging, for all its unmediated, instantaneous and personal nature, an attractive reporting medium for Filipino journalists. Of course, the case for blogging journalists has already been made by the likes of Manuel L. Quezon III, Jove Francisco (By Jove!), Chin Wong ( Digital Life), Erwin Oliva (cyberbaguioboy), to name a few, even before we at the PCIJ started venturing into the blogosphere ourselves.

Recent welcome additions to the journalist blogging community are GMA Network's Howie Severino (Side Trip with Howie Severino), who has a blog on blogs today, and Philippine Daily Inquirer's editorialist John Nery (Newsstand). Much earlier, we also saw GMA reporters coming out with blogs of their own — Tina Panganiban-Perez ( crimson page) and Joseph Morong (Essays and Other Lullabies). The media network is said to be encouraging its reporters to go into blogging.

Another journalist has also been blogging anonymously since May at The Early Edition.

While the mainstream media based in Metro Manila seem slow in grasping the potential of blogging as an important addition to the journalistic toolkit, interesting developments have happened elsewhere. In Cebu, Sun.Star has spiced up its coverage of "Gloriagate" by launching the Citizen Watch: The Arroyo Presidency blog. There's also dyAB, the first radio station (as far as I know) that is complementing all its programs with blogs ( dyAB Abante Bisaya). 

Gloria's Fighting Words

(Text of Pres. Arroyo's Nationwide TV/Radio Address on July 7, 2005)

 

Mga Minamahal kong kababayan.

When I was young and my late father Diosdado Macapagal was president of our country, I thought of him as the "good guy" and his political opponents on the other side were the "bad guys".

Because of my father's influence, I had always thought of myself as on the side of the good. Thus, it is very painful for me to know that among many of our countrymen today, I have been demonized as the "bad guy." This is unfair, but it is a cross that God in His wisdom has given me to bear, so I will bear it. I have never questioned God's ways before, and I will not do so now.

When I first entered politics in 1992, little did I know that within a decade, I would become president of our country. And little did I expect that within another five years, there would be calls from civil society for my resignation from office or for the formation of a "Truth Commission" regarding some of my political actuations.

When I spoke before the nation some two weeks ago, I did so against the advice of my legal counsel. But I thought that speaking before you, the Filipino people, was the right thing to do. Shameless people have peddled the lie that I confessed to cheating. What I disclosed was that I talked to an election official. But that this had taken place after the certificates of canvas had already been used to proclaim the winning senators, and it was those same certificates of canvass that showed that I won by around a million votes. That is the truth.

Indeed, it is right for our country to confront the truth, but if we do so, let's confront the biggest, most painful political truth. The big truth that we are aware of deep in our hearts, but that we collectively sweep under the rug. The big truth whose debilitating effects on our country, year after year, decade after decade, have developed into feelings of disgust, hopelessness and even despair among large segments of our society.

The truth that I discovered from my beginnings as a neophyte politician in 1992, rising to become a veteran politician through the years, is this: over the years, our political system has degenerated to such an extent that it is very difficult to live within the system with hands totally untainted. That is the truth. In addition, our system has degenerated to such an extent that more often than not, it is political agenda first, and national interest last. For example, we have endless investigations and scandals in aid of political and media projection, rather than in aid of legislation or executive action. That is the truth. Because of this system of politics, our country has been left behind by other countries in the region, and our best and brightest, the cream of our youth, are voting with their feet to leave the country. That is the truth.

I do not blame any individual or political block for this sad state of affairs. It is simply the truth that the political system that I am part of has degenerated to the point that it needs fundamental change. We are collectively to blame, so we must collectively be the solution. Let he who is without sin, cast the stone. To those who feel that they cannot cast the first stone, I invite you to help in the solution.

My proposed approach to reform our system of politics and governance is something that I had wanted to bring forth during the upcoming state of the nation address. However, because our country is hungry for a resolution to the political uncertainties that have plagued us these past few weeks, I will bring it up now.

First of all, I am not resigning my office. To do so under circumstances that connote an EDSA 3 would condemn any successor to the possibility of an EDSA 4, then an EDSA 5, and so on, unless our political system were first reformed to make it more responsive to the people's will, such that changes in leadership come about in an orderly and stable manner.

The world embraced EDSA 1 in 1986. The world tolerated EDSA 2 in 2001. The world will not forgive an EDSA 3 in 2005, but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable. And the Filipinos as among the finest people in the world, but who always shoot themselves in the foot. Under those circumstances, who would invest money in the Philippines? How would we weather the difficulties arising from the price of crude oil being at its highest in history?

What I intend to do is to work with legislators and civil groups who believe that changes in the fundamental law of the land are necessary in order to confront such basic issues as federalism, the character of our legislative process, reducing red tape in government processes, running for public office under a true party system and with less need to raise campaign funds, modernizing the economic provisions of our constitution, and so forth.

At the same time, I will restructure and strengthen the cabinet, giving it a free hand to meanwhile reform and manage our day to day governance with as little political interference as possible, even from me.

This is how we will proceed.

First, I'm asking my entire cabinet to tender their resignation in order to give the executive a free hand to reorganize itself. I'll ask our sectors to give me the names of candidates that we can invite to replace those who will not return to the cabinet, or even to help out at other levels of the executive.

Second, the cabinet will be given a free hand on governance, while I focus on the fundamental changes that we need to put in place.

Third, I will begin to reach out to the political and civil sectors that have an interest in the various advocacies that are relevant to our constitution. Federalism, for example, is an advocacy that I had espoused long ago.

This is neither political ploy nor gimmick. I believe that this process will quickly lay the foundation for deep reforms in our society, including reforms in our political way of life. This would be a legacy that our generation of politicians and citizens could collectively be proud of. I now have grand children to play with and to help bring up. Like all of you, I want our children to grow up in a better Philippines. I have prayed on this, and I hope that I have discerned God's will properly.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.