Monday, September 12, 2005

"People Power" AGAIN?!

With the junking of the impeachment complaint in the House of Representatives last week, the opposition has returned to calling for President Arroyo's ouster. It's "People Power" all over again, with Corazon Aquino calling on Filipinos to go out to the streets and demand the President's resignation, along with new characters such as the Estradas(former President Joseph Estrada was booted out by another "People Power revolt), the so-called "Hyatt 10"(who sang "If We Hold On Together" with the President barely a week before turning their backs on her), the Left(militants who seize at every opportunity to topple any government), militant priests(such as Fr. Robert Reyes, a.k.a "the running priest", who seems to have forgotten his hunger strike pledge), and the poor, gullible masses.

Di pa ba tayo nagsasawa sa panay "People Power" na yan? Pangatlong beses na a!

The first was applauded, the second was tolerated. The third time, well, we would probably become a laughingstock; an immature society that squeals like a baby whenever it feels a pinch. We claim to be a democracy, yet whenever we don't approve of our leaders' actions we turn into an anarchical society, where the law is trampled upon in the name of vox populi. The people's voice, or the voice of opportunistic, power-hungry, greedy personalities using the uneducated and gullible masses as puppets to further their own ends?

C'mon! Look at the people who are calling us out to the streets: hodgepodge of liars, traitors, opportunists, anarchists, and communists! These are people that we would never in our right minds invite into our homes, yet we tolerate their shenanigans and disruptive behavior. We choose to listen to people whose reputations are questionable at the least, criminal at the worst. Heck, these same people, in different circumstances, would choose not to be seen with each other! Remember Hacienda Luisita? The militant farmers supported by the left against the Aquino family? Remember the past election, when the opposition was divided between FPJ and Panfilo Lacson? Is this unity? No! The moment PGMA steps down, the "United Opposition", the "Bukluran para sa Katotohanan", or whatever these people call their desperate alliance, will fragment into squabbling factions vying for the vacated seat of power. And you think that the country is in trouble now?

Why in the world are they instigating another "People Power" revolt? Because of the still unauthenticated "Gloria Tapes"? Because of the testimonies of self-admitted criminals? What a load of crap. The junking of the impeachment complaint was also the oppositions fault. Let's face it, if they had filed their complaint in the House of Representatives first instead of bombarding the people through the media with weekly exposes and whistleblowers with the obvious aim of fomenting another "People Power" then we would be gearing up for an impeachment trial in the Senate by now! And why foment anarchy? Why destabilize the government? In a time of global economic crisis due to skyrocketing oil prices, why jeopardize the already shaky economy? Why divide a country? We seem so adept at uniting against each other instead of coming together as one people. We seem to be so hell-bent on getting our own way that in the process we forget the well-being of the nation.

We don't need this "People Power" to solve our problems. We don't need more bickering and mudslinging, whistleblowers and exposes. We only need to set aside our differences. Find solutions instead of finding faults. Initiate dialogue instead of conflict. Come together as one nation; one people with one purpose. Stability, prosperity, unity; those should be our goals, not how many people we can draw to the streets! We have the power to achieve a higher level of democracy, one which we claim to have yet seldom put into practice. That is a true democracy, where the people work together in the best interests of the entire nation. "People Power" revolts are a thing of the past. If we are to prove our maturity as a society, we should learn to follow the rule of law. We should make democracy work in our country; not in the anarchical and disruptive "parliament of the streets", but within the order and structure of our Constitution.

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