Let them whine! But the protests will continue!
It's been last Monday as people from all walks of life went to Luneta park for another day of committment.
United out of digust against the clear and present issue, these people, coming from different districts of Metropolitan Manila had converged together to sign a petition, a popular initiative in order to scrap the infamous pork barrel and its various schemes made by interest-seeking and keeping politicos to generate their interests.
The petition was started last Sunday in Cebu, there thousands had committed in signing as a form of protest against the actions taken by the system all in spite of the latter's attempt to oppose and to divide the people united by a common program of action. That as according to former Senator Francisco Tatad:
"Which kept on coming back like the cat with nine lives, despite the Supreme Court ruling declaring it null and void."
Tatad, in his article at the Manila Times this Wednesday had expressed congratulations to Archbishop Jose Palma for hosting, as well as to the Cebuanos who had supported the initiative. The initiative last Monday in Manila is but a continuation of last Sunday's mass action, and still continuing as of this day to gain million signatures, a sign of both committment to National unity and a protest against the system.
As people continue to sign in the petition, and watching the entire concert on stage, it is pretty much obvious that the people demand transparency, accountability, as well as urging the authorities to stop wasting funds through abolishing Pork Barrel and various schemes such as the current Disbursement Acceleration Program. However, the system would still continue insisting the pseudo-legality of the program despite knowing that they'll fail in justifying it; much more that they target the opposition thoroughly as corrupt, while coddling the corrupt from their very own ranks and circles. Apologists had afford to make a series of rhetorics trying to malign those whom taking popular initiatives to scrap various forms of pork barrel schemes as well as persecuting officials, including the President for misusing the money of the people.
Well, no matter how sparse as according to the media the number of people participated in Manila, the system fails to avert the tremor of protest, much more that in their actions taken, they're just making the social volcano having the capacity to explode that will damage their so-called "righteous way" and the "society" they had protected for out of their own interest. Latley they are trying to rally the people through social media how their popular initiative as all but failure, they even cite rather social media, rather than mass actions made people enlightened and willing to call for reforms, much more in setting changes that actually end up as scraps of paper if not Half-baked yet appeared as realized for the sake of impressing the populace.
That somehow this writer would say that it is pretty much obvious how the present system, through their apologists and its Counterreactionaries self-proclaiming as reformists as trying to curry favor with the people by making a Machiavellian slip such as they benefited from projects no matter how corrupt or controversial the legislator it was yet appearing as benevolent.
The money being disbursed, no matter how controversial it was had been all allocated to projects that also benefits while describing those whom oppose as hypocritical if not opportunistic to use the controversy just to malign the presidency and the system itself while benefited from so-called 'funds'.
But in spite of what these Reactionary opportunists and Counterreactionary apologists doing, the people are greatly enlightened by the issue and willing to sign and join in the protests if possible. Since people had hated Marcos and Arroyo in spite of his full-blown projects citing his corruption and favoritism towards his wife and his clique of military bureaucrats and compradore 'technocrats', so is Aquino and his so-called 'friends' whose real intention of justifying soiled-handed 'projects' as keeping their interests firm and the people numb as they're benefited and contented.
Right was the late Diosdado Macapagal in his preface about his idea for a Welfare State. Citing corruption and interest-emphasising bullshit, the former President whom likely to become a 'Social Democrat' expressed both disgust and hope as he said:
"The exploitation of the nation's resources for the benefit of a few is traceable to the colonial period when in pursuit of administering and developing the country primarily for the aggrandizement of the colonial power, the government and economy was placed in the continuous control of the representatives of the ruling power and the native who collaborated with them in a coalition of monopoly and exploitation.
When Independence was finally "restored" in 1946, the country remained in the monopolistic hold of the indigenous elite who had reaped the opulence and power from the aggrandizing coalition with the colonial master whom they had largely replaced.
In the exuberance of liberation from alien rile and exploitation, it is natural from the impoverished masses to hope that they could expect better justice from the new ruling oligarchy composed of their own countrymen. But they have been continually disenchanted as six administrations went by without meaningful reform that would give them the social justice denied them for centuries except to some extent in land reform which abolished peasant slavery in 1963 but even this has been inadequately implemented.
Instead of reform and social justice, the people have seen monopoly and exploitation in continued ascendancy, vested interests expanding and becoming more strongly entrenched, government being used as a mechanism for worsening corruption instead of implement for true public service, national leaders joining the vested interests instead of helping to lift the masses from their bondage, and in this process the continued exploitation and oppression, popular rights and liberties were being steadily repressed in order to insure the continued despotism by the politico-economic autarky over the populace who are helpless in their poverty. The pang of persistent exploitation has been aggravated by the painful circumstance that now the oppression is not so much from foreigners as from our own countrymen.
From observation as a citizen spectator as well as from acquired insight as one who occupied the presidency preceding this present incumbent, I feel that after the blood-spilling January demonstrations there can be an end of the crisis and pacific moving forward only if the reigning politico-economic oligarchy realize that substantial reform can no longer be denied the people. It is not enough to strengthen defences of public authority against the students and the people; what is vital is the institution of revolutionary or satisfactory reforms. Revolution has become inexorable, be it a peaceful or a violent one."
Aquino and his clique, especially those of Mar Roxas, Erwin Lacierda, Leah Navarro, and Florencio Abad, and even Risa Hontiveros may expressed Macapagal-esque in justifying DAP, the Presidential Pork, and funds and projects of controversial nature as social justice and providing welfare. But the late member of the Liberal Party knows the fact that poverty and corruption, of self-proclaimed 'good' and notoriously bad crooks continue to make the Philippines worsen and near-helpless to resolve the issue. Did Navarro, Abad, Hontiveros, and other self-proclaimed reformists said the same straightforward statement like Macapagal's such as only if the reigning politico-economic oligarchs able to reform the country? No. Much more that their programs, like those of PhilHealth, Socialized Tuition Systems, and Conditional Cash Transfer programs aren't even consider to be for the welfare of the people knowing that they contribute yet it fails to be consider it as welfare citing the fact that it did harm than good. Why not subsidised rice to avert rice crisis and to generate support for the farmers in the countryside? Did that DAP or any schemes from that goddamn pork barrel helped them? No! If they did so, it's more of a propaganda ploy, a political gimmick, than a serious committment to the laboring people as what Macapagal yearned for as a Social Democrat.
But instead of being straightforward as what their righteous path as intended, it becomes bended and swayed to and fro: using terms as civil society, popular democracy, and appearing politico-economic oligarchs as benevolent with their so-called charity programs and cooperation with the government though Public-Private Partnerships. But in reality, they failed in realizing other than providing a façade if not an entire Potemkin village full of half-baked promises and paper programs, reforms that appear populist yet actually benefits the interest-seeking and keeping elite. Yes, they failed in making the Philippines self-reliant and firm in keeping its independence despite 'restored' in 1946; that they want the country be dependent on imports, foreign aid, while exporting every raw and semi-processed material and treating industrialization as a mere showcase of pride like its cultural counterpart.
Since they justify DAP, did that DAP also allocated to those willing to industrialize the countryside the way it had disbursed a sufficient amount to the owners of Hacienda Luisita? Nope. Corrupt officials, despotic landlords, the entire poltico-economic oligarchy of themselves benefited from it; and now they oppose those who wanted to scrap altogether what they benefited such as DAP and various kinds of programs that compsed Pork Barrel altogether.
Anways, the path that is righteous is indeed a killer highway and a road to ruin to most people has expected from the beginning; there compradore oligarchs, corrupt bureaucrats, and Counterreactionary pseudo-reformists may had 'benefited' from that so-called "path" knowing that the economy they're taking about is fast progressing.
That actually it isn't. When will people stop being numb and unnoticingly be described as 'overdressed monkeys' by self-proclaimed benefactors providing half-baked projects, programs while extorting them time and again?
Let those who oppose the will of the people whine as they want, but the protest marches, petition signings, and various kinds of struggle against the system will continue.
Or in Marcosian terms, "The Revolt of the Poor" continues still.
Thank you.
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For now, a video featuring those who convened the entire event singing the Filipino version of Les Miserables' "Song of the Barricades". Enjoy!