Of additional powers, hooligans,
and the willingness to vent dissent
(Or how this person tries to connect those who create their dubious moves
and those who really felt its negative, anger-provoking effects)
It was few days ago when this writer had read an article about the Aquino administration continues its desperate attempt to have additional powers by requesting the legislature.
Using the projected electricity shortage looming next year, the letter attempting to bestow President Aquino additional powers is too broad as according to Senate President Drilon, and likely to have possible adverse impact citing the experience during the Ramos administration as an example.
However to most people, President Aquino’s attempt to insist both Senate and Congress bestow himself additional powers also means additional burden, especially those of Workers and Government Employees, that are still marred by rising costs of goods and services, as well as overtaxed and underpaid, expressed disgust in the issue. They used the electic issue as its basis, much more that there are other related issues such as the infamous Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), Pork Barrel, and neoliberal economic policies.
Actually, the administration may afford to have additional powers courtesy of his lackeys in the legislature but does it mean it can ensure the welfare of the people, that Peasants still clamor for Land, and Workers, Government Employees still calling for wage increase and an end to additional taxes. There are more problems to tackle so to speak but the administration rather takes it too easy through a series of half-baked solutions, influence peddling, and crass rhetoric commonly heared and supported by fanatics.
Worse, it aggravates the rising costs of electricity plus corruption via sweetheart deals with big businesses though ‘Public Private Partnerships’. Aquino and his clique had afforded to babble development but do not mean it alleviates clear and present suffering of those who worked hard yet underpaid while facing additional taxes and increasing costs of goods and services especially electricity.
That somehow made it realized by a series of actions directly pointed against them. That lately, protesters from the University of the Philippines stormed the School of Economics wherein Budget Secretary Florencio Abad had attended a forum. Abad, known for justifying the infamous DAP and other neoliberal policies of the administration was nearly cornered by the students clamoring for his resignation as well as ouster of his boss; that made yellow fanatics, neoliberal apologetics to the core afford to call them as hooligans and ill-mannered as such.
Ill-mannered? Hooliganish? Then how about the thugs in uniform, toga, and coat trying to justify rising costs and less wages? It ain't be reformistic as what they babble with buta counterreactionary as it actually shows. One would remember that the Philippines has the highest electric rate in Asia as well as having billions of pesos to pay for the loans got from IMF-WB; while the Govenment think-tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) had afford to state that minimum wage should be relaxed and private companies should have the right to pay below minimum. These issues are quite problematic and anger-provoking, much more that people whom had endured and heard all these bullshit are likely to go beyond the line and start venting vulgar against those whom initiate and justify further with terms like 'development'.
Why on earth the system had allowed its own community to have higher electric rates, of having its bigger chunk of the budget be allocated to debt servicing whilst willing to apply for another loan, and a think-tank insisting the same babble as what foreign overlords wanted to? Stupidity at its finest for the system, its apologists, and the fanatics who afford to call protesters as barbaric, hooliganish, and the like. Hypocritical if they afford to oppose DAP, Pork, rising costs of goods and services, yet they assail those who really vent rage on one of its justifiers.
And since these thugs and goons afford to tackle about solutions, why additional powers? Public-Private Partnerships? Commercialization of state assets? Term extentions and the like? Haven’t they learned from the anomalies that took place during the Ramos and other past administrations? Did the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and other neoliberal trade acts alleviate the consumer? Did that DAP stimulate development with all of the half-baked infrastructure and influence peddling to the people? No! Much more that the people, whether they are Worker, Peasant, Student, Government Employee, and SME persons are greatly affected by the problems caused by palliative measures as well as tired of rhetorics peddled by Aquino and his folk.
Again, the actions made by the present administration acts as a sampling of a coming dictatorship that is ‘carefully tended by his lackeys and justified by his fanatics. The latter afford to call the protesters near and far as hooligans, ill-mannered, or in yesteryears as seditionists and treasonous especially after assailing against an administration man such as Florencio Abad in a state university. These hooligans have the right to rebel against an order that afford to toy with emergency powers and term extensions, much more that they justify inequality, injustice, and a series of artificial crisis courtesy of having laissez faire to the wreckers and profiteers as means to 'steer development'.
And if so, then these hooligans are worthy of praise as they afford to really vent rage on behalf of those who can't yet willing to, than those who obviously taking the side of the repressor with all of their statements pointing against them. Call them ill-mannered as you wish, but in a so-called "democratic" society lies a voice of dissent, and that is include the right to turn down tyrants by means of their actual and virtual ostracons with their names written against them.