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Volume 2, Number 4              March 3 - 9,  2002                   Quezon City, Philippines







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Commentary
Keeping People Power Alive

On the 16th anniversary of People Power I and on the heels of the first anniversary of People Power II, the contrasting commemorations by the forces that took part in both tell a lot about Philippine elite politics today:  basically the same reactionary vested interests prevail; the politics of accommodation; keeping the masses in check or at the elite's beck and call; airbrushing if not distorting and maligning the role of progressive and militant forces.  There is a need to reflect on the tasks that remain for a people fed up with a system rotten to its core. Having tasted the genuine power of direct, democratic action the people now ask -- where lies hope for our beloved but benighted country?

BY DR. CAROLINA P. ARAULLO
Bulatlat.com

Why is it that at Mendiola, noontime of Jan. 20 last year, the euphoria which attended the news that "Erap" Estrada had fled Malacañang seemed to last all of five minutes?  Although the easy answer was that fatigue had taken over many of us once the adrenaline rush during the march to the Palace had worn off, we instinctively knew that, one battle had just ended and another, quietly begun.  This time it would be our erstwhile allies, the Arroyo section of the ruling elite, whom we would have to contend with.

Little did we know it would take less than a year for the battle lines to be drawn.

Meantime, we would savor a bit of the sweetness of victory and lustily cheer the speakers atop the truck turned into an improvised stage.

Fast forward. Jan. 16, 2002: the scene was surreal but drove home the point that People Power was no longer welcome or allowed at the EDSA Shrine.  First there were the hours of grueling negotiations with the police, to "permit" a contingent from Southern Tagalog to march from Camp Crame to La Salle, Greenhills where a reunion of EDSA participants would take place. Another contingent was blocked by a hurdle of barbed wire and menacing anti-riot police at the Ortigas-EDSA intersection.

Finally, to cap the day's commemoration of PP II, demonstrators marched to the EDSA Shrine defying his eminence Cardinal Sin and the strict orders of Malacañang (the presidential palace) to have them stopped. Welcoming them at the shrine was a sight that defied even their worst expectations.  In the eerie, yellow glow of the street lights were soldiers in full battle gear crawling all over the place, ready to repulse the very people who had helped topple a corrupt and abusive regime only for it to be replaced with an ungrateful and clearly undeserving one.

How did the Arroyo government celebrate the twin anniversaries of People Power, one coming on the heels of the other?  After banning rallies at the shrine, EDSA Shrine keeper Msgr. Villegas celebrated last Jan. 20 a Mass graced by the presence of Mrs. Arroyo, former Presidents Aquino and Ramos, members of the Arroyo family and Cabinet, and a coterie of well-heeled hangers-on.  Mrs. Arroyo made the obligatory rounds of Manila's urban poor sans publicity this time as advised by the good Cardinal.  Then she held a series of dialogues with her former allies in the struggle to remove Estrada from power. The “allies” included the militant Bayan and the radical party-list, Bayan Muna, all the better to round off her image as an open-minded, listening president upon the counsel this time of her "civil society" allies. Another mass at the EDSA shrine on Feb. 25 as well as some rituals at the People Power monument concluded the official celebrations.

Where were the people in the two People Power commemorations?

Where were the people in the twin commemorations? Most people were busy scrounging around for a living, government's upbeat news on the economy notwithstanding.  Those who had bothered to mark the days however were not at the EDSA Shrine.  Last January, they tried and were told by the Church and police, "Keep off private property."  So the various organizations and personalities who figured in PP II trooped to Mendiola, reenacting the tumultuous yet decisive March to Malacañang on Jan. 20, and reaffirming their commitment to the fight for truth, freedom and social justice.

In February, they decided to take their political convictions and the "fire in their belly" somewhere else --  in front of the U.S. embassy. All the better to underscore their opposition to the latest Balikatan war games, U.S. troops deployment in Mindanao and Arroyo's unconditional support for the U.S.-led "war against terrorism," including her parroting of U.S. President Bush's aggressive talk and her own pugnacious stance against her critics and perceived enemies.

One thing stood out in contrast between the two celebrations: the government-sanctioned and church-blessed one at the EDSA Shrine did not even make a pretense of mobilizing big numbers of the people to acknowledge, honor and cheer them on. The one at Mendiola and in front of the U.S. embassy spared no effort in drawing the masses and the middle classes to participate. The militant crowd responded to the day’s underlying theme: "Bayan, di pa tapos ang laban mo! (Compatriots: Onward with the Struggle!)”

The contrasting commemorations tell a lot about Philippine elite politics today.  While some faces have changed, the status quo remains very much the same. Basically, the same reactionary vested interests prevail; as well as the politics of compromise and accommodation; keeping the masses in check or at the elite's beck and call through demagoguery and dole-outs; airbrushing if not distorting and maligning the role of the progressive forces and militant groups in bringing about badly needed social and political change in the country.

Recent events tell it all.  Nothing is more revolting than the bicameral, multi-party instant resolutions calling for allowing Estrada to go to the United States for medical treatment.  These congressional resolutions easily passed despite the absence of any medical, legal or moral basis for the ousted president to be granted this extraordinary privilege. "Pakikisama lang," said one embarrassed senator.  "So that there will be peace in the land," intoned Rep. Butz Aquino.  It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic, Senator Pimentel using his persuasive skills to argue that Estrada be placed on voluntary exile in the tradition of towering figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Jose Rizal, and Apolinario Mabini.

President Arroyo for her part washed her hands off the entire controversy as if the issue of Estrada's exile and likely escape from justice were the least of her problems.

What can our people do, fed up with the rottenness of a system that seems to be immune to even the most dramatic political turn of events such as People Power I and II?  Where lies hope for our beloved but benighted country?  Our historic task as a people -- to lift ourselves up out of poverty, underdevelopment and the scourge of elite, opportunist politics as well as foreign impositions on our economic, political and cultural life -- remains squarely in our hands.  Simply put, People Power is all about the power of direct, democratic action. It resides in the people, in all of us.  We should fight to keep this power alive, aware and vigilant and not allow the powers-that-be to trivialize, emasculate, and suppress it. Bulatlat.com


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