People Change vs. People Power

SO much have been written from the 1986 People Power, and so much have been expected from the dramatic peoples’ fight to end Marcos rule and the struggle for democratic reforms.  For the Filipinos then, the 1987 Constitution was expected to provide the stimulus (or the magic formula) to spark the rebirth of a proud nation and people.

Alas, it was not to be. It’s been 32 years since we deluded ourselves into believing that our post – “1986 Revolution” will begin to see truly honest, sincere and dedicated politicians leading our people out of poverty, onward to an irreversible progress. It was not to be. It didn’t take long for relatives and cronies of politicos that ousted the Marcoses to start taking over the spoils of corruption left behind by the Marcos rule.

Our people not only continue to be divided by selfish political interests but continue to be exploited by the ruling elite. Over the past decades, we have not witnessed any significant change or departure from the old politics that enslaved our people. Separatist groups remained, crime and gambling syndicates thrived, corrupt political dynasties kept a tighter stronghold over their communities, etc.

With the advent of the Duterte administration that has promised real changes, real reforms, we hope that the elusive dream for our country will finally be realized.

With changes in our people, we can do it. But simply invoking people power will no longer cut it.

 

Sacrifice

DID we ever have a president who had the guts to order manpower deployment to a foreign country?  Until Mr. Duterte came along in 2016, there was none.  When President Duterte stopped the sending of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) to Kuwait last week, practically the entire nation lustily cheered.  It was a wake-up call for the Kuwaiti government, whose citizens—some of them, anyways—are infamously known to maltreat many OFWs, mostly our women.  The case of Joanna Demapelis sparked Mr. Duterte’s justified anger. Missing for two years, the body of Iloilo-born Demapelis, a murder victim in Kuwait, was found inside a freezer in an abandoned house owned by a couple that are now the object of a manhunt.

Some OFWs, spared of Demapelis’ gristly fate and who are home on vacation, are complaining of losing their jobs in Kuwait.  But sacrifice is the call of the moment. Unite. We are teaching Kuwait—and possibly others—a lesson here.

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