By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Because it is easier to imagine it, corruption has taken center stage in the public’s appreciation of the current national crisis. Against the backdrop of mass poverty, the quantities are truly mind-boggling: $130 million in kickbacks for a government project worth $329 million, a bribe offer of P200 million for a single signature, cash gifts of half a million pesos each for politicians who attend a breakfast or lunch meeting with a President facing impeachment, half a million pesos in pocket money for a government functionary who flies to Hong Kong in order to evade a Senate inquiry, and many more. But it would be a mistake to think this is just about corruption. This is, more importantly, about the long-term damage to a nation’s social institutions.
The damage to government institutions has been the most extensive. Far from being a neutral arbiter of disputes and a source of normative stability, the justice system has become a weapon to intimidate those who stand up to power. Far from being a pillar of public security, the military and the police have become the private army of a gangster regime. Instead of serving as an objective referee in electoral contests, the Commission on Elections has become a haven for fixers who deliver fictitious votes to the moneyed and the powerful. Instead of serving as the steady backbone of public service through successive changes in administration, the government bureaucracy has been turned into a halfway house for political lackeys, misfits and the corrupt. Instead of serving as a check on presidential power, the House of Representatives has become its hired cheering squad.
The erosion of these institutions, no doubt, has been going on for a long time. But their destruction in the last seven years under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency has been the most comprehensive since 1986. This is due not only to the particular gifts of Ms Arroyo as a politician — her survival instincts, her callousness, her readiness to set aside higher goals and principles for short-term personal gains. It is also due to the peculiar confluence of events that attended her rise to the presidency.
In a reasonably fair contest, it is my view that Ms Arroyo would not, at any time, have been elected president — not in 1998, or 2004, or in any snap election between those two presidential election years. She never commanded a constituency or party machinery, nor did she possess a charisma that would compensate for this lack, to fetch her the presidency. The only way she could become president was precisely by the route she took — to be elected vice president and then succeed to the presidency before the incumbent’s term is over. Edsa II made that possible.
Having risen to the presidency in the most improbable way, Ms Arroyo could not have been seriously expected to give it up in 2004. She was determined to keep it, and indeed everything she has done since 2003 (a few months after declaring she would not run in the 2004 election) has been part of a calculated effort to keep her in office — indefinitely. The imperatives that this boundless ambition triggered constitute the strongest pressure upon our institutions today.
But the damage is not confined to government; it has fanned out like a shock wave from the epicenter to the periphery. We have thus far only seen the debris of government institutions that have lost their standing in the public esteem. Now we are seeing how the tension is passed on and threatens other institutions. This happens when issues that are left unresolved by the institutions of law, politics and government spill over to other spheres of society.
The tremor spreads out and tests the strength of the remaining credible pillars of our society: the churches, the media, the universities, the business community, the family. Each one of these institutional spheres has their own unique operational system, code and medium. They are not organized, nor are they suited, for the processing of legal and political questions. Yet, they are compelled by the developing situation to address these questions from their own specific standpoints. Their members are called upon to lend their minds, their voices, and their bodies to a movement whose trajectory is still uncertain.
Consensus will not come easy under these circumstances. Yet a crisis can often appear so urgent that institutions are stampeded into making a stand for or against, in the process stretching the limits of their institutional codes, and, worse, exacerbating existing internal dissensions. This is the collateral damage that can be created by a runaway crisis — the importation of an unresolved political-legal dysfunction into our churches, schools, editorial rooms, board rooms and homes. If we don’t handle it well, we could all end up collecting debris to build a bonfire of institutions.
This is not a plea for the “social peace” that Romulo Neri belatedly proposes. All of us must contribute to the shaping of the public consciousness, whether as individuals or as communities, but we can only speak for ourselves. We must take care we don’t destroy the institutions to which we belong, for that will only mean we are no different from those who have abused the institutions of government. In self-defense, we must keep the pressure on the Arroyo regime until it releases its grip on our government. At the same time, we must continue to admonish the custodians of our Constitution to do their work faithfully and urgently, and thus spare the rest of the country from the continuing nightmare of a destructive presidency.
Our friend Randy David is among those being considered in the opposition senatorial ticket in 2010.
Wala akong masasabi kay Prof. David.
If he is willing t lead this country, I am all for it. At least, isang di politiko at walang bahid ng utang na loob kung kani-kanino.
Bakit kailangang hikayatin ang mga gustong mamuno sa kilusan ng pagpapatalsik sa mga ungas na pumasok din sila sa politika? Kung gusto nilang tumakbo sa darating na eleksyon, di magkusa sila. Bakit kailangan pang tuksuhin sila para tumakbo? Hindi maganda iyan sa totoo lang. Diyan sila natutuksong gumawa ng anomalya. Sabi nga, kung uukol, bubukol!
Gusto ko ang pananaw ni Lozada tungkol sa bagay na ito. Sa ngayon ang nagtutulak sa kaniya ng paggawa ng nararapat ay dahil sa konsensiya at pagnanais na ituwid ang lahat pati na ang mga sariling pagkakamali niya sa abot ng makakaya niya. Hindi siya nag-aambisyong sumali sa maduming politika. Para sa akin iyan ang matino, at kung balang araw ay magnais siyang tumakbo para ipagpatuloy ang adhikain niya, isa ako sa susuporta sa kaniya.
Tungkol naman kay Professor David, mas mabuti pang manatili siyang isang tagapagturo ng nararapat na malaman ng mga pilipino lalo na ng mga kabataan ng tamang pamamalakad ng pamahalaan. Hindi naman kailangang pumasok siya sa politika para makatulong siya sa pamamalakad ng pamahalaan sa totoo lang.
Saka na ang politika. Ang dapat ay isipin kung papaano mapapatalsik si Gloria Mandarambong na isang bitch!
Wika nga ni Bush…”Read my lips”. Who are we to tell Mr. Randy David not to run for public office if he so desires? No one in this blog most of all yours truly ever said that we’re pushing Randy to run for the Senate. Read the line three times: Randy David is being considered in the opposition senate. His name was mentioned during one of the meetings among the opposition. What’s wrong? Masama ba iyon mga kaibigan? Suntok sa buwan kung minsan ang mga bunganga ng ilan dito…
palagay ko wala tutol kahit sino kung magkakandidato si Randy.
pero hindi yun ang isyu dito, at kapag sinasabi ang ‘candidacy thinggy’ na ito, nabibigyan ng basehan ang akusasyon (ng Malacanang) na ang lahat na ito; ang mga protesta, at kampanya para sa maayos na pamahalaan ay pawang pakulo lang at gusto lamang daw maupo sa puwesto.
na siyang hindi ko matanggap at malayo sa totoo.
ang protesta’t mga panawagan dito ay hindi nagsimula at lalong hindi nagtatapos sa kung sino ang mga personal o communal choice ng mga blogger para sa pagka Senador o anupaman, bagkus ang patuloy na pagbabantay kung paano mapatibay ang demokrasya and making life worth living, too (to borrow Ellen’s words).
let’s not put malice into this one.
walang tutol…
Dahil sa maraming nasirang institusyon itong EVIL BITCH na ito, it takes a VILLAGE to do the repairs. We need all the help we can muster to put responsible people in government positions. Piliin naman natin yung hindi “TRAPO”. There should be more accountability in the government. Kapag may usok, may sunog. Huwag na nating antayin pa na masunog lahat ang ating pinagpaguran bago tayo kumilos. The harm done by this EVIL WOMAN to our intitutions is almost irrepairable but there is HOPE! Magsamasama tayong kumilos para mabawi natin ang nawala nating pagkatao at ng ating kakapiranggot na kayamanan!
Exactly, Zen2. Iyan ang sinasabi ng mga pakawala ni Evil Bitch. Gusto lang daw ng mga bumabatikos sa kaniya na palitan siya. Nade-defeat tuloy ang pinaglalaban sa totoo lang. Kung malinis na at talagang gusto nilang tumakbo, e di tumakbo sila.
Like Trillanes, kahit na nasa loob siya, isinulong siya ng mga supporters niya dahil nakita nila ang potential niya. Kaya lang sinasadya talagang huwag siyang makalabas para hindi matupad ang ipinangako niyang patatalsikin si Donya Boba.
Pero despite the propaganda na walang kaya ang mga pilipinong pababain si Evil Bitch, nakita ng mga pilipino ngayon ang nagagawa ng dasal. Huwag maniwalang hindi kaya ng mga pilipino na sipain si Gloria Dorobo kahit na anong sipsip niya sa mga kano lalo pa ngayong nakita nilang kabilanin siya na akala mo naman kayang-kaya niya ang China na hindi makakahanalatang nanglalamang lang sila ng asawa niya.
OK iyong ginagawa ng mga kabataang pilipino leading the forums, etc. na may kasama pang dasal. Feeling hero pa sila ngayon. Pagbutihin ninyo mga kabataan!
Why another people power is needed? Sad to say in our country, very few families control the state. Neri called this oligarchic society. This is nothing new. If you go back to Philipine history, the Spaniards used the mestizos/insulares. The Americans too used the elite families to govern locally. It was Andres Bonifacio who started the revolution against Spain, not a Jose Rizal.We have a situation then that the family (micro) has hostaged the state (macro). While family ties/relations are strong, institutions and the bureaucracy are weak. Civil society is needed to correct this anomaly in Philippine democracy.
jakcast:
Isang magandang literatura, hindi ko alam kung kailan malulunasan ang kanser na ito. Nag buwis ng buhay ang manggagawa, magsasaka, mulat na estudyante at maralitag masa. Subalit sa pag hawi ng usok nakaluklok sa trono ang Elitistang Mayaman na Burigak at Tuta ng Dayuhan.
FYI
—–Original Message—–
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:14 PM
Subject: Photos/Text: Exorcising the resident evil
Posted are photos and text of the jog in the campus billed as exercise to exorcise the evil.
Please visit:
http://www.arkibongbayan.org/
Arkibong Bayan Web Team
The Philippines has a weak state, strong family; kaya naarbor ng pamilya yung estado. Ang problema natin ngayon ay resulta ng ating history, kultura, values system, mindset, at attitudes. Kailangang palitan natin ang sistema ng representasyon sa gobyerno para mabawasan ang “rent-seeking” at “patronage politics” ng mga mayayaman at maimpluwensiya.Kalahati siguro ng kungreso galing sa mga manggagawa, magsasaka,atb. Ewan ko kung paano pero hindi bubotohen.Kailangan palitan and administrative areas para hindi madaling mainfluence ng elite. Talagang problema.
People like Randy David can make an honest kind of public official. Sa aking palagay, he can be a good president of the country if given the chance.
What if the lucky bitch will just ask for forgiveness and go back to the Lord at the heat of all this conflagration call for her to get down, will she get off unscathed? God can forgive her surely, but can we forgive her?
Jakcast, welcome to the group if you’re a new member. Baka mapaghinalaan ka at pagbintangan na naman isa sa mga palaging nagpapalit ng pangalan dito sa blog. Worse, you might be suspected of making trouble here. Meroon tayong magaling na imbestigador dito na galing pa sa ibang bansa. Kung may tinatawag na wiretapping, may e-mail tapping din. Ingat lang, kaibigan.
ask12b1, yes, I’m new to the group. Bago lang talaga ako at hindi recycled user. Don’t worry I have firewalled my participation. Maraming salamat sa iyong paalala. Ingat din lagi.
Salamat din kaibigan. Madaling makilala kung sino ang tinutukoy ko. Basta mapapansin mong nakikialam sa mga komento ng iba at basta na lang babanat. At kung sagutin mo siya na ikapipikon niya, tatawagin kang manggugulo dito. Kung kaya mong mag-yes ng yes at mag-bow ng bow, gustong-gusto niya iyan. Kaya naman kasi lumaki ang ulo niyan kasi kinokunsintidi kung minsan. Anyway, I just felt like giving you the reminder. Rest assured most of the bloggers here are nice and friendly except for one or two who consistently want to control and dictate others.
I think Randy David is hoping for a “Gloria resign” (rather than people power), if enough pressure could be marshalled by the public, including those institutions that have been set into, or about to be consumed by, Gloria’s “bonfire.”