Twenty three years after EDSA

Nakakalungkot. 23 years after EDSA, kailangan ulit mag People Power. Maitutulad ang sitwasyon natin ngayon sa isang shooting ng isang eksena na hindi makuha kuha ng bida ang tamang pag-arte.

Pero kung sa shooting, good acting lang ang kailangan gawin ng artista, sa People Power ang kailangan magawa ng mga tao ay maitatag ang Paghahari ng Batas, mabigyang hustisya ang mga naapi at maparusahan ang mga gahaman. Sa nakaraang People Power kasi ang nangyari ay magpalitan lamang ng mukha ang namumuno, pero wala talaga silang agenda na isulong ang social justice. Ang resulta, patuloy na paghahari ng mga kawatan at pagkawala ng bilib ng mga tao sa People Power.

Pero hindi isang pagkakamali ang People Power. Ang kailangan maunawaan ng mga tao, ang punto ng People Power ay hindi ang pagalis at pagluklok ng mga politiko sa poder pero ang pagkakamit ng social justice at ang pagpapangibabaw ng Rule of Law. Kung ang gloria ng demokrasya ay ang matahamik na pagsasalin ng kapangyarihan, ang glorya ng People Power ay ang pagtatatag ng Rule of Law at pagkakamit ng katarungang panglipunan. At ang taumbayan ang gagawa nyan, hindi mga politiko.

Nakakalungkot. 23 years after EDSA, nag-aantay pa tayo ng huling People Power.


English version (obvious ba?)
Twenty three years after EDSA

Sad. 23 years after EDSA I there is again a need for us to reprise People Power. We can liken this situation to a film shoot where the lead actors could not ever get the acting right and so have to reshoot over and over again.

But if in a film shoot, all that is needed is good acting, in People Power what the people, who are the main actors in this situation, need to do is to establish the Rule of Law, give justice to those who have been wronged and punish the wrong doers. In the past People Power, what people merely achieved then was to change leaders without necessarily achieving justice for the people. The result is the failure to quash kleptocracy and disillusion with People Power.

But People Power is not a mistake. What we need to understand however is that the aim of People Power is not mere regime change but the establishment of the Rule of Law and attainment of social justice.If as former President Cory Aquino said that the glory of democracy is the peaceful transfer of power, the glory of People Power is the triumph of the Rule of Law. And it is the people who have to strive for that, not politicians.

Sad. 23 years after EDSA, Filipinos are still waiting for the last People Power.