From protests by assembly to protest by absentia

Despite the fact that for the first time the 17th anniversary of People’s Power was rightfully declared a holiday, there was no crowd to speak of during the program held last Tuesday. And if the anti-riot police had not blocked the Sanlakas group from marching to the EDSA Shrine, the occasion would have been a protest rally rather than a commemoration of People’s Power. This can only mean one thing. The EDSA Revolution has not lived up to the people’s expectations.

The galleon trade made the Philippines the second most progressive country in Asia, next to Japan. After two decades of Marcos’s dictatorial rule, the Philippines became the second poorest Asian country. Everyone expected that with the reeturn of democracy, the Philippines would gradually recover from that economic setback. But under four different administrations – Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria M. Macapagal – the country is still the poorest country in Asia, after Bangladesh !

The protest by absentia in last Tuesday’s 17th anniversary of People’s Power was definitely another show of People’s Power. The good thing about it is that like the First and Second EDSA Revolution, it was perfectly peaceful. But the message was clear. We see no cause for celebration! In short, the people are under the impression, or misimpression, that there have been many changes, but basically everything remains the same. Clearly what is needed is a dialogue between the people and the powers that be.

As far as the bad economic situation of the country today, the people must be made aware that it is worldwide. To make matters worse, we have another worldwide problem – international terrorism. The world has not been the same since September 11. And at the moment, the next probable bad news is if war breaks out in Iraq. the first immediate effect will be a drastic increase in oil prices.

We must hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. We cannot go wrong adopting that policy. We are hoping against hope that peace will prevail in Iraq. But the odds are against it. What we are trying to point out is that we have a lot of socio-economic roblems and that the current world situation may further aggravate them at any time. Needless to say, there is very little, if anything at all, that we individually or as a nation can do to change the world situation.

What we must do is to pinpoint our problems and have a definite program to alleviate and solved those problems. We must not be blame-oriented. We should be problem-oriented and we should all be part of the solution to solve the nation’s poblems. If we are not part of the solution, we automatically become part of the problem. It is not enough to have been a part of the EDSA I and II or, again for that matter, to have abstained from participating in the 17th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution as a sign of protest.

The real problem is that political parties today have no political platforms or programs to speak of that is why politicians can shift from one party to the other without changing their convictions. The people should demand a socio-economic program from both political parties and see to it that they are not just motherhood statements. The reason why the people were absent from EDSA last Tuesday was because they did not know why they should be there in the first place. We say, give the people a sound socio-economic program that they can support, a challenge that they can respond to. That is what could make EDSA I and II meaningful.