Political maturity

Those who bemoan the paltry turnout at last Sunday’s Church-led rally miss the point. To me, what the event achieved to highlight is the growing political maturity of the populace, aided I’m sure by the fact that ‘tis the season of Christmas, one of the most important occasions to us Filipinos.

Even if only about 50,000 (by generous estimates) turned out at what the opposition had probably hoped would be the third successful staging of People Power, it does not necessarily mean that this inimitable mechanism we started back in 1986 has fizzled out.

There is no question about the widespread indignation over what Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has called the "midnight madness" of the House of Representatives over the con-ass. There is also no arguing the fact that the Filipino people collectively want progress for our nation. After last Sunday’s turnout, there is no doubt in my mind that Filipinos have come of age with regard to the exercise of their sovereign power to disrupt the nation’s political cycle.

That, to me, is the best political news of 2006. It seems that many people have now learned to channel their indignation, frustrations and angst into prayer. I am confident that in many households, people are praying for our nation’s stability and progress. In this season, it is usually done during Advent prayers in Catholic households. This has effectively turned us into more contemplative citizens these days, no longer gung-ho about the heady days of popular revolt. No longer putty in the hands of politicians. No longer careless about the fate of our nation.

And the numbers have consistently indicated that we have started our economic take-off. Despite the disappointing results for the third quarter, our economy continues on a growth path. According to Romulo Neri, director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the economy is on track to grow 5.5-6.1 percent this year, notwithstanding the series of typhoons that damaged crops and slow manufacturing output. After its latest assessment on economic indicators, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 5.7 percent this year and 5.8 percent in 2007. As we all know by now, GDP is the most important economic indicator, as it refers to the total amount of goods and services produced by the domestic economy.

By all indications, we will continue to have a strong peso in the year(s) to come. The strong peso is supported by inflows to the equity markets arising from foreign investors’ upbeat mood on local offerings, and as always, by the massive remittances from our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

OFW remittances continue to be our country’s strongest suite against upheavals. Last October, these surged to an all-time high of $1.19 billion, bringing the total remittances for the first 10 months past the $10-billion mark. With such strong inflows, I believe whatever production slowdown may have occurred due to the series of typhoons in the country or output slack due to external factors (such as the US economy and export demand), would be mitigated. Which is well and good, overall, for our economic stability.

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Not all is well on the political front, unfortunately. This early, the specter of political violence is rearing its ugly head. There has been a spate of assassination plots lately, with the Dec. 12 attempt on Pasig Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr. kicking off the most recent spate that was capped last weekend by the killing of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. In between, there were reports of a plot to kill Majority Floor Leader Prospero Nograles while attending a social occasion in his hometown. Eerily, it was Rep. Bersamin who was felled by hired guns, in circumstances similar to what the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had described about the Nograles plot.

Those who had suggested that Representative Jaworski could have staged the explosion that burned his Toyota Innova van last December 12, or that Representative Nograles merely invented the rumor about the assassination plot involving him, are simply wrong – and patently insensitive. The fate of Representative Bersamin, who will be buried after Christmas, is proof that the threat of political violence is real.

Being a resident of Pasig City myself, I deplore this reality. And I am shamed by the fact that Pasig is fast gaining notoriety as perhaps one of the backwaters of Metro Manila, where political maturity is concerned. You see, Rep. Jaworski is just the latest of many targets for "liquidation" in Pasig. Many deaths, highlighted by the murders of former Cong. Henry P. Lanot, Police Col. Marasigan and businessman Nardo Umali, remain unsolved. This has led some to believe that justice in Pasig is a mere fantasy. And who can blame them? If justice cannot be served for these prominent people, how much more for Juan dela Cruz?

Significantly, the assassination attempt on Rep. Jaworski is tied to the rampant drug trade in Pasig, which came to public view earlier this year when authorities raided the shabu den near the Pasig City Hall. Jaworski had initiated a congressional investigation on that discovery, and of Pasig Mayor Vicente Eusebio’s mysterious order to demolish the shabu shanties, thus destroying all pieces of evidence.

What’s bothersome about the police reaction to Jaworski’s brush with death, was that without any basis whatsoever, the head of the Pasig police immediately dismissed the explosion as a result of faulty wiring. Later, when the Eastern Police District finally acknowledged that traces of nitrate were found among the explosion debris, there were some elements who again emerged with suggestions that these were low-grade nitrate. Last Tuesday, reports indicated that what was used to bomb Jaworski’s van was a "remote control-activated improved explosive device" and that the bomb contained nitroglycerine – a highly-explosive substance often used in dynamite. Certainly, well advanced than the low-grade nitrate that some elements of the Pasig City police had suggested. And definitely, far off from the "initial impression" of Pasig City Police chief Senior Supt. Francisco Uyami that the explosion could have resulted from faulty wiring.

Now, we have an inkling as to why justice grinds excruciatingly slow in Pasig City!

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