The Duterte Revolution---is this the one we are all been waiting for?

Thirty years ago, we were given a chance to get our things in order after a very tumultuous fourteen years under a dictatorship. Instead of treading a revolutionary path, what Cory Aquino and her horde of counter-elites decided were to re-create the pre-Martial law conditions in the hopes of bringing back the fortunes lost by her friends and economic allies. And for 30 years, we, the Filipino People, hinged our hopes in neo-liberal democracy, a democracy which instantaneously favors the already wealthy and those already given more economic opportunities prior to martial rule.

This crucial decision to "bring back the old glory days" had a significant impact on us for the past 30 years. In three decades, we saw the total dismantling of our industrial base, the sale of vital industries to private control, the encouragement of foreign investments, the proliferation of vice-related industries, the inequalities of justice, and the erosion of morals. Let's not go to technicals. Let's just base on our judgment to the way Filipinos view their lives under this neo-liberal democracy---a brutish, hellish life. EDSA promised us a new lease of life. Instead, we witnessed how we regained our civil liberties in exchange for the trampling of our economic rights.

Thousands more decided to go and live outside of the Philippines. The rest of us kept our patience. We grind our teeth every single day, trying to hide our contempt at the way government has  shortchanged us and how sub-standard public services are in this country.

The elites of this country think that we, the masses of the Filipino People, are masochists. That we are illiterate, that we can be easily satisfied with the things they give, and that we have no high standards at all. What they did not anticipate was the entry of the Internet in our lives. Suddenly, our minds were changed with the scenes of prosperity we saw in our little TV screens and PCs. We saw how prosperous our neighbors are; while we are left paying off the excesses of our leaders.

Since 1992, we, the people, tried to find the solution. We relied on a former general only to get disappointed with the way his administration still managed to rob us of our monies while lulling us to a belief of peace and progress.

In 1998, we tried to express our views of government by electing an actor into office. Since governance is a joke anyway, maybe an actor can be a good choice for president. After nearly three years, we realized our mistake and elected in his stead, a professor who came from an illustrious seed. For nine years, we were patient. What we saw during those nine straight years was all gloom and it nearly doomed us to a belief that change was just a mere lip-service among the ruling elites.

In 2010, the very son of the man who sacrificed his life for the restoration of democracy came into power. He rode on the crest of the change movement. For the first three years, people's hopes were very high, because this presidency exhibited the will to tread the right and righteous path. And then came the last three, which reversed whatever gains this government got in its first three.

And now this.

A mayor of a southern town rose from his bed and roused the masses from their stupor. He said the right things and expressed the things which were already in our hearts and minds since 1986.

He was full of promise and sometimes, of himself. And when election day came, everyone expected him to win. His victory was described as a collective expression of the people's desire for change.

Now, he stands to either make history or fuck the Nation to its knees. Whatever happens, we need to ensure his victory. Not one man can make a change---he can only inspire people to change themselves.

This is a victory to all those decent Filipinos who want nothing more than get what they deserve--a better government.