Elections as tried and tested failures for change

Barely a year ago, I wrote about the first EDSA revolt, an analytical entry about the actions of people who participated in the celebrations of EDSA Uno. Last year's celebration was tersely dramatic, as the defenders of Gloria, led by the former PNP chief Avelino Razon Jr. went into the streets in full regalia, along with his fellow mistahs and officers, as a show of dogged loyalty to the illegitimate Commander-in-Chief. What happened after that 24 February 2008 entry was a string of historic activities, foremost the ZTE revelations, the impeachment and the mammoth Ayala rallies. Afterwards, no significant events happened. Gloria survived yet again to live for another year.

Now, the very same festering problems are upon us, this time made more glaring with all these allegations of corruption, collusion, bribery and a monumental billion peso investment scam. What's different is the World Bank, a reputable international body, is now at centerstage with its damning report about high-level bribery and collusion. However, unlike last year's, no big group has come out in revolutionary fashion to show at least some semblance of resistance or indignation. Probably because most, if not all, have given up. Most attention centers on the upcoming 2010 elections, which, for all intents and purposes, is what most people hope to have to efface the devilish legacy of the Arroyo years.

Yet, there is that real reason why revolts are a dime a dozen in this corner of the world. It is not that people have acquiesce their rights nor have voluntarily silence their voices. It is the mistaken belief that change can only happen in democratic fashion, since most Filipinos subscribe to the democratic ideal. It is this misinterpretation of democracy that hinders most Filipinos to support initiatives for violent change. The mere mention of violence, according to most Filipinos, is what shuns most about this model for change.

Violence is not the way to do it, I hear Ambassador De Villa telling people in a forum. We need to do the old fashion way--elect those who we think would greatly contribute towards change and kick out those who don't.

Yet, the problem with the De Villa paradigm is this has been a tried and tested failure in our history. The more we cling our hopes to democratically elect those who we perceive as good, the more things remain the same. Our system is still personality-oriented. Despite these glaring cases which point to the system as the root cause of our maladies, most think that the best way to do this change is still thru the ballot.

No one disputes this, but in a dysfunctional system such as ours, where the rule of men dominates the law instead of the other way around, it is not the changing of the Guardians that we need. We first correct and transplant this rotten and decrepit system before we can even fathom the idea of staging democratic elections.

Men, as a general rule, subscribes to the prevailing order. If the prevailing order is not ordered but rather a system open to interpretations, problems are sure to start and fester. Our present disposition requires a socio-surgical operation. There is that need to create or "re-engineer" our system prior to the 2010 elections. Because if we allow this elections to happen when a unresponsive system persists, there is that big possibility that, post-2010 elections, we will still get the same disappointing results from our elected leaders and demoralization will still be there and possibly, worsen. To arrest our continued slide towards mediocracy and underdevelopment, we need to stand up and create a government that shall review our current processes and laws and prepare the nation come 2010. We will never achieve this under the present administration because those who we want changed will still use our resources to perpetuate themselves further in power.

I write this hoping to illuminate the minds of those who has resources to support a movement for change. However, ruminating, this entry is just a futile exercise of space and time. No one will ever dare challenge the present regime simply because most of the top leaders of this so-called and highly amorphous organism called "civil society" is peopled with the same petty bourgeoisie class we all hate. They have the same sentiments as those who occupy the highest echelons of Gloria's Gang of Misfits because they belong to the same despicable class. They think the same. They walk the same talk.

Time to re-assess the real forces for change and if competent to counter the prevailing order, strike the Bastille with all might and leave to God the result. If all these well-meaning fathers and mothers come together and form a lethal force, they could probably provide the biggest force in Philippine history ever formed just for change.