Charter Change will not lead to EDSA

After browsing through all those voluminous data from the National Statistics Office, the NSCB (National Statistical Coordination Board), and NEDA, I have arrived at a conclusion---there will be no mass uprising against charter change. Senator Kiko Pangilinan's threat against cha-cha, of a mass movement of people rushing towards EDSA to oppose the current cha-cha measure, is just a figment of his imagination, or at the very least, a desire, a longing short of a concrete basis in reality.

Pangilinan might be alluding to those who are members of the middle class or those whose economic interests might be affected or have felt threatened or have thoughts of being displaced by charter change. They are, expected to go to EDSA and rant, and chant, and holler and huff and puff until 6pm. Expecting their numbers to reach critical mass is something of a day dream. The masses will not rise up all because of cha-cha. No. They'll be no uprising in the streets; or even a whimper will be heard from the suffering and toiling masses due to cha-cha. Those who'll rush headlong at EDSA comprise a tiny fraction of the population, the Thinking and Educated class, which is just 4% of the entire adult population. This 4% is sparsely distributed, not living in one contiguous area and most, if not all, are expats and OFWs.

Why do I say this? Because based on current surveys, people are fed up of government. They hate politics, even talking about it. What concerns people is simply how to survive. Most Filipinos remain pessimistic. Most have withdrawn from societal concerns and simply want to "get things over with" and " work for food" instead of going to EDSA and pay homage to that icon of twisted democracy.

The people will not even fight for liberal democracy nor socialism. They will not show anger over some provisions in the Constitution giving land to foreigners. They don't care if Gloria continues on her despicable reign for as long as they manage to eat today and do so again tomorrow.

This is not apathy nor a lack of anger. What this shows is the lack of a connection between the cha-cha cause and what the zeitgeist is. There is a disconnection between what the Intellectuals want and what the people want. The people want nothing of cha-cha; that is obvious, what with a 67% disapproval rate. However, a mass action is surely not expected from this collective negation since this is definitely not the topmost concern in the minds of many.

What we are right now is a very dangerous situation for democracy. We are in a state of institutional bullying where the bully maintains complete control of his victim. The victim has accepted his lot, has recognized his helplessness to fight the oppression and has given up on his condition. That explains why no amount of exposes or scandals could ever bring back the spring in the legs of those amongst us in the masses who want change.

Yet, what should be done is simply expose the oppression and make people realize that nothing would ever be gained from not withdrawing oneself from a position of weakness. This institutional and State-sponsored condition of acceptance can only be erased by a naked display of a scandal that shows the main political actors directly involved in making life hard for the Filipino.

Malacanang knows this full well; that explains why they are moving right now. Armed with this knowledge, Malacanang can now do whatever it wills itself to do. They can exploit this situation to their advantage. They can rule for as long as they want and they can rob this country dry. No one will ever dare fight them. This is simply a fact of life right now. Charter change will not lead to another EDSA.