What is to be done?

Colleagues over at the Black and White Movement and other allied groups have given this administration a countdown--only until June 6, 2009. Since presidential son Mikey Arroyo is so engrossed with giving his mother a few years more as our pesky and illegitimate leader, groups want to prove something, that is disprove what Deputy Spokesperson Lorelie (read: "LORE" and "LIE", all rolled into one name) Fajardo said that what's happening right now in Thailand will definitely not happen here.

As I wrote previously, a revolutionary situation will not break out here provided that the present state of affairs remain. If groups just continue doing what they are doing now, they'll be unable to create the proper and necessary conditions for a revolutionary situation. Yes, I agree that rallies should continue. Yet, the more urgent task at hand is increase propaganda campaign.

Based on current poll research and study, most Filipinos are so self-absorbed that it would take a great deal rousing their nationalistic spirit again. It would take a very serious social incident to make Filipinos join these rallies. A study which I am now doing says much about how patient Filipinos are.

To make Filipinos see the despicable side of things (which is presently our reality), we need a dramatis causa, something that would seriously affect and impair the people's ability to get their goal. Simply put, a food shortage is one. Most Filipinos are seriously on the lookout for means to get food everyday. A rise in the prices of food stuff, a simple emergency case justifying hoarding and probably a dearth of essential items in groceries would seriously impact on the lives of each and every individual Filipino, leading him to take a very serious re-examination of his present state of affairs, and act accordingly.

May is a great time for initiating a revolutionary situation. When people get their electricity bills at the end of April and notice that Meralco again jacked up their rates, that would fuel dissent. When oil companies again rise their pump prices, that would further up the ante. When OFW families fail to get their remittances on time and fail to feed their families, that would seriously impair the patience of Filipinos, leading to a mass revolt.

An aggressive mass campaign is in order. Use the Internet to provoke debate and lead Filipinos to the realization that change cannot wait. Use TMM (traditional mass media) channels to make people see, hear and feel the prevailing injustice and poverty not just of the body, mind but also of the soul. Propaganda can only do so much. It would just be used to highlight the state of affairs. What I'm pointing here is that a revolutionary situation still depends much on external socio-economic factors rather than artificial means.

Connect the dots, link the ongoing economic depravity and crisis with that of graft and corruption by making people realize that their current state of affairs is brought about by government corruption and you have your EDSA. This is not a fail-safe strategy, but a prophesy that needs some push to make a reality.