Nicanor Perlas and the Dreams of an Ordinary Citizen

Thomas Paine, an American patriot once said that “an army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.” And what force do people with principles use to conquer the old world? It is the force of compassion and of Reason.



We, ordinary human beings, are always in constant search for the sublime. We often wonder why our reality is worse than others and we often aspire to take that grain out of someone’s hand.


Ah, principles! Such are those who often blind those who have perfect sight. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote how we abolish old ideas and transform them into new ones only to realize that by abolishing the true world, we have destroyed the apparent one. Principles are things which the pauper does not understand. For him, that constant struggle for the next morsel of food has deprived him of the luxury of creating abstracts out of nothing. For those deprived or forced into a life of poverty and wants, abstracts do not exist, and principles are just promises from a crazed mind.


It is this realization that I fear for the worst for such brave, honest and patriotic men like Nicanor Perlas. Perlas is running for the presidency. Perlas is running for the highest post of the land, armed only with Reason and of genuine compassion for the poor and the oppressed.


Hungry souls know no philosophy—it is only those whose bellies are filled who understand the causality of things. When someone as honest and as principled as Perlas preach to them about Right and Wrong, it always lead to one question—how will Right or wrong fill satiate my hunger?


Beyond the thickets, Perlas saw how misery has degraded the human condition.


An ordinary citizen whose father was victimized and falsely accused by a greedy dictator, Perlas was forced to swim into the dirty lake of politics for one reason–to disprove that dictator who saw himself as an ubermensch.


Perlas fought for truth and justice yet in all of his life, Perlas devoted most in reaching for the sublime. For thirty years, Perlas dedicated his life making our world a better place to live. Perlas lived like that Prophet of 3,000 years ago who was praised by others, not of his own country. The whole world knows his struggles, but only a few million Filipinos know of Perlas’ advocacy.


In a society where the first question to a politico is “how much?” or “how would you be able to help me?” Nicanor Perlas cannot offer anything more but his life.


How can he explain that the reason why less people die of tuberculosis is because of his environmental advocacy? How will Perlas explain to the people that the reason why they are able to breathe more easily now is the result of years of struggling against Big Business by lowering carbon emissions?


Perlas is not a billionaire like Manny Villar; yet he is richer than the real estate magnate because he knows the human condition. Perlas was born with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, yet his heart is more proletarian than Villar’s who claims to have been born among the poorest of the poor. Villar stopped being poor when he got his first billion. Perlas became one of the poor when he helped his first thousand.


Perlas sees the world like Noynoy Aquino does but unlike the scion of the country’s top political brand name, Perlas struggled hard to carve his own. Thousands believe in Perlas because he lived and breathe what he preached.


Millions share his vision because they see, and feel it. Perlas is someone crying out in the wilderness and asking people to come to him and share his vision for the Nation. Perlas wants to unite people and fight against poverty. Perlas wants to eradicate graft and corruption. Perlas will exercise strong political will to fight the forces that weaken the Motherland. And Perlas will see to it that those who have committed grave injustices against the People are put behind bars.


There is something terribly wrong when people like Nicanor Perlas who once lived peacefully in their rich hamlets are suddenly seen in the streets, preaching the Gospel of Salvation from poverty and wants. When people who hate politics are suddenly going around town, preaching of “New Politics”, that’s surely a sign that things have turned for the worst.


It just means that the exploitation, the degradation, the immorality, the amorality, the misery of the human condition, has seeped into the comfort zones of those who are not of the hungred kind.


And I laud Blogwatch.ph and the Vibal Foundation for allowing me to partake of Nicanor Perlas’ vision even for an hour. Meeting him just makes me realize that the end is definitely not near, because there are still a few good men left who will sacrifice everything, just so that others may live better lives.