A few days ago, I wrote about how our presidentiables view the concept of "pagbabago" and how different our interpretation of this Filipino term with that of the Western paradigm.
For those who love things Western, "change" means "bartering something" or quite simply, the transposition of a thing over another.
The Tagalog concept of "pagbabago" means metastasis or literally, transposing the old with the new. There is no exchange involved. Filipinos view "pagbabago" as the process whereby systems or things are literally changed. Transformation is more akin to pagbabago than change.
Anyway, the reason why I wrote that seminal piece is simply introduce you to the very core of Bangon Pilipinas presidential bet Bro. Eddie Villanueva's political ideology.
Bro. Eddie is running for the top post based on the assumption that all political power emanates from the Office of the President. Villanueva believes that someone who wants change should use the enormous resources and influence of this Office to effect real, substantive change in society. And why does Bro. Eddie want to change things?
Because he is a Christian. Bro. Eddie Villanueva is a believer of Christ, who preached for the salvation of souls when he was still on earth.
I was fortunate to meet the guy when Blogwatch.ph invited me to a blogger event with Bro. Eddie last Saturday. I was horribly late, about thirty minutes, but when I arrived, my fellow bloggers were asking him with questions left and right that initially it was confusing. Later, however, discussions centered most on his platform, which, surprisingly, is inspiring, to say the least.
Most people believe that Bro. Eddie Villanueva should not run, under the false assumption that the "separation of the Church and State" applies to him. Like what people say about Pampanga governor Ed Panlilio when he decided to run, people also saw that in Villanueva. Seems like we have this mindset that if you're a priest or a pastor, your job is proselytization, not political work.
I agree with Bro. Eddie that if you see widespread corruption, poverty and hunger infecting the people, the Holy Spirit in you would definitely be stirred up. Villanueva has a soft spot for the poor and oppressed, and since he knows that he has the moral and pseudo-political influence as well, Villanueva wants to use this to help his fellow Filipinos.
Anyway, Bro. Villanueva sees "change" as something revolutionary. He sees it as equipping people with power when there is none. He sees change as a transformative process that involves equalization of opportunities. He sees a society as one having the domination of the masses of people instead of the rule and domination of a few.
(to be continued. I need to attend to my roast chickens...)
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