What a Baby Pineda win means to Philippine democracy

PinoyObserver "What a Pineda win means to a Gloria Arroyo" is a very interesting take on what is happening in Pampangan politics. It deserves a read. 

Yet, let me add that more than a maneuver to actually dominate the political landscape, this Pineda win is a lethal dagger poised against Philippine democracy. It is sending a very wrong message to the people---that good men do not deserve even a second in politics. That politics is simply for those who kowtow and has traditionally dominated and governed the poor folks. 

This clearly is an exact opposite of what people want. I am organizing people on the ground and knows that most, if not all, feels that there should be new faces and new personalities in Philippine politics. There is an overwhelming desire for change among the people and when the very nexus of power tells people to shut up and forget about change, it is simply running against popular aspirations and when this happens, sociological theory always give us a very concrete picture of what would happen in the near future---an outburst of social aggression.

The Theory of Aggression is based on the observation that individuals resort to violence when a third party blocks or hinders them from attaining their aspirations. 

Of course, the State would always welcome popular aggression particularly at this crucial stage when it is now months away from being dislodged from power. Political violence is always resorted to by a weakening hegemon as a means to strengthen itself. Popular Aggression is always met by an equal application of State power, and by no means, this is what this government wants, and needs to extend itself in power. 

Yet, when a hegemon meets silence instead of violence as a reflex reaction to its clearly injurious and unjust actions, this weakens it. Silence, as I said, is not a show of acquiescence, nor of weakness, nor of complete apathy. It may mean that individuals are exercising more of their rational options before completely acting upon a dubious or debatable issue. When people are acting with Reason, not with passions or emotions, this should be viewed by the State as a more dangerous and clearly a more direct threat than any other. 

So there, a Pineda win just means that the Arroyo administration again committed a very grave sin against the Filipino People. That this is a mockery of democracy is simply an understatement.