Nakalimutan na ba talaga natin ang EDSA?

Ano ba talaga ang EDSA "people power revolution"? At bakit sinasabing tila yata nakalimutan na natin ang diwa ng EDSA? Totoo bang nakalimot na tayo o baka yung iba, lalo na yaong mga namumuno sa ating gobyerno?

Kung sasabihin nating laban sa diktadurya ang EDSA revolt, naganap at natapos ito nang mapatalsik ang Pangulong Marcos. Sa dalawamput siyam na ulit mula 1986, ginugunita natin ang makasaysayang araw na ito. Pinutol natin ang diktadurya at nanumbalik ang kalayaan. Ngunit, pansinin nating maigi ang pahayag na ito---ang panunumbalik ng kalayaan.

Anong kalayaan ang naibalik? Una, ang kalayaan ng pamamahayag. Limitado noong batas militar dahil sa naturalesa o natural na kalagayan noon--siyembre batas militar ang umiiral, natural na limitado ang pamamahayag batay lamang sa gusto o nais ng nakatataas o yaong nasasa kapangyarihan.

Pansinin---nanauli nga ang kalayaan sa pamamahayag ngunit ito ay pinalitan ng pagsisikil naman sa karapatan ng mga mamamahayag. Noon bang panahon ng batas militar, ilan ang naging biktima at binusalan ang bibig? Ikumpara ito mula sa 1986 hanggang sa kasalukuyang panahon na kung kailan hindi lamang bibig ang binubusalan kundi maski buhay ay kinukuha sa atin.

Ilang libong mamamahayag na ang nagbuwis ng buhay mapanatili ang kalayaang ito. Ano ngayon ang naging pagkakaiba noong batas militar at sa kasalukuyang panahon kung ating kikilalanin na patuloy pa rin ang pagpatay at pagsikil sa pamamahayag? May nagbago ba?

Isa sa kalayaang nanumbalik ay yaong tinatawag na kalayaang pang-ekonomiya na kung saan, malayang nakapagnenegosyo ang mga tao. Tama yan sa isang kapitalistang sistema na ang basehan ng yaman ay ang kalayaan ng kapital.

Nabuksan nga natin ang ekonomiya mula sa pagsikil ng iisang grupo tungo naman sa isang kalagayang kontrolado pa rin ng iilang pamilya. Mayroong positibo at negatibong epekto ang pananauli ng kalayaan sa pagnenegosyo.

Isang malaking negatibo ay ang pag-aaportion ng ekonomiya sa mga elitistang pamilya. Pansinin--noong panahon ni Marcos, mayroong matatatag na industriya ang Pilipinas. Ngayon, anong industriya ang nasasa pagmamay-ari ng mamamayan? wala. Lahat na halos ng industriya ay ibinigay sa mga dambuhalang kumpanya o mga elitistang pamilya. Tanong--ito ba ang sinasabi nating pagbabago--ang ilagay sa balag ng alanganin ang kinabukasan ng mga mamamayan kapalit ng dominasyon sa ekonomiya ng iilang naghaharing pamilyang elitista?

Binabalik-balikan natin ang EDSA people power revolution at sa dalawamput siyam na beses, pinapaalalala sa atin ang mapait na katotohanang walang naging pagbabago kundi ang pananauli ng mga sakit at suliraning naging dahilan nga bakit lumala ang sitwasyong panlipunan na naging sanhi ng deklarasyon ng batas militar.

Nakalimutan na ba natin ang EDSA?
Dinurog na ba ng panahon ang ating pag-asa?
Ginawa na bang manhid ang ating mga mata
Napagod na ba ang ating mga paa
sa katatakbo sa
lubak-lubak na kalsada.

Nakalimutan na ba natin ang EDSA?
Isang kabanata kung saan
pinatalsik ang isang pamilya
at ipinalit ay isa ring pamilya
ngunit katanggap tanggap sa elitista.

Nakalimutan na nga ba natin ang EDSA?
nang tayo'y nagkaisa, itinaas ang mga idolo't
ideolohiya at
ipinakita ang tibay ng madla
laban sa mga tangke't sundalong
may dalang baril at batuta

Walang kulay ang linyang kita sa Roxas boulevard
kinain na ng dilim ang mga dilaw

Only a Revolution Can Cleanse Philippine society of all corruption

Revolution, a genuine people's revolt is the only solution to the worsening problem of Philippine society in graft and corruption, a military source says. 


If, and when this happens, the source says, it would not be like the two bogus EDSA revolts which resulted nothing but misery and the continued deterioration of the country's system.


A source says a segment of the organisation is willing to move right this moment to correct the ills of Philippine society. " Our dreams of a better Philippines still lives on," says the source who is one of his class most illustrious leaders.


The source thinks that the two EDSA's failure to rectify the institutional errors necessitates a more serious action.  This action involves putting behind bars, those members of the elite who continue to do acts inimitical to the interests of the Masses. 


The source also thinks that the Aquino administration is no different from its predecessors. Many people believe that Aquino even tolerated graft and corruption.

Why some people are greedy

Greed. That's one of the things which we love to have, but hate it when other people have it. Greed may mean "money" or it may mean other things, like greed for power. But what motivates people to exceed what is expected of them and hurt other people as a consequence?

Marcus Aurelius in his "Meditations" says that greed is one of the things common to man and beasts. (quoted from the Third book, XVII)

"To be capable of fancies and imaginations, is common to man and beast. To be violently drawn and moved by the lusts and desires of the soul, is proper to wild beasts and monsters, such as Phalaris and Nero were."

So, if greed is one of the things which we inherited when we were still yet, but beasts in the wild, how then that not all of us show this in our daily actions? How then that only those who are rich and wealthy and occupying powerful posts show this despicable trait?

Machiavelli has one answer. In his book " The Prince" , he says that people expect Principalities to be "greedy" since they have control of all resources. Short of being hated by the people, Princes show greed because it is their very nature to be greedy.

Mark Twain says greed is actually a symbol of our inward wants and the reason why we always act like greedy men is simply to satiate our momentary lusts for things.

Over time though, as what my favorite philosopher said, Nietzche, taking possession of the things our souls love, loses value. The possession, by itself, diminishes possession. There will come a time when it is not good to have anything, says Blaise Pascal. We get bored, says Malcolm Muggeridge. And the tighter we hold on to these world possessions, the less we have, says Thomas Morton. And why is that? Because the things we hold dear, the very things which we so greedily aspired for will never be enough. Even if we own the world, there is still the universe which we simply and cannot possibly, own.

Greed just shows how stupid some people are because they failed to recognize that things, as possessions, are temporal objects subject to momentary wants and desires. The more we amass things for ourselves, the more stupid we become because more possessions mean more temporal things subject to our disposal. The more we have, the lesser we become because we set a higher standard to ourselves.

This, I think, also applies to those greedy for Power. Power is temporal and sometimes, illusory. Why do I say so? For example, the power of the President. Those so-called powers are stated in the laws. When the President does not act, she does not exercise power. When she's inside the toilet, is she exercising power? No. When she's asleep, is she exercising power? No. When she's walking, is she, exercising power? No.

Power is only power when given and when recognized by a group of people. If a group of people does not recognize such power and authority, then, the holder of the power loses it.  Legitimacy is what causes power. Without it, any semblance of power loses value.

The value therefore of Power is equivalent to the amount of trust given by those who does not have power. When those who does not have  power, gain power for themselves, the previous holders of power ceases to be valued and relevant.

Save Our Nation for National Transformation: Philippines 2020

Save our Nation (www.saveournation.tk) is a new initiative by New Patriots led by Don Flordeliza which aims to encourage Filipinos to contribute their share in nation-building.

Flordeliza, in his website, says that every Filipino should transform himself as an agent of change and provide his thoughts on rehabilitating our country. More than the physical rehabilitation brought by calamities, Don wrote that it is equally important for us to emphasize the rehabilitation of the Filipino geist or Spirit.

What is the meaning of all of these?

It means that while we do the rehabilitation work of our damaged infrastructure, we need to rehabilitate the damaged Filipino psyche. This, for me, is most important. Rehabilitating our institutions is the order of the Day.

Our nation is now severely damaged wrought not just by natural calamities, but by the failures of the present generation of leaders to provide us with the vision and the direction towards a New Philippines.

" It is a call of the leaders and individuals who will respond to the present needs of the Filipino people," says Don in a phone conversation.

I say:

This is a challenge to all those who idealizes a better Philippines. This is a challenge to those young and idealist officers in the field and those generals who still hold the fire of " We Belong" and " Our Dreams shall never die."

Provide us with the muscle. Provide us with your dreams. Provide us with your direction and the People will follow.

This coming elections is not the answer to the People's yearning for a Better Philippines. No. This, in fact, will contribute to the further weakening of our institutions and a faster degeneration of our Nation.

This elections is a security nightmare that would trigger more instability and more destruction.

The times call for leaders who shall re-imagine our Reality and put things in order. The call is NOW.

Collectively, save our Nation for National Transformation. 

I salute comrade Don Flordeliza for providing the online platform for this initiative. Let this be the start of something beautiful. Let a million flowers bloom because of this. Mabuhay! Onward with the People's Struggle!

NPR redesigned

Welcome to my new design! I hope you are not totally confused with the new site. I figured, it is time to give those who tried to wiggle a worm or a virus in my site some problems. I doubled my security in this site and it would be extremely hard for anybody to actually hack this site again.

One of the problems I've encountered is I am now being limited to just 2,000 labels.Oh, well, time to shift to wordpress.com.

Anyway, I hope you like my new design. After six months, I will be replacing this with another design. Hope you'll like it.

A New EDSA is upon us

You ask—bakit kami umalis ng bahay to march for the last time with Cory?Simple.

We want those who occupy Malacanang right now to shit in their pants in fear. We want to shake the very foundations of evil that lurk inside the palace and tell them that the Filipino People honors those worthy of it.

That we don't honor those heroes for a mere eight minutes. That we don't grieve just for ten days. And it's not enough anymore for us to stand and watch our country burn and pillaged by Mrs. Arroyo and her minions.

Because we know deep in our hearts that Cory deserves our support. We feel deep within that we are unworthy of her because when she asked for our support in 2006, we were never there. We were afraid.

This is the very last time to tell her, to impress upon her, that we are one with her in spirit and in struggle. That each and every one of us share her suffering, her passion and her conviction. That’s why, after this day, we will struggle hard to oust the very cause of our monumental malady, this lady who rules us with impunity and utter immorality.

The millions who has shown their love for her, shared the ideals of the Spirit of EDSA. I believe that, the next time we march again, our ranks would swell by the millions because the old warriors and the veterans of the streets now share the same passion as those who first saw, and felt, the sheer power of the Spirit of EDSA. The fusion of the old and the young, the synthesis of the aspirations of the rich and the poor, will again manifest itself right after we lay Cory to rest today.

Cory's life was God's gift to us--it was a learning experience, meant to teach us a lesson about citizenship.

Citizenship is not just a piece of paper nor something attached to one's passport. Neither is it something we jot in an application form.

Citizenship is being there when the Motherland needs your help. Being a citizen requires more than just paying your taxes or following the law.

It requires the courage to stand for the Truth. It necessitates the sacrifice of one's life for the sake of the many. It requires bravery; of telling and condemning a corrupt politician or a government official and cutting his head off (figuratively, of course) when proof of his transgression shows. And it means giving up one's own future to correct the wrongs.

The millions who went out of the streets today were not there to gawk at celebrities or pump hands with politicians. They were there to take part in the strongest message of condemnation against the prevailing order. They were there to show this administration that enough is enough and millions of us Filipinos are ready to act against the depravity and evil that this regime represents.

Enough of Joc-Joc Bolantes (who, unfortunately, is still free thanks to Richard Gordon!). Enough of NBN-ZTEs. Enough of Hello Garcis. Enough of deceptive elections.

Let's do the right thing. Act with dispatch and oust this regime from power before the elections. If we value elections, make it very credible. At this point, we are not sure if we can get a fair and clean elections, while Mrs. Arroyo and her evil minions sit in power.