Why we can't move forward with Gloria at the helm

Democracy, that invention of the Greeks, remains an illusion in this great country of ours. The reason is more historic than anything. Our brains are not wired to accept the Western model of democracy. In fact, we Filipinos have a warped sense of democracy. We are confused of what it really means. It's really not our fault since, if you read our history, we were forced to accept this Western version of democracy as our own. Filipinos, prior to the colonization of these islands, had their own governance paradigms, except that a foreign bacteria with a cross in it killed that indigenous concept.

Take for example, our concept of "constitutionalism" and "democracy". Many of us equate these terms as synonymous to each other. For many, an action is democratic when it works within constitutional frameworks. Say, if we want to oust an illegitimate president, we should first file an impeachment. That's democracy.

How about ousting a president through the exercise of the people's rights? Say, a revolution? Or say, a coup d'etat? For us, that's not democratic since it does'nt operate within the constitution. But, are these actions not democratic at all?

How about that phrase " the AFP is the sole protector of the people"? That's in the Constitution, yes? If the AFP exercises its mandate in the Constitution and protects the people against a government that harms and injures them, and take, say, a militant action and forced a government into exile, this will be constitutional, yes? And it would be democratic, yes?

For many, that's not democratic. Why? Because that paradigm postulates on violence. Ah, so, for an action to be democratic, it must both be constitutional and non-violent.

What if the government itself creates and fosters an atmosphere of violence that interferes with our exercise of our inherent democratic rights, would it not be democratic if we oust that government through People power? That's not democratic, some would argue, because the only constitutional way to do that is thru elections or impeachment. Form a political party. Support partylist groups (as if they have a stronger and louder voice than the trapos). Move on. We can't do anything. It is not democratic to exercise our inherent rights to free ourselves from a tyrannical regime, since the sole way of doing that involves a little violence. And if an action is violent, that is not democratic.

How about an independence campaign or an anti-dictatorship campaign, would that be democratic? Surely, that is. Even if it involves violence? Yep, it is. One may do that because that's a movement against an anti-democratic or pseudo-democratic government. So, if I move against Gloria now, the same way I did against Marcos, would that be democratic, given that I see Gloria as the head of a pseudo-democratic regime, like Macoy. Nope, many, like ex-COMELEC chair Christian Monsod, would argue. You can't. Why? Because that's anti-democracy.

So, what do I do now? Wait for the heavens to fall to me and my family. Do nothing. Write in the blogosphere. Rant everywhere. Have sex. Chant if you may. Work. Have faith in partylist groups. Run in the elections. Pray. Go to sunken garden. Beautify your Facebook. Make friends in Friendster. Plurk thousands. Sulk. Wait. While my country burns and thieves go amuck, I'll wait for 2010. Move on. You can't do anything.

Lose hope on the new complaint? Many times no! It's a start of a New Morning

Former Comelec Chair Christian Monsod urges everyone not to give up trying to oust Gloria through "legal and constitutional means". This came after the prospect of a new impeachment complaint hangs in the balance. Malacanang has just announced that the new complaint will not see the light of day, since Gloria still has the numbers to neutralize any attempt. Monsod said that people should not lose hope on constitutional means.

Sir, this is the third one already and the more we procrastinate on ousting this usurper, the worse we become. Look, because of the failure of any constitutional attempts (and this is the third time), we see our government turning from bad to worse. Everytime we rely on constitutional means, and every time the minions of Gloria win, we see not the strengthening of democracy but the further slide towards ignominy and destruction. Every failure civil society and the People gets from this fruitless exercise of democracy, Gloria benefits. It emboldens the illegal occupant of Malacanang. Have'nt you notice that big-time operators close to the Palace do more damaging things, like entering into bigger and more illegal deals than before? Graft cases are churning into the billion peso mark. The more we fail in these constitutional exercises, the bolder these thieves become. Mas nananakawan tayo pagka laging constitutional ang banat natin sa mga magnanakaw na tulad ni Gloria (The more we are robbed whenever we use legal and constitutional means against thieves like Gloria).

Do we punish thieves with just a slap on the face or a tip on their shoulders? Do we just file cases against them and let the courts do their thing? Look, these thieves have billions in their bank accounts. They can pay off any unself-respecting one out there. Do we punish killers by just telling them you're wrong in killing those people and let the courts judge them? And do we let those who robbed us of our hard-earn monies by giving them the honorable way out?

IN the case of Gloria and her gang of evil misfits, it is time for us to teach them a lesson and mete a graver punishment than letting them get off the hook through impeachment.

It is time to finally put an end to this regime. We must not look anymore on 2010 if we can do the creation of a New government now. I don't agree on Monsod's statement that every time we resort to People Power revolts, our democracy weakens. Quite the contrary, the government we built under Cory Aquino was a strong one. From negative growth, that government managed to animate the economy and put it on a positive growth.

We can do the same thing now. We can create a new government out of this regime. We can oust and jail these thieves in government. We can dispense justice. We can still spark hope in the hearts of everyone if we just open our minds to the possibility that maybe, this time, God is truly sending us a definitive message and that is, God does'nt want Gloria to go down thru impeachment. Maybe God wants to teach Gloria and her kind a lesson. And that lesson could be that God's Justice is the People's Justice. Crime, graft and corruption and evil ways mete a more sterner and more severe punishment than impeachment. And that, my friends, could be imprisonment or perpetual exile.