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.

Pagbabago, according to Bro. Eddie Villanueva, part : Breaking the Syndicates of Government

Let me tell you a story of a great man.

When darkness was slowly enveloping this nation, a young man by the name of Eddie Villanueva stood up and preached the light of Socialism. " You have nothing to lose but your chains", Eddie shouted. People believed that young Bulakeno, because his words spoke of the misery of their situation, one of oppression, hunger and poverty. Socialism, for Bro. Eddie, was the answer. Revolution, says Bro. Eddie, is the key towards true liberation.

Bro. Eddie was still a student when he successfully managed to break the tight grip of a land syndicate in Bulacan. Eddie Villanueva fought them thru the strength of his Marxist reason and they all landed in jail.

Twice did the security agencies of this country imprisoned him and they tried to break his will. Yet, they did not succeed. It was only through the intercession of the Holy Spirit thru Christ that Eddie realized the futility of his struggle.

" It was Christ that arrested me", says Eddie before a group of Pinoy Bloggers last Saturday. " ...And I was not the same again."

Eddie realized that human liberation, for it to be complete, must involved the liberation of the soul. Liberation from wants is temporal. Freedom of the soul is everlasting.

From preaching Socialist revolution to break the chains of human bondage, to the revolution preached by Christ which centered on breaking the chains of spiritual bondage, that completes the man, Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

People listened to him and thru his Jesus is Lord Ministry, thousands, even millions of people were liberated from their bondages. Now, JIL is a worldwide ministry with over 47 chapters around the world.

Now, the Holy Spirit has stirred Bro. Eddie Villanueva's spirit once again. Through the proddings of his fellow believers composed of those in the Bangon Pilipinas Movement, Eddie Villanueva is running for president, for the second time.

And people say, that's a wrong decision. Why? Because many people thought that religion and the affairs of the state are two totally different and conflicting concepts.

But, as a Christian, you are taught to love your fellow human being, you are taught to help the widows in their affliction, the orphans in their solitary and the poor in their misery, how would you do just that?

As a Christian, God wants you to fight for freedom of your fellow man, of justice for those who have none and democracy for those oppressed. Jesus Christ did that in so many instances in the Bible. And as a Christian, one must emulate the workings of Christ when he was still on this earth.

No, says Bro. Eddie Villanueva. A Christian must do the will of God which is not only preach or convert people to the true path but also try to illuminate them of their situation and unite them to fight against those who oppress the land.

That's the reason why Bro. Eddie Villanueva is running for the presidency, because he believes that if he wins, he will be used by God as an instrument for change.

If Eddie wins the presidency, he will change things.

He will smash the syndicates that rule this land. He will use the enormous powers of the Office of the President to arrest and incarcerate those who steal the monies of the Filipino People.

He will implement a no-nonsense peace and order drive. He will make peace possible by bringing together all insurgent groups for a dialogue.

He will break the syndicate inside the Department of Education so that they will not eat up the budget given to the department. He will prioritize education.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva will re-launch the moral recovery program and see to it that the bureaucracy improves.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva will marshall all reform-minded Filipinos and unite them under the banner of True Filipino Pagbabago.

The question is---is the Filipino People really ready for such a change? With a republican mindset, Filipinos will find it hard to accept real change.

And Bro. Eddie Villanueva represents that true Filipino concept of change.

Pagbabago---Bro. Eddie Villanueva style, part 1

Dear friends and readers,

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...)

"Pagbabago" is not change: What do we mean when we cry "Pagbabago"

Yesterday's presidential forum saw two out of the four presidentiables asking the front runner in the surveys, Noynoy Aquino, his record as a change agent. Manny Villar, Nacionalista party bet, asked Aquino his managerial experience while former SBMA and now lead "transformer"Richard Gordon, dared Aquino to show his record as a legislator. Gordon said that Aquino did not even experience managing a city.

These four candidates all promise change. But, what is change and how do Pinoys perceive it?

"Pagbabago", that is what Filipinos aspire for. Pagbabago comes from the Tagalog root word "bago" or transliterated into "new". This is different from the English word "change" which, in its etymological meaning means " change (v.) early 13c., from O.Fr. changier, from L.L. cambiare, from L. cambire "to exchange, barter," of Celtic origin, from PIE base *kamb- "to bend, crook."

In Western perspective, when you "change things", you actually "barter something or exchange something". For example, you barter "old" with another thing, which, if possessed by you, becomes "new". The bartered thing is not necessarily "new"--only when exchanged it becomes "new".

This is substantially different from our Filipino concept of "pagbabago" which the root word is "new". Our concept of change is more of metastasis which is "removal or transference" of something by another thing. We don't exchange something to make it new---we remove the old things and transplant a new one.

"Change" is not "pagbabago" in the transliterated Filipino. Change is nearer in meaning to "palitan" or "barter". For example, you don't transliterate this sentence " Uy, bago ang kotse mo." into " Uy, your car has been changed?". The proper transliteration is " Uy, you have a NEW car."So, when we say "pagbabago", we mean removing or transfering a thing and making it new. There is no exchange involved; when we cry "pagbabago", we transplant the old with the new.




When we say, we want "pagbabago sa ating kalagayan", we mean a total transformation or metastasis from a poor condition to an improved condition. When we say "pagbabagong pang espiritwal o moral", we mean essentially a total transformation, not renewal of our inner moral or ethical system.

"Bago" as a Filipino concept means "something new or fresh" according to the Sofronio Calderon Diccionario Ingles-Espanol-Tagalog published in 1915.

Okey, so now we understand.

Noynoy Aquino promises to change things, so do Gilbert Teodoro, Richard Gordon and Manny Villar. The question really--do they mean "change" as in the Western perspective, meaning "barter the old with something new but similar with the old"? or "Pagbabago", as what we really mean as "metastasis"?

Let's analyze.

Aquino intends to give different posts to the Hyatt 10 and former officials of the Cory Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos and even the Estrada administration when he wins the presidency. In the above definition of "pagbabago", is this plan consistent with what Filipinos desire?

No. It is not. Aquino conforms more on the Western instead of what the Filipino masses want.

The Filipino masses want new faces in governance. They are sick and tired of the old ideas of the present and past government officials. They want nothing of the old being repackaged as "new".

How about Villar? Is Villar's concept of "pagbabago" similar with ours? Behind Villar's and the Nacionalista party, we find old faces in Philippine politics. There is even nothing new with what he prescribes. Villar's platform offers the solutions which we already know and our leaders also know  but because they lack the political will to do it, these solutions are always put in the backburner.

Aquino and Villar do not offer "pagbabago"--they offer an "exchange" or only "palitan"---from an administration dominated by one elite group to another.

Worst, the two remaining presidentiables, namely Teodoro and Gordon offer the worst form of "pagbabago". Despite Gordon's "transformative politics", read his platform---there's no "transformative ideas" there--only motherhood statements. And nothing even of the "promise" of "change" or "palitan".

Gordon wants to barter and what's worst, he will be bartering our very futures when he becomes president.

Teodoro offers new leadership only, the kind which we have been accustomed to since nine years ago. Nothing about pagbabago as we want or aspire for---more of "transactional" change.

Who, then, holds the right interpretation of "pagbabago" ? Is Erap Estrada, who did not attend the forum, offers us the "pagbabago" which we so desperately seek?

No. Estrada just wants to continue what he failed to finish. He offers nothing new, except perhaps, a new face?

Who, then, holds the right interpretation of "pagbabago"?