August 26 as Independence Day, not June 12

June 12 may be our official declaration of Independence and many academicians debated this and even fought for it in the halls of Congress, because before, we celebrate July 4 as our Independence date. Now, I am convinced that even June 12 is not the official date when we declared our independence. It is August 26 when the forces of the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio declared freedom and independence and eventually created a de facto government shortly after that.

June 12 is debatable because at that time, the succession was illegitimate. Emilio Aguinaldo's election as President was questionable. Indeed, that Tejeros Convention event where an election was called, was rigged and Bonifacio formally declared it as such and did not recognize it. Bonifacio had at that time, the authority and the power to declare such electoral exercise as illegitimate because he was the Supremo, elected in an earlier electoral exercise by members of the Katipunan. The Katipunan at that time, was acting as government in several liberated areas, not just in Cavite. The fact was, the base of the Republic was in the mountains of Caloocan. Caloocan was the hotbed of the revolutionary government, and this government was largely recognized by the people as their own legitimate government.

Those who recognize Aguinaldo as the legitimate president of the Republic were members of the Cavite branch of the Katipunan revolutionary government. When these elements seized and eventually executed Bonifacio, it was an act of defiance against the existing legitimate Katipunan government. Fact was, it was a criminal act, an act of treason. Aguinaldo and his cohorts deserve the death penalty.

Who, then, replaced Bonifacio shortly after his death? Documents point to General Emilio Jacinto, the confidente and loyal member of the Katipunan. Jacinto never recognized Aguinaldo's authority. The bulk of the Katipunan, led by Macario Sakay, a Tondo resident, also did not recognize Aguinaldo's power. Most Katipuneros saw the ruse, that explains why Aguinaldo's forces suffered numerous defeats shortly after he assumed power and killed Bonifacio because Aguinaldo did not get most of the support he expected from the Katipuneros.

Philippine Politics: Backward, Childish, Conotic

Backward. Childish. Cono-tic. Philippine politics is a highly dangerous factor that could dilute all the positive economic gains the Filipino People worked hard for.

This Enrile-Cayetano-Santiago-Honasan-Trillianes word war reflects how backward, how amateurish and how inately stupid our present "leaders" treat institutions of governance. To be fair, these kinds of exchanges had happened not just in the present Congress but more of the Congresses of the fifties and sixties. Many people blame the Executive back then for allegedly dragging the economy down during those times but if you would examine Philippine history closely, it was this group of oligarchs that constitute the House and the Senate that really made worse our condition back then.

Reading the papers during those times show more of the excessive behavior of oligarchs of old, with most of them overstepping the powers granted to them by the People and even were sources of corruption, of ineptitude and of oppression. Yes, certain laws have limited those powers once previously enjoyed and exercised to the hilt, but there is no noticeable change in the behavior and conduct of oligarchs now that merits the people's trust in their capabilities and pieces of sincerity to help change our present condition.

The "leaders" we so respect and even call Honorable and Your Excellencies are acutely similar with the oligarchs that pulled this Nation down to the morass of economic decay and social chaos back in the sixties.

The behaviors of Enrile and Cayetanos are comparable with those of the old oligarchs who overstep the bounds of decency just to prove a useless point.

Cayetano, by baring a conjecture and trying to prove as fact, the alleged special relationship of Enrile and his Chief-of-Staff, has proven himself unworthy of his post. Imagine, a Senator acting as a Boy Abunda, baring an alleged "extra-marital affair" just to show how powerful Gigi Reyes allegedly is in the Senate?

Same goes to Enrile who, in a fit of anger, waved an envelope full of "I-O-Us" just to stop a rampaging Cayetano from spilling the beans so to speak, on the alleged indiscretions of Enrile while serving as Senate President? Enrile claims to respect the deceased former Senator Cayetano, who died of sickness. Yet, his demeanor during his verbal tussle with Cayetano's son, has shown how immature still our Senate President is.

BY waving that envelope, Enrile tried to pull a fast one by doing what the old oligarchs have perfected as an art---the client-patron relationship. " You owe me something" is the most oft repeated line in every political transaction in this country, and to be fair, this exists in every "democracy" and in every "Republican" form of government. "Utang na loob" or utang sa bulsa" in Enrile and Cayetano's case, shows the worst side of transactional politics and how, eventually, it ruins relationships and institutions, such as the Senate.

This episode at the Senate should be stored in our collective memory as a prime example of how useless politics is, and how politicians are the ones really responsible for dragging this Republic down with their senseless use of our time and monies and how they populate the Public Sphere with their stupidity and backwardness.

We may have achieved economic stability. UNfortunately, our politics remain backward.

Kabayanis, we should act right now and eliminate this malady from our midst. We need a New Politics to preserve the economic gains the People have fought for and sacrificed their lives with.

Down with the present oligarchs! It is time to cut them off from the political sphere and replace with Nationalist Citizens whose missions are to change institutions and bring back the trust of the people in these institutions of governance.