Blog Archives

It began almost like a love affair between the country and its new President.  The nine and a half weeks of the Aquino Administration began with a landslide victory that many found difficult to dispute, and ended with a hostage crisis many find difficult to defend.  All we know right now of Daang Matuwid is the abstraction: the idealization of a long-term national project began by a President whom we thought can do no wrong.  In the first nine and a half weeks, almost everything wrong happened.

Not that Aquino is bad for the country; somehow, the President’s training wheels – led independently in all sorts of different directions at Daang Matuwid - aren’t doing him much of a favor.  There is no definitive stand: that the clarion call of unity and inner strength leads precisely nowhere so far.

There was no definitive stand on the issue of land reform, even if President Aquino may have been goaded into making one because of his blood-ties with Hacienda Luisita.  There was no definitive stand in the Manila hostage crisis, making it appear that the President has done too little, too late.

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“The problem with the Philippines,” an exasperated relative once said, “is that there’s just too much democracy.”

For me, the problem has never been about having “too much of a good thing.”  If we weigh democracy in terms of how many rights we have, then we are indeed a democratic society, as democratic as can be.  However, having the opportunities and capabilities necessary to exercise those rights is an entirely different thing.

A catalog of rights is of little value to individuals.  A person may have rights, but if he or she cannot exercise them in a free society, then those rights become accessories to living instead of being essentials.  All rights are defined by limitations and frames; while rights are absolute essentials, one can think of them as absolute limits as well.  For rights to be exercised by the individual, he or she needs the avenues and tools needed to exercise those rights to the absolute maximum.

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A year into Cory’s death, and 32 days into the Presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III, there’s still that big albatross on the roof gutters of Times Street: could Noynoy have become President if not for the memory of his mother?

The most vocal critics of Aquino have said it themselves on countless occasions on many blogs and articles: that the Noynoy victory isn’t one of democracy or ideals or even hope, but marketing and the Filipino penchant for nostalgia and drama.  It was the last hurrah, the final ace up in the sleeve of those who profess by “Cory Magic.”  For his most ardent supporters, May 10, 2010, was “destiny.”  For his most unforgiving detractors, Noynoy’s victory was the most concerted act of historical coattail-riding in recent memory.

Of course, even the dead wouldn’t rest in peace in the new industry of Aquino-bashing.  Cory wasn’t a hero, and you have endless stories from the gates of Hacienda Luisita – and a mounting national debt – to back that up.  It evokes different kinds of nostalgia: of Marcos “instilling discipline” upon the people, or looking back at Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s regime as the “glory days” of a nation that’s now facing up to the gaffes – and perhaps the glibness – of the new Administration.

A year into Cory’s death, and 32 days into the Presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III, there’s that yellow elephant in the room again.

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In “A House for Mr. Biswas” by V.S. Naipaul, the lead character, Mohun Biswas, sees a house as a sign of his triumphs, independence, and vindication from his bad fortunes.  I surmise that it’s not a mansion or a palace, but a house that he can call his own.

In a GMANews.TV report, the Coconut Palace – that edifice to anything and everything Imeldific, one of the many monuments to the ostentatiousness of Martial Rule – is being considered as the official residence for Vice President Jejomar Binay, who seems to be getting a little bit of cabin fever from his office.  Apparently, the office in the PNB Building isn’t dignified and respected enough for Binay to exercise his duties.  As such, the office that he represents should have an official office and residence fit for his position.

There’s no better manifestation of a “structure of power” than a house.  It’s more than just a place to live: it’s a status symbol.  We add floors, create wings, fill rooms with furniture and create fences and gates to affirm class and status.  It’s a matter of giving something prestige, of creating (literal) structures that affirm our lot in life.  That, in effect, is what Binay is trying to do: give some weight to his position.  In this case, a nicely-appointed residence.

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The schoolgirl uniform is just one of the things I’ll miss about Gloria.  Say what you will about President Aquino (P. Noy, or P-to-the-N-O-Y, whatever fits your fancy), but we won’t have a President who can fit into an Assumption College high school uniform.

I don’t even want to think of that in terms of Noynoy, and so should you.

My reputation online (which even the least envious people will find of no use to them) lumps me together with the “rabid anti-Gloria dogs.”  I’m not anti-Gloria: where you cried, I have wept for her.  Everything I ever said “against” her was tough love.  It breaks my heart to see her back in a private car to start her new lease on life as a Representative of Pampanga.  Yes, I loved Gloria more than you’ll ever know.

As we say goodbye to our nine-year relationship with the national ex-girlfriend, let me pay a fitting tribute to her: with the things I’ll miss the most about Gloria.

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Ito ang kahalagahan ng ating demokrasya.  Ito ang pundasyon ng ating pagkakaisa.  Nangampanya tayo para sa pagbabago.  Dahil dito taas-noo muli ang Pilipino.  Tayong lahat ay kabilang sa isang bansa kung saan maaari nang mangarap muli.

- Inaugural Address, President Benigno Aquino III

I woke up to the tune of a new President today.  Noynoy Aquino took to the stands and faced the nation and the world, and today marks the beginning of his Presidency.  Today marks the journey we take with him, with his guidance and leadership, to a new chapter in our history.  He stands before us as our leader, as our President, and most of all, at least for six years, our beacon of hope; for he himself took that mantle up for himself.  A man with a clear mandate, a man backed by the will of the people; a man who now stands as the President of the Philippines.

Like President Aquino, I hope.  I wouldn’t hold my head high to walk with pride, but to keep it low enough to see the road ahead, and where I am on this road.  Surrounded by the yellow glow of hope, the road ahead is rife with challenges and problems that hope alone cannot resolve, that dreams alone cannot make better, and legacies alone cannot address.  That hope, without action, is a dangerous thing.

As Noynoy Aquino takes up the mantle of the Presidency, so we should take up the mantle of citizenship.

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