The last word on Rob Ford

      It is conceivable that Toronto's right-wing mayor Rob Ford could be out of a job by the end of this month. Facing a conflict of interest charge after a private citizen's complaint to the city's Integrity Commissioner, accusing him of using city resources to promote his own private football charity and then, participating in a procedural vote and debate on the same matter (a prima facie case of influence peddling)-Ford could receive an automatic removal from office plus a seven year ban from running for any elective public post, if found guilty. But as Torontonians have grown accustomed to when it comes to their buffoonish mayor, there is a whole lot more to the sordid tale of Rob Ford than meets the eye.

     A whole lot more.

     Just this week, a published report in the conservative daily The Globe and Mail found that the mayor had been using members of his own staff (by definition-city employees) to help him run his own two high school football teams-the Don Bosco Eagles and the Rexdale Raiders. Chief among these city staff is one Andrew Gillis, a former quarterback for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Gillis is listed as a "special assistant" to the mayor in official city records, although there seems to be no discernible responsibility to his position on the mayoral staff. In fact, he doesn't even show up for work at City Hall. But you can find him most of the time on the field in the west end campus of Saint Don Bosco, working as a 'volunteer' QB coach of the school's football team, the Eagles, which coincidentally is head coached by his own boss-the Mayor of Toronto.

    It is important to remember that Ford ran on a platform of responsible spending and taxpayers' rights. When confronted by reporters, mayoral brother Councilor Doug Ford (Etobicoke) admonished the media, calling them "petty" and "lazy" and "out to get the duly-elected mayor".  And yes, he said that indeed, part of the mayor's junior staff assist their boss with his football teams but they don't do it on city time. They are just volunteering "out of the goodness of their hearts". When the same pack of 'petty, lazy media people' pointed out to the councilor that those volunteer hours by city staff came at the expense of city-issued vehicles and mobile phones-in other words, TAXPAYER MONEY-the best that good old Dougie could come up with was to minimize the use of public resources; "they're just cars and cell phones", the not-so-smart Etobicoke councilor flippantly blurted out.----In other words, AN ESSENTIAL  ADMISSION OF GUILT.

    Not surprisingly, legal experts were quick to pounce on the ramifications of the Councilor Ford's statements. In fact, just hours after the Doug Ford interview was broadcast over the airwaves, another private citizen filed another complaint to the city commissioner. And the mayor's office sought to distance themselves from the very foolish comments of his brother.

    Worth noting, too is the fact that two weeks ago (on September 4), the mayor himself was under oath and proclaimed that any undue involvement of public resource in his charity and other related 'private affairs' has since been rectified. Ford's lawyer could only argue as a line of defence-ignorance on the mayor's part. But there are many levels of ignorance, as the city prosecutor stated; ' willful ignorance can have criminal consequences'.

    Yet, I agree with the mayor's stance that the legal system should not decide on his fate. Only the voting public should have the right to fire him. After all, the next election is just 26 months away. I would rather have the satisfaction of giving him the boot myself, what with his 12% approval rating.

  And yes, I agree with the mayor's brother. This latest 'Ford football scandal' does come off as rather "petty and unimportant" in the overall scheme of things. A great majority of Toronto citizens already know that the Ford brothers are a pair of hypocritical, incompetent boobs.

   So I say, let him stay. Let him be mayor for at least the next two more years. What's the worst that could happen? Besides, he's such a huge source of public entertainment for a city reeling in these economically dreary times; he and his brother are so unimaginably stupid that they're actually FUNNY.

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ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT FINDS ROB FORD GUILTY OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ORDERS HIS REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

     An Ontario Superior Court judge today (November 26) found Toronto Mayor Robert Bruce Ford guilty of improperly participating in a debate on why he should reimburse $3,1050.00 in donations he solicited for his private football foundation using city letterhead.

     Justice Charles Hackland dismissed Ford's claim that the mayor acted out of sheer ignorance of the law and instead found him guilty of 'willful blindness' and with a 'tremendous sense of self-entitlement and arrogance'.

     The court ordered the mayorship vacant and gave a 14-day reprimand for the purpose of administrative transition.

     Ford, in his usual combative self, has stated that he will appeal the court's decision and put the blame squarely on a 'left-wing conspiracy' that is out to get him at whatever cost. He also said he will fight 'tooth and nail' to keep the job he was elected to do 25 months ago.

    Speculation now begins on who replaces the ousted mayor. There's talk about former Ontario Conservative leader John Tory stepping in to fill the remainder of Ford's term that began in December 2010 and ending in the fall of 2014. It is unsure though, if the former mayoral hopeful and popular radio host is interested in the job. Then, there's Councilor Karen Stintz, Ford's former ally-turned-political adversary. Stintz, a moderate conservative and chairperson of the TTC, has displayed considerable leadership and consensus building skills while challenging the abrasive Ford on a number of issues, in particular-the public transit file.

   On the other side of the political divide, left-wing councilor Adam Vaughan has expressed interest in pursuing the mayorship, as has current NDP federal MP Olivia Chow but like Tory, it is unclear whether they are interested in mounting an electoral campaign for what is essentially a half-term.

   And of course, there's Rob Ford, if and when he faces no legal obstacle in running again for the job he was just removed from.

   One thing is for sure. This city's mild flirtation with right-wing politics may have come to an ignominious end. And the citizens of this highly liberal city cannot thank Rob Ford enough for that.

    Toronto's deputy mayor Doug Holyday now assumes the role of city mayor on an interim basis until City Council decides on how to replace Ford; whether through appointment or by-election.

Rob Ford Strikes Again (and hits himself in the ass)

     If there were any doubts that remain regarding the buffoonery of Toronto's right-wing mayor Robert Bruce Ford, all those were put to rest with the events of today (March 5).

     In a stunning move, Toronto City Council voted 29-15 to dissolve the nine-person TTC Board, the city's transit administrative agency and replace it with a new make-up of 7 councilors and 4 citizen members.
    
   The move was precipitated by two actions Ford and his right-wing posse undertook in the past couple of weeks; namely-

The firing two weeks ago of long-serving TTC  Chief General Manager Gary Webster, for nothing other than his vocal opposition to the mayor's incoherent Scarborough subway plan.

Ford's proposal to remake the transit board by excluding council members from the agency and replacing them with private citizens.

    The second action was a blatant (and inherently stupid) attempt to subvert city council. It was designed not only to usurp council's authority on the transit file but to pull the rug from under TTC chairperson, Coun. Karen Stintz - Mayor Ford's acknowledged political antagonist. Using politicking as the main excuse in overhauling the transit board, Ford stated that taking politicians out of the mix ensures the transit issue will not be tainted by political motives. Yet the mayor suggested that he alone should have the discretion in appointing members to this, his imagined Ford Transit Board. In other words, (or should I say in Rob Ford's right-wing world)-

politicking for politics' sake is wrong; politicking for Rob Ford's political interest is right.

    The trouble for the mayor is that he doesn't preside over a banana republic; he is chief-magistrate of the City of Toronto-North America's fourth largest city and by far it's most liberal and educated metropolis.

   The most telling of all is the result of the council vote itself. The 29 anti-Ford votes represent the two-thirds majority needed to override just about anything Ford and his allies throw at the wall. It simply means Ford has lost most if not all of his political capital. And to add insult to injury, the proposal that council voted for was the one forwarded by (insert drum roll here)----yes, you guessed it. Council Member for Eglinton-Lawrence Karen Stintz; Toronto's de-facto mayor (and quite likely mayor-in-waiting after everything is all said and done). Rob Ford, from this day forth will be reduced to playing the role of ribbon-cutter; The Mayor-in-name only. A pariah and head clown in the circus that bears his name.

   By no means he is completely useless, of course. Ford and his equally clownish brother and political sidekick, Etobicoke councilor Doug Ford started a radio show.  In his desire to use the airwaves to forward his agenda of a Ford World, Rob recently made his debut as a predictable right-wing talking head. In gleeful homage to Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck plus a little sprinkling of Canada's own right-wing blowhard, Don Cherry, Ford spewed one irrational thought after another. Afterall, irrationality is in his wheelhouse. Indisputably ensuring himself a place in Canada's national monument of embarrasment.

   Not to be outdone, his brother Doug acting as co-host (or more aptly co-pilot) starts the show off with his signature line "We're going for a ride". LOL. At which point, may I suggest to Toronto's mayor by accident this reply line----" To oblivion, Doug, and step on it".

Manifesto

     I do not believe in God

nor in Communism
and in Capitalism.
Not in Mysticism
Fanaticism
Fundamentalism
Terrorism
Totalitarianism
or any other ism.
Not in the dogma
of greed
of violence
of hate
of war
of fear.

     I believe in love

for love is peace
and peace is beauty
and beauty is you
and you are me.
We are us
we are all
we are we.

     I live for today

for today is here
and here is now
and now is real.
I am real
I am here
I am true.

     I am FREE.

August 21

     Sunday. August 21st, 1983. Manila, Philippines. Roughly six weeks before I was to turn 20. The last remaining days of my wild, uneven and highly unfocused life as a teenager. I woke up around midday, early by normal standards. For I was, in those days under a self-imposed exile from society, detoxifying after a few years of substance abuse. But at the start of the year in 1983, even I was getting a bit worried and a tad bored with how my young life had turned out. Feeling burnt out at the age of 19. Feeling old. Feeling like my life had stopped moving. The escape from reality that drink and drugs used to provide had suddenly turned into an even harsher version of reality for me. I felt trapped. Isolated. Lost. Lonely. So I had to stop, even for just a little while. And in order to so, I had to literally and physically lock myself in. Which I did. For the next eight months. To clear the decks. To clean up the mess that was me. To try and figure out what the hell am I supposed to do. And what kind of man to be.

     In a lot of ways, I was the individual manifestation of what my country was all about. Stilled in progress because of self-inflicted wounds. An apathetic young country rotting away at the core and needing a new sense of direction. The trouble being, it had no idea on which way to go.

     I would normally start with music. Any kind of music. Played stupefyingly loud. But on that given Sunday, I felt like a little bit of visual might go well with the first of many cups of instant coffee and cigarettes for the day. So I turned on the TV. And as the image from the screen of our ancient television set began to clear and focus, I saw two men surrounded by a press scrum. Two military men providing a briefing, then purposely answering questions. One was Prospero Olivas, commanding general of METROCOM-the metropolitan police body in charge of security for the capital. The other gentleman turned out to be Luther Custodio, commanding officer for airport security. AVSECOM. Such was the life under military rule. What should normally be under civilian police jurisdiction in a representative form of society was all in the hands of the military. Even the Police Service was heavily integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines. With the exception of the uniforms, you could not tell the difference. And it was clear for everybody to understand and see. The state was the police.

     As I listened intently on the press briefing of the two military officers, it became clear that something had gone wrong on that 21st of August. Something horribly wrong. Two men had died on the airport tarmac that day, shot dead just mere minutes before I awoke that Sunday. And one of the dead was Benigno Ninoy Aquino.

     I knew very little about Ninoy Aquino before that day. I can sort of remember reading a newspaper article about him leaving for the US a few years before. And on August 21st, 1983, he ended his own enforced exile in America and made his way back to his homeland. The little knowledge I had about him was padded by the military government narrative about the man. A former senator with aspirations to the presidency. Vehemently opposed to the sitting president of the republic, Ferdinand Marcos. A subversive. A terrorist with communist symphaties. An enemy of the state. A man not to be trusted.  But even in my uninformed and disinterested state of being at the time, I knew most of what was said about him, particularly by the government was not true. What I did know was true in those times was that very public criticism of the Marcos family or any of their cronies would result in dire consequences. I knew that I was not a free man living in my own country, which in itself wasn't free.


     It was impossible for me to know what life was like before fascism. Martial Law was proclaimed on September 21, 1972, nine days before my 9th birthday. I was simply too young to know the consequences then. As I got older, I eventually began to understand the real effects of iron hand rule. Far from it's stated goal in instilling national discipline as a path to national progress (as those countless TV propaganda commercials would have us believe), Marcos' New Society instead achieved the opposite outcome. The rich became even richer. The poor even beyond poor. And the growing Philippine middle class began to disappear, both figuratively and in some cases, literally. Power, both political and economic, was consolidated among the privileged few of the New Society elite on the backs of the powerless. I, as with a great many of my countrymen became a slave in an enslaved nation.


     That is why my initial reaction to the news of Ninoy's death was that of muted shock and resignation. For he represented the last symbol of redemption from the brute reality that was the Marcos regime. It seemed to me that I was destined to live in a reality that I would forever try to escape from. In whatever way. In whatever fashion.


     As I witnessed with my own eyes, the outpouring of national grief throughout the streets of Manila during Ninoy's funeral procession, ten days after his assassination was slowly percolating into indignation. Punctuated by the heavy monsoon rains that came early that year, as if to signify that the skies above were crying with the Filipino people, the sadness was turning into resentment. And in a little while, just minutes after the internment of the dead legislator's body, full blown anger. Defiance. In front of the UST. And in Mendiola. In total darkness. The Filipinos, my countrymen, disengaged for a long time had suddenly awoken from the stupor. Ninoy, Hindi Ka Nag-iisa. You are not alone. The battle had been joined.


     Less than three years later, I found myself on the streets of EDSA. In the very early morning hours of February 23rd, 1986. I was a part of a group of responders, heeding the call of Ninoy's younger brother, Agapito Butz Aquino on Radio Veritas. The call was for members of ATOM-the August Twenty One Movement, to come to Camp Aguinaldo and show their support for Marcos' breakaway lieutenants, Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos as they withdrew their allegiance to the fading dictator in protest of the massive fraud that occurred in the just concluded presidential election. There I was, not far from the gates that symbolized fear for many, finally finding a reason to be. To be part of something bigger than me. To be part of a whole. Armed only with hope. And clad in my armour; a yellow shirt-the colour of change. Hindi Ako Nag-iisa. I was not alone anymore.


     In that unusually warm early morning, the first hours of what turned out to be a historic revolution, I realized that LOVE was and will always be stronger than FEAR. Despite persistent rumours of an impending attack by the fascist forces of Marcos, I never felt fear. In fact, it never quite felt like a revolution to me. It was more like a never ending street party. A communal event for rich and poor, nuns and frat boys, believers and non-believers, famous and not so famous, filipino and fellow filipino. Nothing and no one mattered. Except for the will to be FREE. In less than 72 hours, it was all over. The Marcos nightmare was finished, at last. There would be a new order, headed by Ninoy's widow, Corazon Aquino. It was now time to dream a new dream. An impossible dream, perhaps. For better or for worse.


     As I heard word of the Marcos era finally coming to an official end, I looked up to the dark sky. The same sky that I had constantly gazed upon in many times during my life. As a boy, wondering what happens to clouds when it gets dark. As a troubled teenager, high on whatever substance I had induced and staring blankly into the stratosphere of nothingness. As a young revolutionary EDSA-style, waiting for the proverbial shit to fall,  to signify an all-out war for Philippine freedom. Only this time, I thought of August 21. And the supreme courage of one man. Love had indeed conquered fear.


     In early November, 1987, almost two years removed from the heady days of the EDSA Revolution, I was at the same place where Ninoy Aquino spent his last few remaining minutes alive.  The airport that by then had been renamed in his honour. I was there to catch a flight that would bring me to Canada, where I would start a new life. I no longer had the need to escape reality. All I needed to do was forge a new one.To dream a new impossible dream. For better or for worse.


     Looking around rather restlessly, excited for the future and at the same time, heartbroken for the past; I began to wonder just exactly where the right spot was when the events of August 21, 1983 took place. But then the call for boarding was announced. As I walked in to the passenger tube, I looked out the window. A bright sunny day and blue skies all around. The same bright sky that many described on that fateful day in August, more than 4 years earlier. As I approached the last of the tube windows, I blew a kiss goodbye towards the blue sky. My beloved Philippine sky. 


     Thank you Ninoy. Hindi Ka Nag-iisa.

Top 10 reasons why Sarah Palin would make a really,really super-duper great president

     With utmost apologies to David Letterman and the producers of CBS's "Late Show", here is my own sarcastic take on the ubiquitous former Alaska governor and Tea Party favourite's qualifications to be leader of the free world ; [done in Dave's iconic "Top 10 countdown list" fashion ].

Number 10. FOREIGN POLICY

     All Sarah has to do is look out of her window and she sees Russia's paramount leader Vladimir Putin when he rears his ugly head. It's because of this proximity that they became good buddies and she has taught Putin a trick or three of her own. Like shooting moose from a moving helicopter.

     Now, the autocratic Putin does the same thing to Russian activists and intellectuals. He shoots them from a moving helicopter.

Number 9. TERRORISM

     The very moment Palin assumes the U.S. presidency, al-Qaeda will immediately suspend terror operations against the United States because they would feel sorry for Americans.

Number 8. ECONOMY

     Sarah is a math genius on par with Albert Einstein. Sarah's mathematical formula for economic success reads-"tax cuts=revenue shortfall=higher deficit-spending=more borrowing from the Chinese government". Simplified, it is "more is less=less is more or translated in French-"WE ARE SO VERY FUCKED".

     (do not do this at home; you're not a math genius)

Number 7. HOTNESS

     Sarah Palin is one HOT BABY MOMMA ! And those eyeglasses make her look really smart n' cute. Especially when she winks at those dirty old white men registered republicans, who use the brains of their penises to vote.

     (do not do this at home;you're not a math genius)

Number 6. MEDIA

     Ms. Palin would be the first U.S. president with her own 'reality ' show. Produced by Donald Trump and titled- "Sarah Palin's White House", it will not only revolutionize American television viewing habits but change their own perception of the national leadership.

     Half of Americans would just turn off the TV forever and start exercising, the other half would move to Canada, and the remaining half would shoot themselves in the foot.

     So there we have three halves. (Sarah is my math tutor)

Number 5. Did I mention she's hot ?....well, it's worth mentioning again (besides, I'm running out of ideas)

Number 4 THE TODD PALIN FACTOR

     Todd Palin would make an excellent first lady. (besides, I'm running out of ideas)

Number 3. WOMEN'S ISSUES

     Sarah Palin would become the first American 'GURL' president. (Unless you consider Jimmy Carter a woman.)

     This would be historic for the United States (like JFK and catholicism or Obama and socialism). It would also be a monumental moment for American women despite the fact that Sarah Palin opposes equal-pay legislation based on gender and Roe v. Wade; the U.S. Supreme Court decision that grants a constitutional guarantee on an American woman's right, among others, to her own privacy.

Number 2. GOD

     Sarah Palin believes that America was founded on corporate tax cuts. And God. As Jesus had said (in one of his blogs) and I quote:

"BLESSED IS THE CORPORATE CEO; FOR HE SHALL HAVE MULTIPLE SWIMMING POOLS IN HIS SUMMER HOME IN THE HAMPTONS, WHICH HE WOULD ONLY INHABIT TWICE A YEAR". Amen.

And the number one reason why Sarah Palin would make a really, really super-duper great president-

Number 1. JOBS

     When President Sarah abolishes the Department of Education and cuts public education funding to around 0%, Americans would be too illiterate and stupid to complain when she rolls back the minimum wage to 5 cents on the hour.

     This though, would position American manufacturing companies to steal away those massive and lucrative 'sweat shop/child labour' operations in China and India; thus allowing companies to hire uneducated American children thereby, putting Americans back to work.

      And President Sarah Palin would take all the credit in bringing home AMERICAN JOBS; back where they belong.

      In America (dammit). And Sarah Palin could only happen here. ONLY IN AMERICA.

PEOPLE POWER : The EDSA Revolt 25 years after Part 3

     The May 10, 2010 Philippine general election proved to be an important milestone in what had historically been a scandalous and often violent time in the nation's story. The basic right to free suffrage, the supposed centerpiece of PEOPLE POWER had been an exercise in corruption and futility in every election after the revolution, just like what it was during the time of Marcos, with only a few exceptions. With the introduction of a computer-automated system of voting instead of the antiquated scheme of paper ballots that has always been susceptible to manipulation and violence, and under the watchful eye of a more vigilant and neutral media, the 2010 election produced a result that genuinely reflected the people's will.

     And the name that came out on top was a familiar one. The new president-elect of the republic was Benigno Noynoy  Aquino.  The son of Ninoy and Cory. The son of freedom.

     In an election campaign that was eerily similar to the 1986 crusade of his mother's, Senator Aquino asserted on themes so familiar in every Philippine election cycle. Corruption. Excess. Abuse of Power. Only this time he had the credibility of a name and the democratic and heroic tradition of his parents behind him. Right down to the campaign colour. Yellow-the colour of People Power.

     It also helped that Noynoy was running to replace Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the most hated and corrupt president since Marcos. On that point, the 2010 election had a rather predictable outcome, at least at the top of the electronic ballot.

     The results did not disappoint. The presidential race was the biggest landslide in history. In a field of nine candidates, Aquino garnered more than 46 % of the vote, some 18 points higher than second placer, the former president Joseph Estrada. Another positive outcome of computerized voting was that the results came in very quickly. In a matter of a week, the results were clear, despite the noise from sour-graping losers. And the general consensus was that the 2010 Philippine elections were peaceful and credible.

     Democracy had triumphed at last.

     But the truly sad thing for a lot of Filipinos is that almost 25 years after the historic revolt at EDSA, our political leaders are still talking about the same issues. Aquino talked about political, social and economic reform. About government openness and accountability. And most importantly, he spoke of justice for all.

    Those are the same issues that drove people to the streets during the last of the Marcos years. To face the truncheons, the water cannons and the live ammunition of the guns of his state police. The same issues that motivated citizens to support Corazon Aquino's quest to unseat Marcos in 1986, despite threats to their own safety. The same issues that galvanized a people to go to EDSA and risk their lives to kneel down in front of army tanks. The very issues that one man resolved to fight for when he left his family and the relative safety of a life in exile in Boston in August 1983, to face certain death at the hands of a dictator.

     And now, we are still talking about the same things. We haven't progressed. We haven't moved forward.

     It would be so easy for anyone to say that the spirit of EDSA is dead. It is not. Despite the lack of any real progress, there had been major gains since the EDSA revolt. Principal among them is the peaceful transition of power, as witnessed last on June 30, 2010. All post-Marcos presidents had given way peacefully and gracefully with one exemption. Estrada, the B-movie actor turned president was ousted by a bastardized version of People Power in 2001, on accusations of plunder. Laughable, since all administrations after Marcos had been guilty of plundering the National Treasury in more ways than one. Most likely, he was nudged out of power because of severe incompetence and his own disinterest in performing his functions as a chief executive of the land. (He thought being president was just like one of his truly awful movie roles).

    But for me to say that the true goal of EDSA has yet to be met would be accurate. 25 years after a revolution that championed plurality, political prisoners still languish in Philippine jails. Members of the media still face harrassment and intimidation, and in some cases violence and death from security forces whenever they offer unfavourable opinions about the political class. The institutional problems of inequality and injustice continue to exist, exacerbated by rampant government corruption and irresponsibility. And the plutocracy still reigns supreme in Philippine society.

    The new president promised to address these issues in his inaugural speech to the nation. He has yet to make any concrete steps in that direction.

     To be sure, the Aquinos have their share of detractors. As much as they are beloved by the country, there remains a significant segment that are critical to whatever they uphold or represent. From the right-wing Marcos diehards who still refuse to believe that the former despot was anything but a hated brute, to the left who see Aquino as an extension of oligarchic rule; and of course, there are the inggiteros and inggiteras, those who hate the Aquinos or anybody else, for that matter, just for envy's sake; a well-worn Filipino trait that serves as a reflection of one's low self-worth and self-esteem.

     But a few months into his term as president, the hopeful feeling of a second Aquino presidency has begun to fade. And in an ironic twist, the criticisms hurled against the new president show a remarkable similarity to the ones raised towards his mother's. Impotence. Ineffectiveness. Incompetence.

     Not that he hasn't deserved any of it. Though it's still quite early to judge his performance as chief executive with less than a year under his belt, there are troubling signs that Noynoy Aquino is destined to become just like all the presidents after EDSA. An irrelevant and unremarkable six year ruler. Unable to fulfill the true meaning of his role as President of the Philippines. To bridge the gap between rich and poor. To make the country move forward into progress. To be the leader that the country thirsts for.

     Despite tangible steps taken toward modernity, the Republic of the Philippines remain as an enigmatic entity. A poor and troubled third world country beset by grave problems that no one president can solve in a single six-year term. Although far from being considered a "failed state", the country faces a serious predicament that left unchecked, could put it perilously close to being one. The conditions that call for another revolution just like the 1986 EDSA revolt are still present. In fact, as the gravity of the problem gets deeper and the situation gets worse, a violent version of EDSA may be in store at some point in the future.

     Unless-We the People-do something about it. NOW.

     And it starts with us being a lot more aware of the choices we make as a people. From the people we elect in leadership positions to our own responsibilities as citizens of our homeland. To be cognizant of the importance in promoting the general interest instead of our own self-interest. No amount of flag-waving "fake patriotism" can match the trueness of that virtue. It is through us-that we can effect true change. After all, the president is merely a "spokesman" for our interests as a people. And the people we elect in various capacities are nothing but the "representatives " of our true will. As Alice Walker exclaimed in the title of her book-"We are the ones  that we have been waiting for".

     It  maybe that is what Ninoy Aquino meant to say in one of his final interviews-that "the Filipinos are worth dying for". Or what Cory Aquino meant amid the national grief and support following the assassination of her husband when she said ; "Ninoy did not die in vain".

     And maybe that is the true meaning of EDSA.

     On August 21, 1983, our country witnessed the consequential result when one man stood up to fight for what is right. For truth, justice and freedom. A dictator's facade of invincibility began to crack.

     At EDSA, in those four historic days that shook the world in February 1986, millions of Filipinos tore down that facade of lies, deception and murder. WE ARE THE ONES THAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.

PEOPLE POWER : The EDSA Revolt 25 years after Part 2

     February 26, 1986. The first full day of the post-Marcos era. I decided to go and find out for myself what it was like to live in a Marcos-free Philippines. To breathe in the air of freedom. Passing by a newspaper stand, something caught my eye almost immediately. It was the familiar masthead of The Manila Times-the newspaper of my childhood. The Times, a leading critic of the Marcos presidency and among the first casualties upon the proclamation of Martial Law on September 21, 1972, was back after a more than 13-year imposed absence. As if from out of nowhere, it reappeared to pick up from where it left off. The symbolism escaped me at the time, for I, as was the rest of the country was still in jubilant celebration for having deposed the hated dictator.  But there was no doubt about it. The old order was back. And it was back with a vengeance.

     It did not stop there. The voices that were being heard in those early, heady days after Marcos were predominantly the voices from the past. From the appointive ministers and administrators who took over from the leftover Marcos lieutenants. To the new regime's cadre of spokespeople. The old was new again. It was as if the whole nation just woke up from a very bad dream. The Marcos nightmare. But then again, it was just a dream. And now it's time to get up and move on with your day. At least, that's what we were being told. The revolution was all about continuing on the path were Martial Law so rudely interrupted it.

     Such as it was, the old order was responsible for creating the monster that was the Marcos regime. For it was the pre-martial law era of the old two-party system of Nacionalistas and Liberals that set forth the frustration and anger among the citizenry. With no clear differences that set them apart, the two old-line parties monopolized political power between the two of them. Both inclined to promote and protect the interests of two warring factions of the same class they both belonged to. The elite class. In fact, defections to and from both parties were as common as the flu. For neither party had any distinctive ideological principle that it supremely upheld. And none had any real answer to the social problems that were ailing the republic. Worst of all, both operated with impunity and equally guilty of corruption, excess and abuse of power.

     That is why the very real threat of a declaration of military rule in late 1972 was initially seen as a palatable alternative to the old way. And the reason Marcos got away with what was essentially a "presidential coup" so easily was that the people had decided the old order, as represented by the two main-line political parties were unworthy of being saved and deserved to be swept under the garbage heap of history. The Filipinos thought that Martial Law and the New Society as promised by Marcos, with it's enforced dictum of discipline and order was a way to move forward. Or at the very least, a step away from the stagnation of the old society. But as it turned out, fascist rule was a lot worst. An iron-fisted monster that kept growing bigger and bigger.
    

     The reality of course, was that the nation didn't just stop moving forward after September 21, 1972, it went backward. And the state of regression was so bad that it needed revolutionary ideas to correct the wrongs that had been done during 13 years of military rule. And that painful truth was being pointed out by the leading progressive voices of the time. Voices like labour leader Rolando Olalia and student-youth leader Lean Alejandro. But they were all but drowned out by the noise of the new regime's political hatchetmen who claimed the revolution for themselves. Noise that even I mistakenly assumed were the voices of freedom.

     To make matters worse, the political fissures that existed in the new governing coalition began to crack even wider. Then-Interior Minister Aquilino Pimentel, in a haphazard attempt to oust the Marcos warlords from local government offices began appointing people from his own party (the PDP-Laban), seemingly without consultation from the new administration's main coalition partner, the UNIDO, headed by the new vice-president Salvador Laurel. After all, the differences and divisions between the anti-Marcos forces were profoundly real. It was a union of conservatives, moderates and liberals. The left and the business sector. The church and the youth movement. In a matter of weeks after the dictatorship's demise, the new president, Cory Aquino looked like she was presiding over a pack of unruly old dogs intent on eating each other.

     But perhaps the most belligerent threat to the fragile ruling coalition was the presence of it's very latest member-the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The military, the greatest component of the Marcos-Martial Law years and the key contributing factor to his own downfall. And now, the military was at an even more influential position of power and it was willing to flex it substantial political muscle to serve it's own purpose or at the very least, get it's message across. And the message was clear. "We are in charged of our own affairs".

     The unfortunate thing in all of these was that Mrs. Aquino seemed like she was unwilling or unable to exert her authority on those who were trying to subvert hers. It seemed like she was just content on being the anti-Marcos president, despite overwhelming public support. A non-transformational president despite the considerable popularity she enjoyed and can use as moral authority to transform her country. A bean-counter president, content on counting in her days as head-of-state, then returning to private life when her term was over. With that, she left herself wide open to criticisms of lack of vision and leadership skill. Charges of Impotence. Ineffectiveness. Incompetence.

     (A grand total of seven coup attempts were mounted in the six year duration of the presidency of Corazon Aquino).

     Add to the fact that the corrosive effects of Marcos' corrupt regime has seeped through every facet of Philippine society and it's way of life. And the venom had all but poisoned the well. Which meant that the Aquino administration, despite it's best initial intentions were caught drinking from the same poisoned water and swimming in the same poisoned lake as the one it replaced. In the end,  the new regime was as guilty as the old one.

     Meanwhile, the true voices of freedom were being permanently silenced, as they were during the darkest days of Marcos rule. Less than ten months after the February Revolution, Olalia was found dead after being abducted by uniformed thugs. Evidence of torture were present when his body was found as with several gunshot wounds to the face and the back of the head. Alejandro was gunned down several months later  outside a Metro Manila courthouse after filing electoral complaints in the just concluded congressional election of 1987. Other progressives who dared to speak out about the ineffectiveness of the new regime were either harrassed, intimidated or dismissed as communists, terrorists or enemies of the state.

     On the first anniversary celebration of People Power, a good half of the original participants decided to take a pass on it. Over the years, the succeeding celebrations to mark "the people's victory over tyranny" had degenerated into partisan political rallies for whomever held the main seat of power in Philippine politics. And the country had become increasingly polarized with so many competing interests yet no one seemed to have any idea on how to move forward. A far cry from the unity and bravery that was on display for the whole world to see in those historic four days in February 1986. The four days in EDSA.