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August 26, 2013, Heroes Day. In Luneta, as well as, in
other parts of the country and of the world, people from all walks of life
gathered: students from different colleges and universities, employees, OFWs, families,
activists, tv personalities, professors, vendors, and all the ordinary people
converging to a common goal. On that day, we vented out a demand to abolish the
twisted pork barrel system and, ultimately, to change the nation.
It is
true that the protest wasn't that organized, as some people claimed—with
different programs scheduled by different organizations— it, nevertheless, met
its agenda: to show that we had enough! That we want change! Until this day,
September 15, 2013, a series of mass movement have been organized to let the
government know this demand (we are the “bosses” of the president anyway).
September 13, Friday. I
returned to Luneta for another rally noticeable was
the well executed program that sustained the attention of those who attended.
The program was initiated by various religious groups for a prayer. Too various speakers took the stage, sharing their sentiments, providing
us with different points of view, of different perspectives on how corruption
and the system robbed people of opportunities and abused their rights. Not to mention performances of artists: Darryl Shy, Didi Garcellano, Abra, Jesse Santiago and many more. The night was packed indeed.
But I
wonder how much can we sustain this. As I look at the composition of the
crowd last Friday, I asked myself how many would go to the next rally, and to
the next, until the transformation in our society is actualized. What would
sustain the flames which have belched forth during Heroes Day?
It is
no secret that the Philippines have been rocked by seismic scandals: the ZTE deal,
the Erap impeachment case, the fertilizer scam, the hello Garci recording, the
Corona impeachment (the main accusation being was corruption). I am pretty sure
that there is more I forgot to mention. But what have come about from these
investigations? Everyone goes missing or under hospital arrest. The guilty lives in suites while the many have barely a roof above their heads. Come on! We are
being made fool of.
We saw
time and again that these news are replaced the next day; from ZTE to Kris Aquino-Joey
Marquez love foibles (if I recall correctly), and so on, until our collective
memory of the issue is buried under rubble of information. My concern was such
fate might also befall the Napoles case. Now, the problem is: THERE IS NO
BIGGER CASE THAN THIS! If we sleep over this issue once more the nation might
be anesthetized, and get used to it. Like the asinine traffic schemes implemented: we get used to it!
And
so, when this issue gets buried again, when our consciousness tires, would we
ever awaken again? Because if we do not take action—if we just complain and not
act!—if we slumber past this issue, like having rattled the termites from a
tree, the schemes of corruption will take its grip even tighter, its roots will
bury even deeper, more complex. Then they’ll resume siphoning not only the
national coffers; they rob us not only of money but of opportunities to a better life, of a means to ever dream. The damage: bearing mark from
generations to generations. Yes! In our sleep, the nightmares that haunted us
as a nation will continue. The injustice that we have swallowed will forever
choke us.
Remember
the proverbial saying, “what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.” The
same could be said to corruption and the parasites in the government. May we be awake and continue to fan the flames that led us to Luneta!
