GUARDING AGAINST POLITICAL AMNESIA

by Wilhelmina S. Orozco

I remember February 7th, 1986 when a group I was with held a rally in and harangued the Marcos media people in front of Channel 4, now ABS-CBN network along Bohol Avenue. I spoke at that rally and said how the Marcoses stole the network from the Lopezes and the need to return it to them.

After that, I sought to produce a women's program in Channel 2, after Cory returned it to the Lopezes. But aside from one crack at directing "Ang Pagmumulat ni Ellen" which is about child abuse and incest, an episode of the Bantay Bata TV program,courtesy of Ms. Gina Lopez, which folded up immediately afterwards, and twice appearing in the show of Carl Balita's Go Negosyo, I have not had the luck to deal with the network, nor with directing a film for Star Cinema under Charo Santos-Concio.

Is it a case of amnesia on their part that they would not give me a chance to exercise my skills -- to work, and not be given a silver platter -- as a filmmaker, despite my political contributions? No, not amnesia but political savviness. I am not savvy enough to know with whom to connect more permanently and more significantly with them. Media, film especially. is a powerful tool, to raise the political consciousness of the public and probably the ABS-CBN honchos had viewed me as a competitive alternative to them, employment-wise.

Anyway, the above are relevant to what I really want to say here.

I maintain that it is not correct to say that what is happening in Egypt is miles apart from what had happened in our People Power Movement in the 80's. I am sure that the Egyptians who are rising up against a dictator have taken lessons from our and other countries' experiences who also underwent people power transitions to a democratic rule, like Germany, Ukraine, Russia and other Eastern European countries, and so are more determined now to attain their objective. They have learned a lot in terms of not only massing up physically at the Tahrir Square but also in terms of using peaceful means to achieve their ends.

Right now, their movement has expanded to places outside of Cairo, covering various sectors of their society -- textile workers, journalists, and other workers. This shows that the Egyptians are now systematic in their approach to socio-political changes knowing that the broad participation of the populace is highly important in insuring the success of the movement. Also, by having such participation, future moves to strengthen the success of political popular acts could readily tap these sectors in times of peace, and hopefully would not occur, of war.

City-based People Power
On the other hand, our People Power in '86 was largely city-based, Metro-Manila wide, and spontaneous, although there were also masses of people at cities in the Visayas and Mindanao. Actually, there were more individual rather than organizational participants as the people then were wary of organized groups, especially the radical ones who had (and maybe have) the tendency to lord it over in any kind of association.

Removing one dictatorship does not mean falling under a new one, after all. Our movement revolved around Cory, the bereaved widow, who was able to unite the contending opposing factions and rally the people to move as one to make the Marcoses leave the Malacanang Palace. Unfortunately, our people power movement was so fragile, the first in human history to have occurred so that the leaders of EDSA Dos were able to subvert its aims and install a kunu-democratic but actually, corrupt regime of 9 years.

Anyway, now our people power is still in effect. The success of electing PNoy in the 2010 national elections showed the people's will through the ballot. Our people stood and brave the heat just so they could exercise their right of suffrage and elect the leaders they want to rule over our fate for the next 6 years.

Now, our people power has acquired a legalistic color with Congressional hearings going into full swing, scrutinizing official acts of government officials, including the military and the police. Have these officials really understood what democracy means and practice its tenets -- in terms of a respectful treatment of the institutions, their use of funds - whether judicious or not, and their respect of the needs of their own constituents?

Our people are glued to what is happening, but I am sure, are still ready to take public action should the Congressional sessions revert to becoming moro-moro propaganda.

Contrary political approaches?
Are we far from the experiences of the Egyptians? Not really although we should view changes in this way: different cultures have different approaches to problems.

Our approach happens to be this way because we could be lacking in numbers and the will in terms of conducting another people power. Labour migration has crippled our workers' movement. Many professionals have left the country for better pay outside. And so, our people power movement could not take a vigorous push so much as we are experiencing a great number of populace who could be dependent on remittances from abroad and so would be doubtful or willy-nilly about taking to the streets in order to experience change. The young people who could serve as the core of a movement are stuck to their chairs playing computer games and experiencing love-dovey dates pulled as they are by sex and romance-inclined media.

The possibility of cutting off remittances could truly make even the politically aware and the courageous not to make a stand even to such a simple issue as removing the oil deregulation law. Luckily though we still have a vibrant media - print and radio, especially RMN, Super BB, DZMM, DWIZ, and DZRH, which give critical assessments- pros and cons- of what are happening on a daily basis. I can't say much about tv critics because the hosts in public affairs programs could run against network policies (the network could run in danger of being disenfranchised) should they become too radical with their views.

Anyway, many of those we have elected are showing us their mettle, their commitment to truly transforming our country and the lives of the majority of the Filipino people by targetting those who have illegally amassed wealth at the expense of their own constituents. Something is brewing also as political realignments are occuring to make everyone take a strong stand against erring officials especially those who transgress the law.

Investigations have focused on the military chiefs who have thrown our soldiers to warzones, who risk their lives, facing danger every second without any assurance of getting what is legally due them as their basic salaries, equipment and supplies. Colonel Querubin, or is he a general now, narrated how he and his troops had gone to East Timor to fight in the war with very meager paraphernalia compared to soldiers from other countries. Yet they performed meritoriously, he said. (I really think that's the height of insensitivity of the military higher-ups. I was able to catch the statements of some on radio and truly, I squirmed when some generals even gleefully joked about the charges exhibiting no pangs of guilt or sorrow about having been in power and yet not doing a thing about such corrupt practices at all during their time. This shows that corruption could truly desensitize individuals in power.)

As an aside, should more guilty people use suicide as an option, may I say that psychologists believe self-destruction is one way of making the people around, the living, feel guilty about what had happened to them instead of admitting their own vulnerabilities. Let us have a scientific view of events, involving everyone, especially the experts in giving a critical assessment of why guilty people react in a radical way. In our current times, let us get everyone's opinion, especially the psychiatrists' and psychologists' to make us also pay attention to mental and emotional health as important factors to consider when carrying out any public movement at all.

In conclusion, let us continue to observe the Congressional sessions while keeping a close watch on what is happening in Egypt. We need to watch the latter in order to act readily should destruction of her culture, among other things, happen just like what had occurred during the siege of Iraq. Worldwide reaction to such happenings could stop such irreverent acts, or any inhuman act that would destroy historical treasures that show us the evolution of human societies.

By the way, in our case, our cultural treasures were not really destroyed but the jewels and other articles of Imelda were pilfered, some of which are reverting now to her possession. Instead of displaying them forever at the Malacanang museum to remind us and show to foreign visitors why we undertook the movement in '86, how loathing the lifestyle was of the Marcoses at that time and why they including their cohorts deserved to be deposed, some officials seem to want to erase every article that would remind us of our People Power '86. That is an utterly disgusting act.

Hence, Folks, let us guard against national political amnesia, induced and not induced, in our midst. Eternal vigilance is the answer to dictatorships of any kind.