STANDING ON SOLID GROUNDS

So what else is new on this planet? Ho-hum, our globe must be yawning about the changes occurring now from the east to the Middle East and then down to Africa, too.

Must we celebrate now because the road to democracy is being unblocked one by one by in countries, especially in those that have highly conservative religions that restrict women's rights?

Truly, democracy's last recipients are women. It is the people who must first experience total obliteration of autocratic rule before they would focus on the rights of children. They do not come together: people's rights and women's rights. Why so?

In our country, the Philippines, we had a woman, Cory who led the country in toppling the male dictatorship backed up by the military. Later on, she signed the Family Code giving women almost equal rights as men in family life. She also signed the declaration of March as Women's Month as March 8 which is International Women's Day is a significant occasion for us in observing our roles in the family, the community and the larger society.

As the People Power Movement is reverberating all around now, we ask, how come the People's Republic of China seems to be unshakeable in its Communist Party's tenacious hold on power when it is so near our country? How come there is so much restriction of freedoms there, especially that freedom to write?

When we held the Asian Women's Conference in Davao way back in 1985, the Singaporean women, most of whom were of Chinese origin, said that they traded off their freedoms to speak, demonstrate and write for the right to eat, and to lead a comfortable life. They came then with their nice clothes and high lifestyle reflected in the things they carried with them.

And so why is it so easy for the Chinese to disbelieve in a democratic life? I think that it is the family life which puts a great pressure on the people to conform to authorities, a Confucian legacy. Conservativism is ingrained from childhood to adulthood so that turning against State repression is almost akin to losing one's ties with the family, a kind of self-annihilation, which is a sad thought to carry, really.

I remember that in our People Power movement in the 80's, the majority of the leaders were in their 30's and 40's then who had experienced living under democratic rules and had traveled in many parts of the world especially US and Europe. Hence it was easy thinking of and acting on reverting back the country to that time when we could speak and exercise all of our human rights without chains, literally and figuratively.

Our movement required intense debates then on where our country should go -- communist or democratic as the radicals were bent on wresting the rule from Marcos, too, at that time. But in the end the democrats won, us, and that's why we are here now.

However, in the case of China and the Arab worlds, the youth are in the frontlines now to change their country's path, having been awakened by the broad freedoms that communication technologies are able to dish out and allow them to experience, no matter how vicarious. Maybe to them viewing other people's struggles on screen is no longer enough; they themselves must experience that freedom to act on their lot. And so this is what is happening to them.

Meanwhile, the United States, the so-called torch that lights up the democratic world is now being run by conservatives in the House and could be threatened with lack of budget for the Federal Government next month. She does not seem to pose now as a good model for what is democratic in the world.

Anyway, so long as they are still using that power of speech to debate on what is good for their country, I guess that would still be called an essential element of democratic rule -- the right to debate to death on what is good for the country.

But seriously speaking now, I think that the Middle Eastern rulers who have held their powers for decades over a timid population must now confront the reality that times have changed and they are now being made accountable for the slow growth of their populace, not just physically but more so, intellectually.

I do think that repressive regimes are curtailing the human mind to think and bring forth positive ideas that could turn our planet as the best place in the universe to exist in. They should be made to realize that the human body exists at the most a hundred years only and that controlling so much wealth and power is not conducive to leading a happy life on earth.

But do the rulers in those regimes still think of happiness? Having gone through 9 years of questionable presidency, I think that such rulers only think of power from day to day and no longer pause to ponder over the total lot of their life. They bask in the glory of having underlings who call them "Sir" or "Ma'am" and who bow to them no end, and that is all that matters to them -- that "glorious" feeling of being on top of the world.

But the human mind changes, even those of poor people. I recall one vendor giving me P200 peso bills as change for my P500. And I asked him, Sir, please change this to hundreds. Why, he asked. Because I don't want to be reminded of that past era in our life. He replied, "But she and her family will not last long on this earth, as all of us. All those who made millions out of the people's lives shall not live very long. Everyone's life shall terminate.Diyos na ang bahala sa kanila," he said in conclusion.

Yes, we can turn philosophical about events in our lives but still we need to act in our society where certain groups still are hankering for a return to undemocratic rule where they could enjoy the wealth and power they once had without question.

This is why our Congressional investigations of the hidden wealth of the military soldiers are just the first step in our concretizing what should be the real face of democracy.

Actually, we never had a complete digging into the workings of martial law. It was the American courts that held the investigations and are now ruling in favor of ML victims, not a court nor any court, not even the Philippine Commission on Good Government, lifted a finger to make the Filipino people watch, hear, or read about the way Marcos and his cohorts ruled the country for 14 years, undemocratically. Instead we have academic writings, books,feature stories, and write-ups. Not once did we see any member of Marcos' family or cabinet member face and explain to the investigators how they amassed such wealth.

Hence, what we are bequeathing the world is just the preparatory phase to toppling an undemocratic rule but running a democratic country is not our best record. We are just starting now, and hopefully, we would also learn from other countries how the people fare and rule after gaining power, finally. That exchange of political lessons in democracy would be the best exercise of what is called a united world.

Hence, this world, this planet stands a better chance of not self-destructing if we could insure the survival and the rights of everyone to live humanely. Why because we would not want to stand on grounds that could not hold us up permanently and solidly while we breathe and watch the beauty of Mother Nature around us.