On The Edge

Do the cynics have it? I have this nagging sensation at the back of my head that this country is tumbling into a deeper crevice and there is no way to stop it from falling. Our lawmakers prefer to dabble in Constitutional Change, rather than debating rationally, “How do we turn around education?” To your right, the Catholic Church prefers to demonize, instead of constructively defending every life. As the Filipino government continues to fuel itself by selling debt and not through value, it creates a tenuous economy. Civil Society is handcuffed because it has lost its moral compass. And thus, a culture of usurping laws, gaming the system is prevalent so much so that it permeates every level of society. We debate the merits of election automation, at a time when, when we do not trust our Commission on Election to safeguard the ballot. The roll call of Villar, Estrada, de Castro, Roxas, and Escudero is uninspiring. Then there is the looming possibility that somehow, someway, Gloria will find a way to extend her grip on power. I honestly don’t know which is worst. This sword hanging overhead that mean, Filipinos will roll over and play dead or a Filipino society that doesn’t realize the danger it is getting itself into, because of our fears, because of our anger and because we’ve been betrayed once too many.

The darkness is not just at home. Seemingly, the world is a much darker place. At the very least, less innocent. It is as if the wound that was 9/11 continues to permeate. It has not healed. That pain resonates as the United States Department of Homeland Security continues fervently on its Laptop Search Policy. Governments continue to debate the merits of shutting off parts of the Internet but when does it draw the line between seeing its citizenry as dissidents and protecting them from actual threats?

Are the words of Benjamin Franklin so empty in this age?

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty, nor Safety

That said, the Jester-in-Exile says: “Know your Rights“.

A few weeks ago, Randy David wrote, “Change” and he said that an Oligarchy prevents true entrepreneurship:

Finally, the economy—while it is nominally open in the sense that no one who has the means and qualification is barred from acquiring any property or entering any occupation—remains fundamentally restricted because of the highly unequal distribution of opportunity. The tight control that a few families maintain over the nation’s wealth impedes entrepreneurial growth. The money in the hands of the many is so small it casts them in the role of consumers, never as investors

The World Bank agrees with him, somewhat.

Yes, there are no such things as venture capital in the Philippines and banks are utterly useless, you bootstrap or your don’t fly at all. What of Microcredit? @cvj sent this link: Does Microcredit really help the poor?

Let’s switch tracks. Congressman Biazon asked, “Are the Young People of Today Aware That They Are the Fair Hope of the Motherland? Maybe the question is best answered by this piece from the New York Times, “The Philippines Face Classroom Shortage“:

According to the World Bank, the Philippines spends $138 per student per year. By comparison, Thailand spends $853 per student, Singapore spends $1,800 and Japan spends $5,000.

The Philippine government spends 2.19 percent of its budget on education, according to official figures, well short of the 6 percent that educators say is optimal — despite a constitutional mandate to make education a priority.

And oh, also by letting the country breaking break International Law to make ends meet, does even poverty justify disregarding honor?

Philippine society has gotten so used to perverting laws and Civil Society being an active party to it that beyond all our troubles, we’ve lost our footing. This country has lost its moral compass. The Church too is a party. Whatever happened to its call for repentance? Cardinal Rosales wrote a pastoral letter towards a Morally Rebuilt Nation in 2008:

“Looking back at EDSA I, euphoric and heroic as it was, it appeared that the event became the Filipinos’ day of crossing to freedom; but that was only the first step that hardly anyone knew. The “desert” awaited the people who would be purified and converted, before they become fully liberated. But people preferred the convenient streets as the easier route to an imagined freedom, and feared the “desert experience” that awaited conversion and new beginnings,”

These are real and pressing problems.

Now that the yellow confetti are settling the question is asked, what has People Power done for us? It brought an election back for us, after it was stolen in 1986. When Filipinos used it to take out Estrada, we did the opposite: we stole an election. But that’s not People Power is it? Not entirely. So is it Cory Magic that would bring Noynoy Aquino to the palace? Are we to anoint him next as president?

Patricia Evangelista wrote:

I know very little of Noynoy, and even his greatest supporters have little to say of his achievements in his two years as senator of the republic. He seems to have little of his father’s eloquence, and less of his mother’s appealing charm. It is difficult to admit that this country is so desperate for leaders that this man may walk down the campaign path on the strength of no more than the accident of genetics – this boy born of heroes, pushed by fate and faith into a rain of yellow confetti, with little to commend him other than his hesitation.

That is pretty much who Noynoy is. Walang Alam (trans: He knows nothing). Will he be enough?

Hey, wasn’t Obama a first year senator who hardly did anything as United States Senator and people spoke of his lack of experience but he was catapulted to defeat Hilary Clinton and then McCain?

I disagree with Ms. Evangelista though:

And yet there is the possibility it will be enough, that the weight of giants at his back may propel him all the way to the Palace. The question depends not so much on whether he can achieve support, the question is what will happen if he does. The danger of a vote split four, five, six ways across opposition candidates is very real.

If Noynoy is really “The One”, he must unite his party. In the words of Manolo Quezon, Noynoy’s supporters must very much be part of Noynoy’s Party. They must be in for the long haul. In my humble opinion, they must not just be for 2010, but until and beyond an Aquino presidency. If Noynoy is Neo, then Estrada must fall back, and be king maker, rather than king and he pulls everybody in. Roxas must be Noynoy’s wingman, his operator, and his greater challenge is to be better than Doy; to be a true teammate. Legarda, without support from Estrada’s camp, her campaign will wither and die. The field will include Villar and his Nationalistas on one side. De Castro, if he chooses to run for Arroyo will signal the political battle of his life. Escudero would be the perfect VP for de Castro.

Noynoy Aquino isn’t even a proxy for his parents. By accepting the challenge, he is Atlas, he is Leto Atreides II, with the weight of a people’s entire hope and dream to carry. If he wins the Presidency, Noynoy Aquino must turn the yellow light into a symbol of willpower. He must succeed where his parents failed: he must unite the nation not just for an election, but for a presidency. Noynoy Aquino by succeeding would not only step out of his parents’ shadow but would bring this nation out of darkness.

That’s the danger isn’t it? To forget that all leaders are but human.

Manolo Quezon pointed out to me this link from PCIJ. That The Poor is a Thinking Vote:

Based on the results of 16 focus-group discussions in rural and urban poor communities throughout the country, the IPC study shatters stereotypes about the poor voter. It’s key findings include:
▪ The poor ranked education, experience, platform, and track record as among the most important criteria for choosing candidates.
▪ They do not necessarily have high regard for the wealthy and powerful. What they do have are idealistic notions of leadership, valuing qualities such as piety (makadiyos), helpfulness, sincerity, and responsibility.
▪ Celebrities are not necessarily preferred by poor voters. Many said they value educational qualifications, but they were also suspicious about those with superior education. They said experience and good intentions more than compensate for a lack of college education.
▪ The most import sources of influence in the choice of candidates among the poor are, in declining order: the media, the family, the church, and political parties. Surveys come in last on the list.

Most useful to win an election but how useful is it for governance?

The challenges of this country is great. Under any circumstance, the next election will be a difficult race. So much riding on it. An Arroyo ensuring her and hers’ personal safety through power will not make it any easier. Battling norms, is difficult enough under any circumstance too, but 2010 must not be about cursing the darkness! We are to light a candle. To borrow Churchill, If we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future.

We must realize that the old ways will not do. If Noynoy Aquino chooses to plant his flag, he must look beyond our concerns. He must fight for the future. Look outside! Look beyond our shores! Look on the Internet: the world is changing. It is changing faster than anyone living when Marcos was strong could ever imagine. Our world is moving faster than anyone in history could ever imagine.

How fast is fast will the future come? Let’s see, a few days ago The Economist recently published:

How soon before evolvable machines become cleverer than people? Little over a decade is the current consensus. One such machine has already been awarded a patent for something it quietly invented on its own.

The temptation to surrender control to machines that are smarter, more vigilant and less prone to boredom, irritation and emotional outbursts than people will be overwhelming. People will do so for reasons of comfort, convenience, safety and cost. So, what happens when a one-in-a-billion bug causes the software to crash, or the safety valves are not operated properly?

That is what happened at Three Mile Island in 1979. Though the nuclear power station was not an autonomous system, it was running automatically with its human controllers outside the loop. When things went horribly wrong, inexperienced operators tried desperately to take command, only to make one compounding mistake after another—turning a control system with good negative feedback into a positive, runaway disaster.

Machines all cylon-like and skynet-ish in a few years, is that fast enough for you?

And still, the battle for civil rights and human dignity is a constant war being fought across every strata. Hey, we have to right? In spite of Arroyo who bends law and dignity to suit her brand of government. These battles too, as I’ve mentioned earlier are being fought on Cyberspace.

I started this post asking, do the Cynics have it?

Tomorrow must be an appeal to pride, not our security. It must be a promise of more sacrifice, not more rhetoric.

To borrow more from Kennedy, “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier– the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats. The New Frontier is here whether we seek it or not. Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink from that New Frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions, and high rhetoric.”

Teddy Locsin in his eulogy for Cory Aquino said:

I certainly never noticed that I had left my anger behind. I don’t know how it happened. Except that Cory Aquino ennobled everyone who came near her. I have tried to say it publicly but never could finish. If you saw me as I felt myself to be, anyone would fall in love with me. I saw myself in that hospital room, a knight at the bedside of his dying sovereign, on the eve of a new Crusade, oblivious to the weight of the armor on his shoulders for the weight of the grief in his heart.

Will we know if we’ve left our anger behind? I wrote that when we do leave our anger behind, that is the Permanent Revolution of People Power. 2010 must be a time for imagination, perseverance and more importantly, courage. Is this a country on the edge, ready to fall or is the Philippines on the edge of a new frontier and that with reverence, with gratitude, without fear, without anger, we embrace tomorrow with?

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