The following has circulated on Facebook, and is a worthwhile read, the challenge geared towards Professor Randy David by his esteemed colleague and fellow Akbayan member, Walden Bello. Randy David had previously said that he would challenge a Gloria Arroyo candidacy in the 2nd district of Pampanga if indeed she ran. Randy David decided not to run after all. Comment below as to your thoughts about this open letter and if you think it is a fair challenge.
Dear Randy:
It is with a great deal of disappointment that we learned of your decision to retreat from the defiant challenge you threw at President Arroyo when you said you would run against her if she ran for Congress from the second district of Pampanga.
You cited unspecified family reasons. I am sorry, but this simply does not cut it. You came out last June with no prodding from anybody. You electrified the nation and drew a lot of enthusiastic support from all sectors, from students to the religious to the academe to business. Our party was elated and put itself solidly behind you. People were tired of GMA’s corrupt politics, and your running snowballed into a moral crusade, into a movement against politics as usual.
There was no question that the odds were heavily against you. You knew that, and we knew that. The Arroyo people were going to throw everything into the fight, including the kitchen sink. You, on the other hand, were going to rely on the people, on us, on a citizens’ movement. The point was to show that people would no longer stand for the old politics of clientilism and money, that they deserved better, that they were ready for change. Sure, defeat was likely, but you convinced us that under the circumstances, a defeat would be a moral victory and would be a milestone in the transformation not only of Pampanga politics but of national politics. And there was, after all, the possibility of electoral victory since you yourself did say that there was a critical mass of thinking voters in your district.
You fired up a nation. Now, with your refusal to carry out your challenge, the more cynical will say that all you really wanted was to gain national attention, that publicity was really your goal and you had no intention of going through with your stated purpose. I and most of us in Akbayan reject this explanation for we know that you are an honorable man who does not manipulate people for personal ends. I think what probably caused you to withdraw was your realization of the rigors of a campaign, the fact that you would have to embrace politics fully and in all its complexity, that you would have to leave the ivory tower of academic life, that you would have to abandon the critical distance of a public intellectual and engage in the business of begging for votes.
But, Randy, you should have thought about all this in the first place. Plunging into politics is no picnic. It is rough, it involves you in uncertain calculations, in complex grey areas where one has sometimes little guide but one’s instinct in achieving the balance between principle and pragmatism. There are no ifs and buts–once you’ve made the commitment to be engaged, you grit your teeth and plunge into the fray, conscious of the possibility that you may, after so much sacrifice, may be left in the dust.
It is the height of irresponsibility to fire up the nation’s political imagination, put yourself at the head of an electoral movement against the most corrupt official in the land, then, suddenly realizing the demands of such a role, abandon us, using “family considerations” as an excuse. Public intellectuals like you carry a great deal of responsibility. Public intellectuals are not dilettantes, throwing off something once it ceases to hold their interest. Public intellectuals, unlike traditional politicians, are expected to follow through on their declared intention of serving the public. Whether you like it or not, you are the country’s leading public intellectual and your deciding to retreat from the challenge you threw will contribute to a collective loss of credibility on the part of politically engaged intellectuals.
It is natural for all of us to get cold feet. But the mettle of people lies in their overcoming their hesitations, gritting their teeth, and pushing on. We hope you will come to your senses, realize the weight of responsibility and leadership you carry, and file your certificate of candidacy. There are 24 hours remaining before the deadline.
Randy, you have no choice but to file.
Your Akbayan comrade,
Walden
Popularity: 1% [?]
Baka ayaw nyang i-massacre. You know naman friends sila. Birds of the same feather, ‘ika nga.
actually, a friend had suggested that The Maguindanao Massacre itself may have weighed heavily on this decision. I can’t verify that assertion, but surely Randy David most probably considered his family as a very big reason throughout the process in which he was still making his decision to run or not…
And I have to agree with a great deal of many individuals, that it would have been a great challenge on many aspects. Not to mention the fact that to win was very unlikely, but that alone is not a good reason enough for me. Win or not, it is the act of actually trying and defending your principles that is important.
Of course, it’s easy for us to say, acting on it is very much different, and I honestly cannot be too angry, I’m more frustrated than anything else.
Ang alam ko naging praning talaga si David ng inaresto sya noon. Kinaladkad at binuhat at inilagay sa pulis van. Pati kolum nya umiba talaga. Ngayon siguro nakita nya na ang realidad ay mas masagwa pa sa nangyari sa kanya. I guess he was able to put things in their proper perspective. The fight against evil will not be won by coño-middle class notions of “change.”
Just to clarify, I’m not a commie–on the contrary I want to promote church-led conservatism backed by an honorable police and military force willing to die for justice and their motherland. I’m a liberal at heart but it’s quite obvious to me that this country really needs a true conservative party, a party founded on morals–not the liberal-humanist morality but old, simple standards of honor and integrity.
BrianB,
An honorable position, for sure.
Joe
People, like most of us are taken for a ride from self serving people. People who are naive, are usually scammed by these people.In this good country of ours. We can find all kinds of self serving people. Money talks in our political system. It is the tool of
incumbent politicians to have them stay in power. This is the reason
we find government funds disappearing like matters in Black Holes in outer space. Corruption is a way of life. Political power corrupts.
Randy David may have been a FALL GUY of Gloria Arroyo. To make her
run unopposed in the Congressional District. You know in commercial
wrestling bouts. They hire a fellow called Fall Guy. The duty of
this fellow is to be beaten and to lose in the wrestling bout. The fellow falls willingly to the canvass. To show to the crowd, he is losing. The crowd pays for this kind of entertainment. Unfortuntely, this kind of entertainment is now in use in Philippine Politics.
Hah hah hah hah hah. Had GMA said retirement-for-2010, per-fess-ser David would have gotten the benefit of the hooplah to get himself into a congressman-salary-plus-perks. But perfess-ser pumaltos ang kalkulasyon. GMA called his bluff, ngayon atras na para daw i-protect niya ang kaniyang magandang reputasyon at para din hindi niya ikompromiso ang kaniyang kapatid na pari.
Daw! Aminin na ni Randy, hindi siya ang gusto ng mga Pampangueno second district.
I wouldn’t go so far as accusing David for doing all of this as a stunt. He had nothing to gain, and a whole lot to lose. There’s much pressure against anyone who runs against The Arroyo machinery. It’s easier to speculate on the sideline than it is to actually be in the thick of it all. The perspective can be even more dismal and wrought with frightening possibilities.
In any case, I honestly don’t think this is a laughing matter. GMA will not be running unopposed, but Randy David stood at least the best chance, as best as it could get for any public figure when confronted with the prospect of a candidate Arroyo on the other end.
Anyone who knows Randy David knows that his inclination was towards academe, towards writing, but not to be within the process that he often wrote about. Again, to progress from patriotism to political calculation is something that has be proved, because Randy David’s past actions do not merit a characterization of a man that was hungry for the “perks” of being a congressman, on the contrary, it was the opposite. And in the end, I believe that he weighed this preference against what lay ahead.
Although, I wish he had given the opposition more time so as to field a candidate against Mrs. Arroyo, I cannot begrudge him for his decision, however frustrated I am with the decision itself.
Mga Pilipino talaga, ang lulupit. Malupit kay Gloria, malupit sa mga gustong lumaban kay Gloria.
Pabayaan na ninyo si Randy. Between “FALL GUY… The duty of this fellow is to be beaten and to lose in the wrestling bout. The fellow falls willingly to the canvass”, congressman-salary-plus-perks and iresponsable, “….height of irresponsibility to fire up the nation’s political imagination, put yourself at the head of an electoral movement against the most corrupt official in the land, then, suddenly realizing the demands of such a role, abandon us”, baka mag-sabbatical na lang si Randy sa Queensland o sa Queens, New York.
At ito namang si Walden Bello, typical na Pilipino. Prisinta ng prisinta ng ibang tao na pambala sa kanyon.
True to form the media created activism of Randy David was truly all that. The man was simply a media talent. His wife a career government bureaucrat.
Look at Nicky Perlas. The Don Quixote in the bunch.
J_AG,
Perlas tilts at windmills, too?
Sancho Panza for President! He has never met a cliche he couldn’t recite, a bit of eternal wisdom cited always at the right time.
Joe
Perlas is trying to reach for the unreachable star…
It is indeed good to dream the impossible dream.
Corrupt Philippine political system,
Are the real Windmills that goes on and on…
Dare to attack them?
Seems to me Mr. David is both an idealist and a realist, and he faced reality and made a decision. Manny Villar scoffs at those with less than P2 billion as “non-starter” candidates, and he is right. That is not considering the overwhelming lock the Arroyo CLAN has on Pampanga. Look at Mr. Perlas who can’t get off his, ummmm dime . . . even though he has the most professional platform.
Mr. David can do more by continuing to write well. He would be wasting his family’s money and emotional energy.
Idealists can wish all they want, but unless they are willing to pony up P 2 billion, they are just fantasizing.
Joe
ang problema sa mga kalaban ni Gloria puro laway lang walang action. Kaya laging na nanalo sa Gloria eh. Gloria means business she is brave enough to face anybody. Eh yung mag kalaban. Wala puro dakdak lang
Bravery backed by bullets and lies is not bravery.
This ‘open letter’ is suggestive of unhealthy party dynamics within Akbayan where one element would ram into the throat of another what he perceives as the “norm”.
Politics is local. But intellectualism is a borderless affair. That goes true with Randy David and the political statement etched in history remains alive. Let us just get the message than kill the messenger.
it’s his word against himself.
sayang ang suporta na ibinigay sa kanya ng buong pilipinas (kahit pa nga ba sa pampanga lang ang laban nya).
Serving a country of embeciles? It is not worth it. Let the country and her people wallow in poverty and stupidity. It is not worth a drop of blood of Randy’s stature. To be a successful pol in the country you must be “cunning” “duplicitous”, a “thief and a criminal” and willing to risk your life and limbs. Randy does not fit the job description and I can understand his partiality towards an academic life discussing politics in the isolated and cloistered ivory tower of UP Diliman.
Why did he attempted to run, in the first place? Nobody asked
him to run.
It is like giving hope to a hopeless people. Then pull the
rug under their feet in the last hour. I am still not convinced.
my bad… imbeciles, not embecils..
tantanan ninyo na si randy, bugbog na eh…hindi naman siya affected sa mga bagay na ito…wag molang sabihing pangit ang motor niya