Only in the Philippines

Early in the morning there are speculations that Gloria Arroyo plans to put the country under a state of emergency because of the brewing unrest influenced by the opposition forces and disguised by the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the people power revolution. Then there’s a buzz that some critical personalities in the armed forces will join the mass rallies which will then signal the start of coup d’etat. Then the President went on air to announce that the country is under the state of emergency. It was like Marcos immortalized. I thought it was the beginning of the end of democracy. Just as we thought the economy recovering from the previous blows, here we are once again making awful things that only drag the peso back to the nether regions of the market. We are like a nation of masochists. Sometimes I feel like we never really wanted peace and quiet in this country at all. It’s like we live to fight one another.

It is sweet to celebrate the people power revolution that redeemed us all from the corrupt martial law of Marcos, but I do not think that we need another people power revolution in this day and age. It just doesn’t feel right anymore because like the taxes we pay, its meaning has long been corrupted. People’s movement has been used and abused by entities that need power just as badly as they want to take power away from the current administration. And of course, there’s no denying that Arroyo overreacted because she desperately held on to power and clung to it with all her might, sending the message that she won’t step down from her throne. She knew she had it coming, hence, the pseudo-martial law came in handy to save her palace.

How ugly can our political scene get? I think we’ll find out sooner than later. This country is becoming a mess and we can start blaming one another now.