Non-virgins in love with whores

Will “EDSA 30” be a commemoration of People Power, or will it be used by “People in Power,” to condemn their enemies to extend their stay in power?

Apparently, the Misadministration that can’t move on (or “Hindi Maka Move-On) as far as their enemies are concerned, has decided to use EDSA 30 as a staging area to remind people about Martial Law in this election season where one Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos is aiming to return to Malacañang Palace as Vice President.

Politics and elections have never been my cup of tea but I do get annoyed when propagandists and event organizers casually challenge or question values and attitudes of Filipinos regarding Martial Law just to stir animosity or derail the plans of their political opponents.

One official involved in the EDSA 30 event actually came out with a statement asking or wondering out loud why many people especially the youth don’t seem to remember or care about Martial Law. Some people even make it look like it no longer matters to “us” and “that” is supposed to be a bad thing. Others opine that Filipinos act as if we never learned the lessons from Martial Law.

Well, whose fault is that and “which” of the many lessons are we suppose to learn?

People Power toppled Marcos and Martial Law and when the dust settled their enemies took over and went to work recovering their assets, recouping their losses and now have much more than they were ever worth before or after Martial Law! Then they became our “enemies.”

Every government or administration after Marcos has had their own set of corrupt characters, power brokers, oppressors and special areas of incompetence. Cory – Ramos – Erap – Gloria – and Noynoy all have their controversial cabinet members, controversial projects from power generation, infrastructure projects, mass transit as well as failed promises and arrogant moments. The only difference between the Marcos-era operators and those that followed is that the latter day demons learned how to do things wholesale and unseen via the DAP funds, LGU ghost projects like those linked to Janet Napoles, emergency contracts and purchases as well as doggie bags for their favorite lap dogs and pooches in Congress.

Yes, we learned and remember the dark and horrifying reality of Martial Law. But it is not Martial Law that ended 30 years ago, that torments us today or has a direct effect on our quality of life and our means of livelihood. We have moved on from Martial Law. What hounds and torments us is learning the painful truth that good but incompetent leaders can do as much harm to our country as tyrants or dictators.

We have learned that people who think of themselves highly and see themselves as the just and the good, can be as deaf and as blind to the truth as the most evil purveyors and architect of Martial Law. In hindsight, we now realize that the “good” and the “bad” are like two faces on the same coin joined together by the common currency of their lust for power or their insatiable pride.

And since we’re talking about forgetfulness and lessons, why limit our selves to Martial Law? Why not talk about the lessons Filipinos did not learn when the Spaniards sold us to the American Colonizers? It was in the movie “Heneral Luna” where moviegoers first heard the lines: “Para kayong mga birheng naniniwala sa pagibig ng puta!” in English: “You are like virgins believing a whore will love you.”

After hundreds of years being plundered and raped by the Spaniards and then by the Americans and then by the Japanese and then by our own bunch of generational political whores, I don’t think there are many “virgins” left as far as the political reality of the Philippines is concerned.

What lessons were “we,” the ordinary Filipinos suppose to learn and apply when every generation knew only too well that the handful of disgustingly rich and selfish families in the country control all the legal and criminal businesses in the Philippines, as well as the political outcome of every election way before Martial Law.

As far as lessons go, Filipinos have learned much. Ask the Filipinas who can’t land jobs other than being poorly paid servants at beck and call 24/7 for wages that are below the prescribed minimum wage. They all came to realize that politicians and promises would not improve their lot in life so they have gone off to foreign lands to be servants at twice the price.

Ask the Netizens who have become the cyber bullies of Epals, Coup-pals, Pal-ass cronies because politicians have trespassed into the world of media, and media entities have been bought up by corporations to protect them from politicians like. Against all odds, voters and citizens have campaigned against family dynasties and have succeeded to bring down a number of former untouchables in cities and provinces around the Philippines. Despite the resistance of legislators and the lip service of PNoy himself, Filipinos have continued demanding for the passing of the FOI or Freedom of Information bill.

Last but not the least many Filipinos have also learned that not all events that take place in EDSA during the month of February, is meant to honor the courage of faceless freedom loving Filipinos. They have learned that what used to be an almost sacred re-living of God’s divine intervention in 1986 and the faith and trust of people to risk their lives on EDSA has now become a mere political exercise that has waned and lost meaning in contrast to failed promises, corrupt governments and self righteous assertions of politicians and families in power.

By their own words and questions, those who would champion the fight against Martial Law and even against the Marcoses and their cronies, have in fact indicted themselves. If Filipinos have truly forgotten the lessons of Martial Law, then it would follow that People Power 30 years later has become an utter failure.

We have not forgotten Martial Law, we have simply moved on choosing to rely on God, our God-given abilities and not on politicians, certainly not their propagandists.