Vanguards of democracy

President “Tita Cory” Aquino has gone to a better place.

But her legacy lives on.

We in the media profession enjoy freedom from prior restraint because of her fight for democracy. We are able to criticize freely but responsibly because we no longer have fear in our hearts.

The country has truly become a democratic and republican state, thanks to Tita Cory.

She restored to us our freedom as a nation, our human rights, and our democratic institutions.

It is now up for us to make sure that her fight will never go to waste. That the light she has switched on will never be turned off again.

The EDSA people power that she led in 1986 ended the 20-year dictatorship of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos through non-violent means, something unprecedented in history. Our peaceful revolution inspired similar non-violent uprisings worldwide, including that which ended the communist rule in Eastern Europe.

For that brief moment in our nation’s history, the whole world watched in awe and admiration. We were proud as a people to be Filipinos. At that moment, we were united as a country against a common enemy. Our hero Ninoy Aquino sparked the flames. Tita Cory fanned the flames of revolution, and the whole nation fought with her.

But the fight isn’t over.

Unless we as a nation guard this sacred gift that was handed to us, our new found democracy may be gone before we know it.

At this point, let me point out what Justice Martin said, and what Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Nachura taught his law students, are the manifestations of republicanism. Probably, by knowing what they are, we can always have early warning signs if we are returning to a dictatorship.

Ours is a government of laws and not of men. We observe the rule of the majority and the separation of powers among the three co-equal branches of government. Public officials are always accountable to the people. The Bill of Rights aim to protect the people against abuses by government of the exercise of its inherent powers.

Among these manifestations, probably the most important is the accountability of public officials. A public office is a public trust. A public officer is invested with some sovereign power of government to be exercised by him always for the benefit of the public.

In choosing not only the next president of the Republic but even our barangay officials, let us choose someone who we can trust, not only with our money but also with the responsibility of ensuring that the public’s benefit, not his, always comes first.

From the readers

“Your column on House Rules re ‘professional stockholders group’ at Piltel, PLDT, ICTSI, GMA Network stockholders meetings reminded me of what publicly listed companies in Japan did when confronted with similar but more serious problems in the 1980s. What the companies did is to hold simultaneous stockholders meetings. The perennial hecklers (suspected to be from organized crime groups) we are forced to spread themselves among numerous companies. In so doing, the companies were able to isolate and contain them. The hecklers activities stopped as their identities were reported to the police,”     -  Manuel D. Cantos