Poor People Power for the rich and powerful

I weep for Filipinos. I weep not only because we bathe in ignorance, but actually revel in it. We rejoice in our own closed-mindedness, rely on emotions for direction and believe in shoddily-constructed lies – oh, the lies – refusing to see the truth just because these lies got to us first.

I was there on the first night of People Power 2, and was ennervated by my participation in a show of might against malevolence. I knew I was on the side of truth because I had watched the coverage of the infamous impeachment trial and saw how we had been duped into believing the promises that were so shamelessly made by Mr. Estrada. The coverup actions of his minions only served to confirm his guilt.

Then we woke up on the glorious morning of January 20 to a new beginning. People Power 2 reaffirmed our self-determination and restored our self-respect – that we were indeed the masters of our fate. After a couple of years of foul administration, the fresh air of hope blew over us.

But yet again, we have seen the enemy – and the enemy is us. We make a mockery of the EDSA Shrine and coopt the Blessed Virgin’s shrine to use in our dementia. We clamber up the statue and deface its environs just because we feel like it. Fiesta season has come early, and it has come at the expense of the peace-loving.

Playing like the movie in Erap’s mind, the events of the past few days have made the ousted president a hero in the eyes of the poor and disenfranchised. Suddenly, the pot has boiled over, blurring the issues into your standard poor-versus-rich scenario.

Who cares about Erap’s blatant crimes and indiscretions when he pictures himself to be the savior of the indigents? Who cares about his plundering and shady deals when he and his cohorts demonize the upper (and middle) classes? Yes, blame it on the rich! They are the reason you are poor.

For some unknown reason, Erap the plunderer and womanizer has become the rallying point of people who can’t even fathom the sum their beloved savior has stolen from public coffers. This "us" and "them" polarization of the Filipino people is proof that Erap is really making more trouble than he’s worth. Will someone please explain to me why this "Poor People Power" seeks to return a filthy rich robber back to the highest office?

Perhaps we have internalized the actor-president’s movies too much, and now can’t distinguish between fact and celluloid fiction. Maybe the last-ditch stand of the embattled president who gave away titles to shore up public support worked big time.

My friend Caloy says that this outburst was an eventuality. Long have the poor despised the status quo and needed but an excuse to voice their collective rage.

But Poor People Power rage is misplaced and misguided. And now it is being fueled (and funded) by a great number of agitators, ranging from senators with a knack for hyperbole (hey, isn’t it about time you made good on your word and jumped from a plane, lady?) and faux journalists over at Net-25 and DZEC 1062 who do a great disservice to the Filipino people by their propagandist coverage. Legitimate media outfits are now being targeted by pro-Erap wrath. Hey, don’t blame us that your bida was caught with his hands in the cookie jar! And please, don’t even mention People Power 2 in the same sentence with this charade. The reason why there were more attendees on the first night of the congregation of pro-Erap groupies is that it’s election season, dummy. Every wannabe senator from the Puwersa ng Masa merely tapped on his leaders to hakot away. And if you think that People Power 2 was mob rule, what do you call this?

Ithink the reason why Erap is so popular among the poor is that he demonstrates how someone can triumph even while spitting at the norms dictated by "proper" society. Erap is the bad boy who did good, the dropout who became president, the womanizer who brazenly paraded his being so. And by God, he still wins pogi points despite these qualities.

In the final analysis though, the pro-Erap poor are still being played (and preyed upon) by the rich. How many of the indigents at EDSA live on Polk Street? The allowance and altanghap provisions are going to last them but a day, but what about tomorrow? What if these orange-clad rallyists do get what you wish for and, heaven forbid, Erap returns to office? Would they still be crying out his name at the shrine if the peso drops to 100 to a dollar? Would they still be wielding his posters proudly when Erap buys another mansion for yet another mistress while they starve in the streets?

These days, pissed as I am by the EDSA Shrine desecration, I try my best to pretend everything’s okay. I’d be damned if I’m going to let this pro-Erap shindig interfere with my Mega-malling (I’ll be wearing blue today, though, as per main man Cardinal Sin’s request). But if these heathens keep me from my malling, then I’d really be pissed.