The SONA scenario
Looking at the SONA scenario where President Benigno Aquino III delivered his address to the nation, the average Filipino could not help but be thankful that such event is still happening in this country.
Thankful, because despite the ongoing social upheavals in the global scene (civil war in Syria, civil war in Libya, civil war in Ukraine, civil war in Nigeria, and in Egypt and Thailand, military rule, plus the escalating carnage in Gaza), democracy is still alive in this country. Sure, we have the raging DAP controversy and insurgency and separatist movements are still a concern. Sure, the poor are proliferating and corruption is still a pain in the neck.
But even with these the fundamentals of democratic governance and way of life still hold sway among us. That's why those militant groups with their screaming banners of discontent and their stinging attacks against the establishment are still there in the streets. They may have been bombarded with water and bruises must have been inflicted (on both sides) but the reality of Filipino brotherhood still dominates.
And in the arena of multi-media the present government and its leadership may have been pilloried without mercy, may have been demonized unceasingly but the right to free speech has been left untouched. Sure, there were media men who got salvaged presumably for their guts in airing bureaucratic wrongdoing. But these were never an institutional vendetta. There are publication houses and radio stations which are congenitally averse to the government's policies and actions. But these are left unmolested and in fact are enjoying the protection and even patronage of the very institution they are hitting. All these are indicators that the rule of law and the doctrine of people's supremacy are still strongly embedded in the Filipino mentality.
To be sure, the same SONA scenario also painted a negative picture of Philippine democracy. Looking at the senators and congressmen prim and proper in their barong tagalog and their ladies sporting gowns and tiernos only the very rich could afford, a foreigner would think Filipinos were affluent people.
But a more perceptive observer could not help but felt depressed at the thought that while such ostentatious display of wealth was going on millions of Filipinos (41 % per recent survey) were "food poor"-meaning that they were not getting sufficient three meals daily. This thought became all the more painful when one recalled that billions of pesos (150 billion, they say) went down the drain of DAP and PDAF anomalies.
And yet these very elegantly attired SONA actors and actresses were the very people upon whom the hapless Filipinos reposed their hopes on the future of this country. What's happening, they asked themselves, are we seeing a congress of the elite doing the ritual of syndicated oppression of the masa? Of those handsome and healthy lawmakers, how many have not dipped their hands into the cookie jar of the national coffer?
No wonder they clapped their hands every time the President made his point. They applauded him time and again even if they may have failed to get what he meant because, after all, were they not a part of the great syndicate of the elite?
Support me, the President asked his audience. Of course almost everyone in that august hall would support him because they all desired for the status quo and because as long as Congress exists it's happy days for all of them. After the SONA the senators and congressmen would all buckle down to work but don't expect them to bring relief to the poor. Right now with the DAP controversy still raging their priority is to save the President. He had scratched their backs, remember? So they have to scratch his back in return.
Support me, the President appealed. But to the hungry families in the diaspora of the very poor such call fell on deaf ears.
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