An aspiration of the youth

I had the privilege of addressing a forum in the UP College Cebu. It was hosted by the Political Science Students Association of the school. Please allow me to thank the amiable Ms. Argelyn Adlawon, the group's dynamic president, for the opportunity to share with them a topic of great political repercussions. Holding the UP academe in highest esteem, I was very impressed to see how easy it was for Ms. Arge Won, (that is how she is called in the campus) to show humility while functioning as a well-respected leader among young men and women with awesome intellectual gifts. If her act were a song, it was difficult to reprise.

There were also delegations from other universities in attendance last Sunday. The presence of those youths increased the bar of idealism.Their profound participation, especially in the lively open forum, opened up my mind into a better understanding of the nuances of political dynasties. Oh, I thought I was there as a resource person! From their exchange of nationalistic ideas, I learned far more evil in the governance of the republic brought about by the continued stranglehold of high government positions by members of few families.

That the principle written in our constitution against political dynasties might not have seen legislative support is becoming crystal clear to the youth. Only their decency prevented them from uttering the word “greed” although the crescendo of their civilized diatribe more than made up the absence of such an otherwise accurate terminology. They know that the congresses spanning the terms of 1987 thru 2013, failed and continue to fail to give muscle to the constitutional principle for obvious reason. Lawmakers could not write a definitive statute against political dynasties because such posture only unveils and eventually hurts their vested interests.

How I wished a greater number of the common tao also attended the forum. They could have gauged how deeply offended the youths feel. The shameless perpetuation by few families in their control of power prevents the youth who come from less politically (and socially) privileged lineage from the chance of putting their visions into active motions. Some political scientists among us correctly put this situation in a philosophical context, thus: “political dynasties suppress the growth and promotion of republicanism”.

That Sunday forum may have verbalized, in more dramatic fashion, a creeping sentiment. But the wielders of power remain unperturbed. In fact, they, led by His Excellency, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, continue to flaunt their dynastic prominence. That was clear to me when, the president, in his campaign speech last Tuesday, wanted us to “give (him) more allies in the senate”. His Excellency did not care that the “allies” he asked for, like a Mr. Bam Aquino and an Atty. Koko Pimentel, are extensions of long reigning political dynasties.

The president could not hide behind the justification that he only followed the earlier example of the UNA which had, in its lineup, an Ejercito and an Enrile to prolong their political domination. Otherwise, he would only betray that his “matuwid na daan” is but a hollow sloganeering.

Indeed, there is an urgent need for our nation to heed the aspirations of the youths. After all, Dr. José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, in 1879, referred to them, in his poem A La Juventud Filipina, as the “bellaesperanza de la patria mia”. If the Sunday convocation was an expression of youths' collective revulsion against political dynasties, we shall not wait for another election than what we are presently facing. We have to adopt their sentiment as our own. Their clarion call is simple. There is no better opportunity in our political history to approximate the dream of our national hero and of our young citizens, than this coming electoral process.In that direction, we must unite our efforts to convert our votes this May 2013 election in favor of those who have chosen to stand independent of the privileged connections of dynastic powers.  To let this singular chance pass may mean an endorsement of our continued political enslavement.

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