Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Change

Long before Sen. Obama anchored his campaign on this platform of CHANGE, many Filipino politicians have already rode on this theme to launch their election campaign. As far as I can remember, our longest serving president Ferdinand E. Marcos anchored his presidential bid on the promise of “This country will be great again.” Citing the mismanagement and mal-administration of then incumbent President Diosdado Macapagal, father of the present president GMA, he promised to be different and cure the ills of the government and turn the country to be the model of Asia that Filipinos can be truly proud of. When Marcos was elected president, our country was No. 2, second only to Japan economically. He promised to make the country No. 1 and promised anew to be in this position after his 2nd term expires four years later. When he was kicked out of office by People Power in 1986, after twenty years in power our country was still in second place… 2nd only to Bangladesh as the poorest country in the region. His apologist argued… so what if we’re still in 2nd place… there was a change, isn’t it? Hi Hi Hi…Right, you’re okay. You’re telling the truth. There was indeed a change. When widow Cory Aquino ran against Marcos in the 1986 snap elections, she promised to be different. There will be a change. “I will be like what Marcos is not.”, candidate Cory declared. And so it came to pass. She was installed as Marcos successor. During her term, media was restored. No censorship was imposed. Press Freedom was enjoyed freely. The 1973 Constitution was scrapped after declaring her government as Revolutionary hence came the birth of this 1987 Freedom Constitution. This was the change she promised and was delivered. Not much change happened when President Fidel V. Ramos took over. FVR continued President Cory’s program of government since he was a protégé of his predecessor. Candidate Erap promised to have his government pro-poor, something his predecessor has neglected. He also promised not to travel as much as FVR did when he was in office. More than this, he promised to dispense justice to all people equally. The poor, the rich will be given equal justice before the law. In his inaugural speech, he declared “No friends, No relatives, No companero will be given preferential treatment. Don’t dare to try me.” After two years and six months in office, there was a sudden change. A change in government leadership. He was kicked out of office by what every Filipino knew as People Power II. Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo found herself the new president. She promised “ To have food in every dining table.” Only two months ago, a family is considered lucky if there’s food in their household. Long queue lining up to buy cheap rice are common sight in the most depressed areas. Even the well offs join the miserables in lining up to buy our major staple. The significant change that happened in the past two months were the price of our prime commodity. Prices has doubled while workers salary remains. In this case, our take home pays were becoming mere “loose change”. Salary increase will be given but it’s just a drop in the bucket. President GMA’s allies want a change in the form of our government. They want to shift to parliamentary from republican form. They haven’t made any headway yet. This early, politicians with presidential ambitions are promising change from the present woes we are having. If only they can make good their promises, maybe our country will not be as worst as it is now. God bless us.

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