"Like master, like slave.
Like government, like people."
by Edwin D. Bael
Yes, friends and fellow Filipinos, Dr. Rizal wrote the above lines as part of his El Filibusterismo novel (El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p. 283). It is now 2009. 118 years have passed. We are now a new generation of Filipinos spread through the homeland and across the world. Yet these words still ring true. In substance, the relations of our government and people have not really changed much, despite the external changes from colonial government to the trappings of democracy.
But the 2010 elections offer us hope. Because now enabling technology is on the side of the people.
Remember in the early days of computer use when the mainframe was called master and the user point equipment were called slaves? That is history. Now, the terminology is client-server. The user (with desktop, laptop, cellphone, etc) is client; the mainframe (& such providers as google, business sites, etc) are the servers.
The client now dictates what the server delivers.
What a great model for democracy!
Those who cajole us with such never-really-meant salutations like: "Haring Bayan ... ang inyong abang lingkod", will now have to bear the full brunt of the literal meaning of those words [sovereign people ... your lowly servant].
Through web-based communications (using all the tools at our disposal) we can tell the politicos what we want, where the country should go, what they should be and how they should behave.
This exercise of power, though, requires certain things.
One, we have to be serious about exercising the most important position in a democracy: that of citizen. As citizens, the buck stops with us, not with any one in Malacanang or the Senate or the Congress or the bureaucracy.
The final say on the nature and future of our country is ours.
This means we use our minds and hearts. What is it that we value most? Let's tell them.
How effective are their "marketing and campaign baits" like money, pa-cute, cute, etc? We can tell them "wa epek 'yan"; we want to know what they stand for and what they will really work for! Because when a "for" meets a "need" there is completion of a circle and we move forward.
We can tell them we do not like those whose campaign is based on "against", because that will only bring about what we are against. Instead of anti-poverty or anti-corruption, why not for enabling self-sustaining capabilities and for good governance? Remember Job in the Bible: "what I feared most has happened to me. . ." (He was focused on preventing or avoiding disasters to his life and riches). Remember the Law of Attraction: What you focus on comes about, whether negative or positive.
Another thing: we need to beware of those who as of now are specializing in the use of the internet to hijack people's ideas/interests and make it appear that their agendas or ideologies are portrayed as those of the people. We must ensure ours is really that of a free market of ideas and that the majority governs while respecting the rights of the minority.
Very important: We must enundate our AFP with messages that "Hello, Garci" should never happen again! Because it only came to pass when "officers and gentlemen" of our armed forces allowed themselves to be used by the powers that be, when in fact its role is to serve as "the protector of the people and the State" and its goal is "to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory" (Sec. 3, Art. II, 1987 Const). 'Protecting the people' must include guaranteeing the free expression of the people's will in an election [not serve to distort or defeat it by dagdag-bawas or other scheme] considering that "sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them" (Sec. 1, Art. II, 1987 Const.). The principle of sovereignty residing in the people (Sec. 1) trumps the principle that civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military (Sec. 3) as civilian authority also emanates from the people. The AFP, therefore, is mandated to protect our vote and to ensure its expression without fetters. And we should tell them in no uncertain terms that we expect them to do just that.
And of course, this brings to mind the duty of registering as voter and of casting our votes. Not only should we tell politicos by text or email of our preferences, but we should, more importantly, use the one power that allow them to be our true "servers" and "abang lingkods" - our vote.
Politics and government are necessary. Let's just make sure the game is played for our best interests and for the greatest good of our greatest numbers. We have the means to do it.
Then, perhaps Dr. Rizal can smile in his repose, as in spirit he floats across Philippine air, space and valleys, and recalls his words in "The Indolence of the Filipinos", La Solidaridad, 15 Sept 1890, p. 202: "People and government are correlated and complementary. A stupid government is an anomaly among a righteous people, just as a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws."
But the 2010 elections offer us hope. Because now enabling technology is on the side of the people.
Remember in the early days of computer use when the mainframe was called master and the user point equipment were called slaves? That is history. Now, the terminology is client-server. The user (with desktop, laptop, cellphone, etc) is client; the mainframe (& such providers as google, business sites, etc) are the servers.
The client now dictates what the server delivers.
What a great model for democracy!
Those who cajole us with such never-really-meant salutations like: "Haring Bayan ... ang inyong abang lingkod", will now have to bear the full brunt of the literal meaning of those words [sovereign people ... your lowly servant].
Through web-based communications (using all the tools at our disposal) we can tell the politicos what we want, where the country should go, what they should be and how they should behave.
This exercise of power, though, requires certain things.
One, we have to be serious about exercising the most important position in a democracy: that of citizen. As citizens, the buck stops with us, not with any one in Malacanang or the Senate or the Congress or the bureaucracy.
The final say on the nature and future of our country is ours.
This means we use our minds and hearts. What is it that we value most? Let's tell them.
How effective are their "marketing and campaign baits" like money, pa-cute, cute, etc? We can tell them "wa epek 'yan"; we want to know what they stand for and what they will really work for! Because when a "for" meets a "need" there is completion of a circle and we move forward.
We can tell them we do not like those whose campaign is based on "against", because that will only bring about what we are against. Instead of anti-poverty or anti-corruption, why not for enabling self-sustaining capabilities and for good governance? Remember Job in the Bible: "what I feared most has happened to me. . ." (He was focused on preventing or avoiding disasters to his life and riches). Remember the Law of Attraction: What you focus on comes about, whether negative or positive.
Another thing: we need to beware of those who as of now are specializing in the use of the internet to hijack people's ideas/interests and make it appear that their agendas or ideologies are portrayed as those of the people. We must ensure ours is really that of a free market of ideas and that the majority governs while respecting the rights of the minority.
Very important: We must enundate our AFP with messages that "Hello, Garci" should never happen again! Because it only came to pass when "officers and gentlemen" of our armed forces allowed themselves to be used by the powers that be, when in fact its role is to serve as "the protector of the people and the State" and its goal is "to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory" (Sec. 3, Art. II, 1987 Const). 'Protecting the people' must include guaranteeing the free expression of the people's will in an election [not serve to distort or defeat it by dagdag-bawas or other scheme] considering that "sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them" (Sec. 1, Art. II, 1987 Const.). The principle of sovereignty residing in the people (Sec. 1) trumps the principle that civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military (Sec. 3) as civilian authority also emanates from the people. The AFP, therefore, is mandated to protect our vote and to ensure its expression without fetters. And we should tell them in no uncertain terms that we expect them to do just that.
And of course, this brings to mind the duty of registering as voter and of casting our votes. Not only should we tell politicos by text or email of our preferences, but we should, more importantly, use the one power that allow them to be our true "servers" and "abang lingkods" - our vote.
Politics and government are necessary. Let's just make sure the game is played for our best interests and for the greatest good of our greatest numbers. We have the means to do it.
Then, perhaps Dr. Rizal can smile in his repose, as in spirit he floats across Philippine air, space and valleys, and recalls his words in "The Indolence of the Filipinos", La Solidaridad, 15 Sept 1890, p. 202: "People and government are correlated and complementary. A stupid government is an anomaly among a righteous people, just as a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws."
