Interesting times

The times become even more interesting. It is not often that you see a gathering of a good cross section of the country’s civil society in a single event. But when you do, you are always impressed. You are impressed with a sense of nostalgia bringing with it not a small measure of hope. Perhaps the country may still get better. It is easy to assert we are all on the same side, “we are all against corruption.” But we cannot be sure if those who came are for the same reason and to fight the same enemy.

Otherwise, we would all welcome the sight of that same old ritual of making effigies of the President, this time around sporting a pig nose, ready for burning in the course of the day. Otherwise, we would all not wonder why and by what strange mechanism has President Benigno Aquino III now become the object of a good amount of this protest. Wasn’t it the “other side” who got caught with the rotting pork?

Still, he is president. He has to answer for the whole government. And he has of course his “old” enemies. To bring the Reproductive Health law this close to being is no mean feat. It had been lauded internationally as a historic feat. It might be the reason some of the religious are here. And the Internet had been rife with anti-PNoy literature for weeks now. Those who dream of a quick revolution will have their field-day, waving their flags all the way to Mendiola. Even so, it does seem strange to see them rubbing shoulders with popular actors, actresses and musicians. But for the most part, people are here with a diversity of views and dreams. It is a good sight to see how so many do dream of a better country for themselves.

When all this festive passion dies down, they will return to their own homes, return to their own computers and TV sets, there to contemplate what was achieved from all these and what can still be achieved. And then think: Here is President Noynoy Aquino’s true measure. Will he scrap the pork barrel and every vestige of it? Will we find him even more popular than ever because of it? This is the paradox of Philippine politics. We want a popular president. But how can a President be popular and still be powerful at the same time? Can a President seeking popularity above all else still do the right thing?

The pork barrel is a provision in the Constitution. It was deliberated at length, approved and then ratified through proper democratic means. Part of its design was to make the office of the President a powerful office capable of exercising influence over Congress and ultimately over people on the ground down to the grassroots. It would do this by wielding the power of money to fund projects that might make a big difference in alleviating poverty in areas often missed by the regular channels of government. A powerful President theoretically would bring stability to a country where stability had always been elusive, that modicum of stability which had always eluded us until now.

Who has forgotten how Erap was forced to resign and how Gloria Macapagal Arroyo replaced him only to leave behind a legacy of unprecedented corruption? This, as would make the country reel for years after her long reign. But such is the inherent design of our democracy. When the greedy and corrupt hold office, we quickly fall into the pits of chaos and poverty. When we have good leaders, we should theoretically also have the best chance of righting ourselves quickly. Still as ever before, the question boils down to whether or not President Noynoy Aquino has been such a leader for us? Can we trust him?

For those who dream of a quick revolution, the answer is easy. The faster all efforts at reform fail as they will the better, the closer we come to their dream. For some of the President’s “old” enemies, all these may simply be fate of a divine root, in the words of the Bisaya: gaba. And yet, most of us must see the twist in all these. Having found for ourselves an “honest” man for President, we will now clip him of whatever power he has to do us any good at all; as if to emasculate not just the office but the man himself. And all because some of his enemies were caught practically red-handed stealing pork-money?

There is a theory going about that Noynoy is only a figurehead of the Liberal Party, that he really does not know what he is doing. A corollary to this is the theory that there are many congressmen out there guilty of stealing pork who must by now be heaving a sigh of relief. They might even be chuckling to themselves in the light of all these. A powerless President can hardly be expected to bring them to court for their past and future sins.

Beyond the throng, the songs of protest, the speech-making, the flag waving, a complex interesting world with a hidden narrative unfolding.