The free, the unequal, and anything but fraternal

The last few days have been basically full of major cognitive restructuring. Or in less psychological terms: thinking things over.

I will make a confession here: I am a citizen of my country, a patriot and advocate of the rights of the people...and unfortunately limited by virtue of having been counted among the 1% or so of the populace that can afford to finish a science degree in a university. Basically, I was raised among the elite. So naturally, many of my views and standpoints have been colored by this.

I was among those people who looked on with fear at the masses storming Mendiola days after former President Estrada was taken into custody. I turned up my nose with disgust at their behavior but mostly at their agitation to remove a president who was installed just a few months previously. What kind of country was this, where leaders could suffer from the shifting of loyalties of the great unwashed? I was twelve years old at that point, apt to be disdainful and self-serving. I thought I knew more than they ever could.

I am approaching my twenty-first birthday now. I have taken on the roles of a volunteer, student journalist, blogger, tutor, and other socially conscious names that a young woman can take. At various times, I approached these out of mere good will and good feeling, other times with the determination to improve the situation of those around me, and still on some occasions out of a sense of commitment to an ideal I called my country. Only on some occasions could I say that I truly understood, sympathized and considered myself in fraternity with the people around me---and even then only after plenty of time and effort. After all, there is some fear, apprehension, and distress that a pampered student can feel when being approached by a man with dirty hands, a woman with graying hair and a plastic cup, or an impetuous child hiding in santan bushes. Admittedly it takes time to get past these blockades in order to see the persons who deserve to stand hand in hand with us. What makes up this blockade? Fear of the unknown, perhaps. Fear of experiencing bodily harm or loss of personal property owing to negative experiences with unscrupulous individuals? Or perhaps pride---too much pride at being learned, gifted with opportunities, "wide" views, clean clothing, and full stomachs? We can make the mistake of thinking that we are born to such things, that we deserve such things. Are we really?

I was never aware of the barrier myself, till I began the long project of rereading and translating Victor Hugo's behemoth work "Les Miserables". I found myself reading up on and glorifying the struggles of the July Revolution leading up to 1832 and subsequent uprisings prior to 1848. I found myself sympathizing perfectly with the students and working men who raised the barricades of 1832 as a protest to the regime of Louis-Philippe. I could understand the republican sentiment, the anger at the denial of right, and the disappointment that fueled this uprising. I understood what Charles Jeanne had to be about. Yet somewhere in the middle of it all, I was confronted with this voice: "If you believe in 1832, what about EDSA Tres, an uprising too of the people?" I railed against this question, almost in an agony really.

Then I had to revisit my memoirs of that day, the first of May, 2001. Apart from being too young, I had been lacking in understanding. I knew that part of the blame for the event would necessarily have to lie with the rabble rousers (who are still enjoying the benefits of the politic) who raised and endangered the poor with their agenda. Could I blame the man who took several hundred pesos to be part of the mob...if it meant that he could feed his family? And could I blame those who were there out of true indignation, who felt that the government of EDSA Dos had betrayed them, or worse, had never been their government at all? Where was the will of the people, really? Did it lie in those who watched from the safety of walls and televisions, or the brazen throng that challenged a presidency they could not trust? Could I truly be angry at those who would want the political order turned on its side...when in a few years I would almost wish for it myself when the evidence of a certain damning phone call came to light? I had to come to the sobering conclusion that apart from my age, the reason I could not stand for EDSA Tres would be my lack of fraternity with those involved.

Would I still rush to the shrine and treat it the same way they had? Would I march to the Palace? Maybe not. But would I look on with disdain? Would I be so quick to point fingers and mock? Hopefully not. For a while, in January 2001, I too was a marcher, acting on emotion and anger, wanting nothing more than justice. Could I begrudge that to my countrymen in May 2001, simply because they were on the wrong side of a system?

We consider the aspirations and agendas of the underprivileged as being narrow, on the survival level, and petty. Yet the truth is, these are realities that our systems and leaders have failed, if not have had difficulty in addressing. Who are we to impose our lofty, "progressive" political philosophies and agendas on the poor if we cannot do the necessary thing of redeeming them from their difficulties and conditions? Why do we scorn the poor for putting their faiths in idols like former President Estrada who they perceive (even if mistakenly) as being able to redeem them from poverty? Have we tried to teach them to think otherwise? Or perhaps, have we put them in a condition to be able to consider such things? The elite can afford to ponder and debate questions of trade, policy, and economics because their needs are already addressed. We talk about development when our impoverished neighbor is in need of sustenance. We cannot expect a person to walk when her or she still has yet to find the strength and nourishment to stand up.

It is April 2010. Nine long years since those days. And I cannot yet find one prospective leader who will truly champion the cause of fraternity in this country. I am not sure what it will take for someone to truly rise from the masses, to guide them and educate them properly so that the will of the people may truly prosper in the direction of hope and progress. I am not sure what sort of leader it will be who can dispel the myopia of the rich and powerful, to force them to consider alternatives to this country's future besides the status quo, band-aid solutions, and the service of their own interests.

After all, this is meant to be the Republic of the Philippines, the nation of the Filipinos...and not just of a few families, or the Congress, or the 15th President of the Philippines beginning June 30, 2010.

God be with our country this May 2010.