On Exploiting the Filipino Masses
Last Tuesday, an old friend of mine called me from his expensive gym/health club. He told me that he is joining the planned massive protest in Makati CBD of the political opposition the following day to seek the ouster of President Gloria Arroyo. He is joining the rally through a public university based organization headed by that public university’s former president.
He said that their organization wants Arroyo and Vice-President de Castro out and they want Susan Roces to head a transitional government. He continued with typical anti-Arroyo rhetoric. Although I have a different political view I was not pissed by his lines as I am tired of it and heard everything.
One of his last lines before he ended our conversation is that they are doing all of this protests and plans for the Filipino masses. When I put down the phone his last line disturbed, pissed me off and almost made me puke. (I was in the middle of an influenza bout.) How does a massive protest action in the middle of the CBD seeking the ouster of a sitting president with hopes of installing a revolutionary government help the Filipino masses? Are rallies now fully convertible to food, clothing and shelter for the Filipino masses?
I think the biggest victims of political exploitation are the Filipino masses. You hear politicians and wannabe politicians and street protesters claiming they feel for the poor yet in practice they do not. In fact these people are so blinded by their whimsical selfish agendas that they don’t know what the poor really want.
The truth is the mass really need a decent source of income, an affordable and livable home, cheap food and basic goods and access to affordable healthcare. The last thing the poor and the entire Philippines want is another revolution or any disruption that will contribute to even more poverty and economic uncertainty.
I wish that my friend and his group, other protesters and the opposition are actually fighting for what the poor really want and not what they think the poor want. I wish they were instead fighting to create more opportunities for the masses and not their own agendas.
He said that their organization wants Arroyo and Vice-President de Castro out and they want Susan Roces to head a transitional government. He continued with typical anti-Arroyo rhetoric. Although I have a different political view I was not pissed by his lines as I am tired of it and heard everything.
One of his last lines before he ended our conversation is that they are doing all of this protests and plans for the Filipino masses. When I put down the phone his last line disturbed, pissed me off and almost made me puke. (I was in the middle of an influenza bout.) How does a massive protest action in the middle of the CBD seeking the ouster of a sitting president with hopes of installing a revolutionary government help the Filipino masses? Are rallies now fully convertible to food, clothing and shelter for the Filipino masses?
I think the biggest victims of political exploitation are the Filipino masses. You hear politicians and wannabe politicians and street protesters claiming they feel for the poor yet in practice they do not. In fact these people are so blinded by their whimsical selfish agendas that they don’t know what the poor really want.
The truth is the mass really need a decent source of income, an affordable and livable home, cheap food and basic goods and access to affordable healthcare. The last thing the poor and the entire Philippines want is another revolution or any disruption that will contribute to even more poverty and economic uncertainty.
I wish that my friend and his group, other protesters and the opposition are actually fighting for what the poor really want and not what they think the poor want. I wish they were instead fighting to create more opportunities for the masses and not their own agendas.
posted by Outrage at 10:34 AM
