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Thursday, June 16, 2005
Editorials: People power fatigue
Recent attempts to arouse popular support for another people power in Metro Manila appear to have failed.
Agitators wanted to replicate successful “uprisings” against two previous presidents who failed to realize for the Filipino people their aspirations for a better life.
That the “uprisings” succeeded proved the strength of a people roused to anger.
The latest political action, however, failed to generate similar umbrage from the same mass of people in the same area as before.
The call to action of opposition “agitprops” seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The citizenry to whom were addressed the jueteng scam and the alleged tapes proving fraud in the last presidential elections did not respond accordingly.
The call for President Arroyo to resign, or the threat to file impeachment proceedings against her, failed to draw the masses to designated convergence points for a show of force.
That the people failed to rally behind the opposition this time is an indication of people power fatigue.
Who was it who said just recently that the masses are already tired of always being poor, of always being urged by others to do things that never did redound to the people’s good?
After fighting courageously for their leaders in successful uprisings that did not do them any good, the people appear wiser now.
There can be any number of reasons why the people this time failed to respond to the agitation to rise again.
One is the basic absence of genuine anger in the heart of our masses who are more concerned with having their children enrolled in school, of being able to pay the school fees, and of providing them with the needed school supplies.
In essence, the events of the past few days showed an uprising that failed to rise.
And the President should be thankful she did not feed the fire, but let things pass and cool off.
Pimentel’s failed gambit
What Sen. Aquilino Pimentel had in his heart when he called on President Arroyo to resign is known only to himself and his conscience.
The call was made in the face of the divisive issues of jueteng allegedly involving presidential family members and the controversial tapes on the conversation purportedly between the President and a Comelec official.
But no one would vouch for the tapes’ authenticity at the moment. And Mr. Pimentel’s politics appears to be affected negatively instead of positively.
For in his persistent call for resignation, he managed to expose his long grudge with the President for not giving him due recognition in the role he played during Edsa 2.
(June 16, 2005 issue)
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