The Road to 40 Day 135/365: A March of Anger

It was a mundane Sunday in our personal life, but my countrymen made this a memorable one.

Over the past few weeks, there have been investigations to uncover the main causes of insane flooding in the metro despite billions of pesos being spent on flood control projects. Contractors and lawmakers alike are being linked to the projects and we are given a glimpse of the truth.

I say glimpse because it still feels like there are individuals being protected, but like everyone else, I can only speculate as I have no personal knowledge about any of it.

However, with every detail that comes to light, it’s sickening to see just how greedy people can be at the expense of their own countrymen.

Living in Singapore sometimes makes me sad because the Philippines was one of the more developed countries during the time that The Little Red Dot was just learning to stand on its own.

Now, Singapore is one of the richest nations in the world while the Philippines remains a third-world country.

It’s precisely because we’ve failed to elect the proper leaders. The rich continue to get richer, and the poor become poorer. For as long as I can remember, politicians have always appealed to the poor by saying they will alleviate poverty. And yet, here we are.

The poor continue to believe the lies, the dances, and the performances of politicians but they remain poor when the next election period comes.

I don’t know if there’s still a country in the world whose politicians rely on stupid jingles or catchy dance moves to get votes. We have senators who were actors who “promise” to learn when they’re in office.

The state of Philippine politics combined with my own experience in student politics are what disillusioned me to the idea of pursuing law. I aimed to be a politician, but seeing how much of my soul and principles I need to sell in order to win office, I felt like I’d be a liability for my country instead of being part of the solution.

There are bright spots recently – people like Mayor Vico Sotto and the relatively positive turnout of the most recent senatorial elections show that the voters may be getting younger and wiser.

On this day, people took to the streeets to express their anger and disappointment. They called for accountability. It was inspiring to see people take a stand. We were no longer just a country of people who are noisy on social media, we showed that we can also be on the streets to shout the same things we ask for from our government behind the keyboards.

With Indonesia and Nepal showing the power that the people hold, I am hopeful that this show of power would lead to a positive outcome.
However, watching news and clips of the events that unfolded, I have mixed feelings.

While I’m proud of the show of power, I am disgusted by people who joined in to cause chaos. I’ve read accounts of some people on the ground saying that the “squammys” or whatever are just normal Filipino citizens who are just expressing their anger at the government, but I don’t think that’s a justified reason to vandalize the streets and destroy public or even private property.

There was a container van that was lit up on fire in the middle of the road. There was a hotel that was burned, together with two police motorcycles. Then there’s a video of a person destroying a traffic light.

The rally became an excuse for some people to just be unruly.

Yes, the people who profit from the government and the taxpayers’ money should be detested and abhorred, because they did not think about their countrymen.

But in the same light, I believe that the people who took to the streets to destroy property should be equally persecuted.

They’re angry, sure. But does their expression of anger hurt those responsible in any way? It’s their fellow Filipinos who will suffer the consequences of their actions.

The local business owner whose hotel was burnt. The policeman who has to take responsibility for the burnt motorcyclye that was assigned to him. The city cleaners who are going to clean up their trash and paint over the walls they vandalized.

It’s why I have always respected the principles of militant groups, but I can’t put my whole heart in supporting them.

If I may borrow a line that resonated with me during my uncle’s own ordeal with the government – we must be the change we want to see.

Singapore did not rise to power because of Lee Kuan Yew. It’s because the people believed in what he wanted to achieve for the country, and they collectively acted on it. Locals, young and old, clean up after they eat. They stop for pedestrians on the road. Pedestrians use the crosswalk with confidence.

Simple things like these became part of their collective effort to make their country great. I know for a fact that there are still those who don’t share this mentality, but they are considerably less than those who love their country.

Meanwhile, Filipinos debate over who should be voted and expect them to save us, but can’t even clean up after they eat in a food court. The same people who feel that the country is shit are the same people who can’t queue up properly in a supermarket cashier, or would park on the streets instead of their own garage.

The march was a good start. It showed that a lot of us can still come together for a common goal. I hope that it leads to a win where those responsible for the flood control projects are incarcerated and asked to pay for damages they caused by using their money to fund effective fund control projects.

In three years, I hope we can all get behind leaders who spark inspiration and take action instead of those who speak of empty promises under the guise of “unity” but hide behind “confidential” reasons for their questionable actions.

Thank you to the Filipinos who made their voices heard yesterday on the streets. Let’s pray that we’ll see our country change for the better in this lifetime.

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