THE BANALITY OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS

After spending almost four months in the United States , I planed to Manila while the final rites on the late President Corazon Aquino were being held at the Manila Cathedral. She was the guest speaker at my graduation from the Ateneo School of Law way back in 1988, and I could still recall the tension that reigned in the country a year or so after the EDSA Revolution, which has since experienced several revisions (EDSA 2 and EDSA 3). The outpouring this time brought memories of Ninoy Aquino’s final rites and looking at the throng of people who braved rain and hunger, it was a political revival of sorts. Again, the oft repeated phrase “The Filipino is worth dying for” rang true. A couple of days of jet lag (just like the couple of years after the 1986 EDSA Revolution) again proved me wrong. While the debate in the United States was on so called “death panels” allegedly created by a proposed health and welfare legislation in the U.S. Congress, Filipino newspapers have completely gotten over the solemnity and grief of the Cory Aquino funeral and was now riddled with a 20,000 dollar dinner at Le Cirque in New York shared by President Arroyo and members of her entourage. How trivial can we be??is there no better issue to fight about than a dinner in New York??

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Thanks Greg. I guess there are no easy answers to the questions that we both asked. About 80 years ago, politics in the industrialized world was just as banal. Senator Edward Kennedy recently died after serving 50 years in the U.S. Senate. His political life traversed an era of banal politics, corruption, and self interests taken above the common good in the 1920’s and 1930’s .the mafia after all was widely suspected of having the two elder Kennedys killed. The ascent of his brother seemed like an historical turning point. Let us all hope that turning point is in the near future for the Philippines. They say that for evil to reign, it is enough that a few good men do nothing.

  2. I feel for this comment. I cam across this site because of a project I am currently putting together in regards to creating a company with hopes to do things right. Seeing such trivial matters happening in the Philippines creates such difficulty in maturing any industry though, as i foresee many immature and uneducated disputes over matters that are not so productive. When it is the people who are demanding health and jobs through complaints instead of pursuing a position of health or creating jobs themselves, it makes one wonder where they expect such things to appear.

    Anyway, the blog was a nice touch to the website, gives a little insight on the personalities of those in the firm. Hopefully when all the initial planning and paperwork pulls through I will be able to get in contact and actually talk about the details.

    Greg Lim

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