Rude Awakenings at 6pm

 Al Angeles. “Sa Bakuran ni Kapitan Tiago.” #0397. 37.25X22.5. Oil on canvas/ mixed media.  Pinoy Arte Filipino Art Gallery. Rightclicked and downloaded with express permission, non-commercial use of course (thanks again!) from the webmaster at  http://www.pinoyarte.com prices of paintings: check website.    

           So arduous and terrific is the task of forcing a sitting President to resign that it requires the broadest alliance of political forces, the most creative way of reaching out to the majority,  the biggest number of mobilization  to exert pressure,  and the most widespread forms of expression.    

            This requires resources, venues, permits, meeting places, sound  systems, local clout. And that was how, in violation of the agreed program  for the “Interfaith Rally”,  Estrada  got up the stage, muscled up by his friend Jojo Binay and using Cory who at this stage of her distinguished life was given the honor of being put in the same basket as the convicted plunderer with their followers  trying to drown each others chant of  “Cory”  and  “Erap”. Awkward, but there it was. Tita Cory tried to correct  it by saying something like: she hoped our cry for truth and justice would prevail. 

               “Interfaith rallies” in Fuenteosmeña, Cebu; Naga, Baguio, Bacolod (drawing a crowd of 10,000); Jaro, Iloilo (attended by CBCP President Bishop Lagdameo), and Davao City, were simultaneously held; well-coordinated, multi-colored, ground-breaking;  but no doubt the anti-corruption marchers had no idea that convicted plunderer Estrada would play a dominant role in this anti-corruption mobilization . As a consolation, know it wasn’t in the original program.    

            Of course, all  “execom” meetings of broad  alliances,   all “program committee” meetings of  wide formations  to oust  an occupant of Malacañang, are always a “struggle of ideas” (as progressive forces diplomatically put it) or a tussle of competing interests,  among the political forces, disparate,  bound only by the common goal of wanting the incumbent out. Everything has to be struggled out and agreed upon, from the most fundamental to the most mundane: the theme of the rally (fundamental), the color of the backdrop on the stage and the mural (mundane to some; fundamental to me, i’m a visual person ha-ha), the slogans (to me, fundamental, it captures the minimum bases of unity), the formation (who sits in front, whose organization occupies what portion of the assembly area), the colors of the streamers and banners, which colors at the back and front (yes, colors, not just slogans), and most of all, the program and the  speakers.

                     From the looks of it, the program  of  the “Interfaith  Rally” was divided into two or three parts with more or less the 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm being emceed by an FPJ-organization-representative and a member of the religious sector (?, not sure about his identity), and the 6:30 pm to 8 pm being handled by progressive partylist groups  and youth and students. Estrada  was able to insert himself prime time: between 6pm to 6:30 pm,  even if he got only one minute. Those who did not want trapo, corrupt, plunderer, lost. Enough to cause certain leaders of the so-called “middle forces” to walk out, as reported in DZMM.      

        Here’s a tip: Walking out  of  informal  alliances is a form of expressing disgust but in this case, i don’t know how much it mattered.

               With or without us, when the conditions are ripe, the multitude will rise up; with or without a leader, they will march forward and charge  and,   in case of  a vacuum, they would find a leader. 

                No group is indispensable; but it takes the broadest alliance of anti-Gloria forces  to oust the incumbent (if you want lasting changes, raise the  bases of unity into programs of government; but that’s going to be  long-term). With or without the Erap forces, with or without the Black and White Movement, with or without the Bayan Muna and Akbayan, with or without the religious, the CBCP, the organized forces, when the conditions are ripe,  a  broad  coalition will be formed no matter how short-term or fragile and the people in large numbers will  exercise their sovereign right.      

        You might as well be there when it happens. Walking out of alliances will do you no good. “Political forces” by their nature, are in the business of seizing power; they are not just NGO’s doing charity work; they mean or hope to lead the State someday. There will always be efforts to  outmaneuver each other. Agreements will be dishonored.      

      Don’t pretend it’s the first time.     

      (On second thought,  maybe… the reason we never institute lasting changes is that, we  want to succeed fast, and never raise the bases of unity, so we tolerate  those known to be corrupt; and think we can sort things out after the corrupt incumbent is ousted; those broad formations and struggles within the alliances are similar to those in 2000-2001 and 1986. See where it took us. Gloria learned her maneuvers from the best. She learned from you.)