The Gloriagate Thing

I just updated my blog about several hours ago but somehow, the current crisis the country is facing compels me to write about it. My boss’ dad just handed in his courtesy resignation from GMA’s cabinet and is now holed up in his old office talking to a lot of politicians. Yesterday, last year’s Vice-Presidential contender was his visitor discussing about I don’t know what.

The television in the Admin office is open only during lunch break under normal circumstances. Today, however, it’s been open for the last 5 ½ hours and we’re tuned into channel 5’s live video coverage of the developments with the President’s political firestorm. Ms Ressie, our H.R. Manager, warned us that we might have another president by the same time tomorrow. I just saw former President Cory Aquino finish her statement, her appeal to GMA to resign from her post. This was preceded by the same call from the Makati Business Club, considered to be the most powerful business group in the country.

Well, that’s Philippine politics for you. Because of both EDSA I and II, people are now overly zealous on taking to the streets and rally for a leader’s ouster that easily. What most people don’t realize is that even if we change the leader, there’s not going to be any real reform because the problem really is in the stymied system of governance that we have in the country. The problem also lies in us as a people – everybody wants to be in power with no real political platform to speak of except to look after their rear ends. Add in the Manana habit, the preference for quick fixes and the crab mentality and you have a whole lot of mess to deal with.

Another problem that I see with the Philippine system of governance is that those in power are very much detached from the people whom they are supposed to serve. Just about the only time politicians voluntarily associate themselves with the hoi polloi at a snap of a finger is during election time.

The anchors talk about national, especially in the political aspect, cleansing and renewal. How do you cleanse something that has been entrenched in our consciousness for the last one hundred years or so? Let’s say the President does step down and we start from scratch to build a new system of government, what would be the guarantee that we, as a people, and our leaders not go into a relapse?

I stare outside my window and see people going about their business. Would they be able to comprehend what the political leaders and the intelligentsia are saying? Would they even care or are they too desensitized what with the way things have always been?