Hatt al-hudad
It is that time of year yet again and several Impeachment Cases have been filled against President Macapagal-Arroyo. Do these people seriously believe that this thing will succeed? A lot of the impeachment complainants have done so because they want to stand up against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Personally, I admire their tenacity, and the courage of their unflinching conviction. Similarly, I admire Mrs. Arroyo and her ilk's "Reality Distortion Effect", their ability to project their "vision", their almost cult like grip on their allies and their steadfast conviction they can do no wrong. What I do not admire in the former is their cause's sense of righteousness which is only second to gloria and mike arroyo's righteousness and arrogance. the former is so much trapped in the past, their arrogance is in their belief in absolute truth and the latter without restraint in the power they hold, so hellbent in absolute monarchy, will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Both camps drink their "kool-aid". If perhaps, there was ever a moment they believe this to be an illusion that they project to entertain a hungry public, they may today absolutely believe in their respective convictions unfailingly. And in this desert-paradise is a hungry and thirsty people that is forced to drink the kool-aid of either camp because they have either no other choice or have never known what real water taste like.
The chaotic storm we have created for ourselves is drowning us.
Think about this: an impeachment campaign succeeds in the last three years of Mrs. Arroyo's presidency. trial will be well underway during the midterm elections of 2007, which will undoubtedly push such case back six months at least and pretty soon no conviction will happen a year before Arroyo's term ends. In the meantime, this nation's business is once more held in limbo. Our work held up, distracted by the trial in the Senate. If you do not believe it could happen, one only needs to look at that farce during Estrada's short-lived reign, which tells us properly. And if the Impeachment camp succeeds in removing Arroyo from office before her time is up, will they stand for a President de Castro or will we be doing this all over again?
On one hand you have Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her ilk doing something stupid as attempting to arrest Jinggoy Estrada. I have no love for the Estradas. I believe they squandered a unique opportunity--- a political capital so rare in our lives: a convincing majority win in all levels of government. They could have chosen to make this country great but chose to go the more selfish route. Couldn't Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government be more subtle in their political attacks? Many may not like Jinggoy Estrada but he was elected to the Senate. The people in their infinite wisdom chose to put him there--- very well knowing his person, his character and the conviction of his choices. The people by national vote chose to give Jingoy Estrada a Public Trust in the same vein as they have given to Mrs. Arroyo or any other elected official. We may not like the person. We believe his convictions are wrong and that he is wasting this opportunity to better serve the people, we must however respect the office and the institution to which he was voted to. That is something the Government of Mrs. Arroyo can never understand, everything to them is personal without respect or regard or restraint.
This is Democracy: our Republic must be about choices--- as many as our people can have. We must each learn to respect that and build on those choices, good or ill.
Steve Jobs is a man I greatly admire. He said this during a commencement exercise at Stanford University and I think it is apt for our current political predicament: "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
If there will ever be a New Constitution its foundation must be built from choices and hopefully not farce. It should be about social justice. Ideally, it should be a framework by which every Filipino is given every opportunity to be whoever he chooses to be. It should be a framework that demands every citizen be mindful of other people's rights, as much as this Republic allows our freedoms. It should be a vision that puts limits when there should be limits and encourages our citizenry to innovate, to be creative, to be industrious and self-sufficient. If there would be a New Constitution it should be one that is never done in haste and done properly.
I do not belittle the anger the proponents of Impeachment have against Mrs. Arroyo. One can even understand their cause. It is not the way. It does not differentiate between Arroyo's and their position. It only drives people to side with Mrs. Arroyo at the least and at the most, people loose trust in any other solution. It does not uplift the lives of the poor, this war only makes losers of us all. Instead of Impeachment, we ought to come up with new and innovative ideas to make this country grow strong. We need credible elections in 2007. We need Good Ideas that can be executed, which can nullify the mediocrity of Arroyo's government and get moving. Win our people's hearts and minds, make them economically prosperous, make our people strong. Fighting the Giant that is the Arroyo Government head on will only result in an Arroyo victory. Fighting with maximum flexibility means the ability to deliver ideas and make dreams real. It is something our people have not known and if you can prove it works our people will jump at it. The Filipino is far from the idiots the Oligarchy thinks it is. I'll spell this out: Hatt al-hudad means, "through the tempest" and our tempest is our pride and all our expectations and fears. We will not go wrong with this: build on trust, and trust our people.
The chaotic storm we have created for ourselves is drowning us.
Think about this: an impeachment campaign succeeds in the last three years of Mrs. Arroyo's presidency. trial will be well underway during the midterm elections of 2007, which will undoubtedly push such case back six months at least and pretty soon no conviction will happen a year before Arroyo's term ends. In the meantime, this nation's business is once more held in limbo. Our work held up, distracted by the trial in the Senate. If you do not believe it could happen, one only needs to look at that farce during Estrada's short-lived reign, which tells us properly. And if the Impeachment camp succeeds in removing Arroyo from office before her time is up, will they stand for a President de Castro or will we be doing this all over again?
On one hand you have Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her ilk doing something stupid as attempting to arrest Jinggoy Estrada. I have no love for the Estradas. I believe they squandered a unique opportunity--- a political capital so rare in our lives: a convincing majority win in all levels of government. They could have chosen to make this country great but chose to go the more selfish route. Couldn't Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government be more subtle in their political attacks? Many may not like Jinggoy Estrada but he was elected to the Senate. The people in their infinite wisdom chose to put him there--- very well knowing his person, his character and the conviction of his choices. The people by national vote chose to give Jingoy Estrada a Public Trust in the same vein as they have given to Mrs. Arroyo or any other elected official. We may not like the person. We believe his convictions are wrong and that he is wasting this opportunity to better serve the people, we must however respect the office and the institution to which he was voted to. That is something the Government of Mrs. Arroyo can never understand, everything to them is personal without respect or regard or restraint.
This is Democracy: our Republic must be about choices--- as many as our people can have. We must each learn to respect that and build on those choices, good or ill.
Steve Jobs is a man I greatly admire. He said this during a commencement exercise at Stanford University and I think it is apt for our current political predicament: "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
If there will ever be a New Constitution its foundation must be built from choices and hopefully not farce. It should be about social justice. Ideally, it should be a framework by which every Filipino is given every opportunity to be whoever he chooses to be. It should be a framework that demands every citizen be mindful of other people's rights, as much as this Republic allows our freedoms. It should be a vision that puts limits when there should be limits and encourages our citizenry to innovate, to be creative, to be industrious and self-sufficient. If there would be a New Constitution it should be one that is never done in haste and done properly.
I do not belittle the anger the proponents of Impeachment have against Mrs. Arroyo. One can even understand their cause. It is not the way. It does not differentiate between Arroyo's and their position. It only drives people to side with Mrs. Arroyo at the least and at the most, people loose trust in any other solution. It does not uplift the lives of the poor, this war only makes losers of us all. Instead of Impeachment, we ought to come up with new and innovative ideas to make this country grow strong. We need credible elections in 2007. We need Good Ideas that can be executed, which can nullify the mediocrity of Arroyo's government and get moving. Win our people's hearts and minds, make them economically prosperous, make our people strong. Fighting the Giant that is the Arroyo Government head on will only result in an Arroyo victory. Fighting with maximum flexibility means the ability to deliver ideas and make dreams real. It is something our people have not known and if you can prove it works our people will jump at it. The Filipino is far from the idiots the Oligarchy thinks it is. I'll spell this out: Hatt al-hudad means, "through the tempest" and our tempest is our pride and all our expectations and fears. We will not go wrong with this: build on trust, and trust our people.
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