Local government officials and other politicians in the Philippines have fungus faces. Many of them have also sold their principles and dignity to the great Lucifer.
I’m referring to those who were called lately to attend an emergency briefing in Malacanang, presided by no less than the embattled President Arroyo herself. Reports said one of the agenda was to review the development needs of the constituents in the countrysides, a move many analysts considered as a means to shore up the image of the administration in light of the anomalous NBN-ZTE scandal and the alleged kidnapping of the Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the key witness in the ZTE deal.
From the way it looked, the efforts of the disheartened people whose eagerness to oust the president, like what they did in Pakistan, had been in vain. Let alone, the callousness of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) whose members were suspected of having feasted on the donations given by unscrupulous government officials just to grease their collective decision.
Again, the civil society groups are bracing for another brazen attempt to flex their muscles that would eventually encourage majority of the people to go out and hit the streets once and for all. In fact, Makati City mayor Jejomar Binay and National Capital Regional Police chief Geary Barrias already met in Makati City to iron out some kinks that would make the rallies peaceful and non-violent in nature.
What I can say is that the government is the people themselves. Local government officials were merely appointees while others were elected to their present posts. Still, the collective decision would be up for the people to go for it. Nothing much can stop them from doing what they feel is appropriate at this time when the country is going down the drain. And the only thing that keeps the economy afloat is the resilience of the business community to hold on to their aces while waiting for the right opportunity to strike while the iron is still hot.
From what I knew, the people are tired of this kind of unrest because it is their families that suffer the most. At the end of the line, it is still the ordinary people who suffer while those with influence and government connections are the ones to benefit from the positive turnout of events. This is something that is bothering a lot of people so that their inclination to join the rallies is marked with doubts. They believe that after the change of command or leadership in government, they are back to the same roller-coaster system of governance where the poor have become poorer while the rich become richer.
In the end, there is no total guarantee that the new government set up is expected to shower the people with unquestionable leadership considering that it has already been a culture of the Filipinos for many centuries now. Perhaps, we owed this unsavory practice from the many foreign powers that occupied our land, bestowing to us their evil doings in governance and public service. As of now, the attitude of most Filipinos is "live and let live." This is a bad habit that developed into something whereby almost every Filipino tends to take advantage of opportunities that come their way.