Shakespeare once said: “The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings”. It is, indeed, sad how most of our suffering Majority STILL expect to rid the Government of all Corruption by simply getting rid of the alleged CORRUPTORS themselves! We sent The Conjugal Dictators and their sycophants packing to Hawaii, convicted and pardoned ‘Erap’ Estrada, and now almost everybody is neck deep in trying to ‘kick-out’ sitting Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her beloved but controversial and ‘errant’ husband, Big Boy Mike, thru ‘text-jokes’, t-shirts, radio/T.V. commentaries, and rallies, as if it was the present ‘fad’! But neither EDSA 1 nor former Pres. Cory Aquino was able to eliminate Graft and Corruption and exterminate all the ‘RATS’ in the Government! In fact, if we just open our eyes wide, we will see that the very SAME ‘Rats’ in the Conjugal Dictators’ Martial Law Government are the very same ‘Oligarchs’ wielding Financial and Political Power at present! Our family friend, Menardo ‘Bubot’ Santos, even laughed at former House Speaker Joe De Venecia’s call for a “Moral Revolution”, while at the same time saying: “let’s ask him if he has the MORAL ASCENDANCY to start such a Moral Revolution!” It really looks like these ‘oligarchs’ in the National and Local Scene will always be there to help finance ‘promising’ candidates who, in turn, will be HEAVILY INDEBTED to them, up to the point that when PAYBACK time comes, these now powerful Politicians cannot help but sign over very lucrative Contracts, Projects, and ‘Deals’, including giving ‘PROTECTION’ to some ‘extra-legal’ transactions! If this isn’t one of the ‘Big Roots’ of Corruption then I don’t know what is!

        What really ‘shocked’ me no end, though, was Catholic Bishop Angel Lagdameo’s alleged ‘inflammatory’ comment that the 2nd EDSA People Power Revolt produced “the MOST corrupt President in the history of our Country”! ‘Sosmaryosep’! Not even ‘Ping’ Lacson or any of his fellow Senators have had the gall, much more the BASIS, to call Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the MOST CORRUPT President! If I remember right those Martial Law Years, when we had BACK-TO-BACK DICTATORS ‘ruling’ simultaneously, must’ve been THE most corrupt years in our Nation’s history! We didn’t just have an Abalos or a ‘Big Mike’ then, we had entire FAMILIES and bands of CRONIES swimming in a ‘Pool’ of Corruption! Big Corporations, Newspapers, and Networks were forcibly taken over just like that and no Cardinals or Bishops could raise even as much as a whimper then! Of course, there could have also been no ‘Bicolanong Intsik’ then, as even a single solitary comment against the ‘Dictatorship’ sent one to the bottom of the ocean or to the Military Stockade to ‘rot’ at the pleasure of the Powers he or she displeased! Having Harrods of London closed for the day just to be able to go on a SOLO SHOPPING SPREE, amid raised eyebrows, also happened then!

        Now, just as before, the entire Military seems to be ON TOP of the situation (and maybe even the Office of the President!). In fact, if we will try to look at the whole set-up of our present government we will observe that most of the ‘yummy’ positions are headed by former Military Men! So it just looks like Madam G.M.A. also is ‘sleeping’ with the Military, on a ‘BED OF BAYONETS’, just like the Conjugal Dictators! Given this very favorable situation, Senior Military Officers will definitely not be willing to ‘rock the boat’, and thus no ‘People Power’ seems capable of forcing a change in Leadership, as of now. EDSA 1 did it bloodlessly, but with the help of the Military; EDSA 2 only succeeded when A.F.P. Chief of Staff, Angelo Reyes bolted to the ‘other side’. In today’s glum scenario, only the Church seems to be rushing into the fray with ‘blinders’ and a pack of ‘RASH JUDGEMENTS’, based on Honest Jun Lozada’s allegations which, no matter how BELIEVABLE, have yet to be proven in a Court of Law (otherwise what’s the use of having all these Laws if mere dramatic Senate Investigations can manage to ‘convict’ an erring Public Servant, or even bring down a Government?). Senate President Manny Villar, perhaps, seeing the Legal Technicalities, and possible repercussions, has wisely ‘INHIBITED’ his Senate from demanding P.G.M.A.’s Resignation.

        What everyone, including the Church, must do A.S.A.P. is to clamor for a TOTAL OVERHAUL of the System. A change in the Electoral Process must be discussed by BOTH Church and Civilian Authorities, in order to eliminate that chronic ‘Oligarchic Influence’ and give all winning candidates a free hand in really CLEANING UP their own ‘Spheres of Influence’. This way that memorable ‘Inaugural Phrase’: “walang pamilya, walang kapatid, walang kaibigan, at walang kumpare” will take on an added and more real meaning! Rather than wasting their time and endangering everyone’s Life and Limb, all these Church, University, and Government Leaders must instead discuss HOW the ‘Dysfunctional’ Government Procurement and Bidding Process can be restructured from top to bottom, in order to strictly penalize and prevent the blatantly CORRUPT S.O.P.s, which have been going on for so long they have become so ‘institutionalized’ and almost impossible to eradicate! A Mayor, Governor, Congressman, and Senator who happens to become President of the Land may, by force of habit, still demand for his or her share in all the Big Time Projects and Transactions which have to pass through the Office of the President! Taking him or her out will STOP them from indulging in further Corruption, BUT it will never put an end to the Vicious Cycle which the DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEM has created!

        With these in mind, let us all hope and pray that someone in the Senate, or elsewhere, will have enough Moral Ascendancy in order to propose that we all stop and talk awhile, not just to sip coffee, but to really concentrate on first DISINFECTING the System and ridding it of ALL Rats! Let’s bring back the Death Penalty and build enough Political Will to be able to strictly enforce the Law, regardless of who gets hurt! Driving away the perceived Big Rat today will only replace her with a tiny, little MOUSE who the Dysfunctional System will, inevitably, transform into a really BIG RAT tomorrow! So Ladies and Gentlemen (including the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines), PLEASE open up your eyes and try to realize that IT’S NOT JUST THE PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE CHANGED, BUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM!!! Until we are able to really do this, we can expect to have a lot more ‘People Power’ uprisings in the Future! Ok? See you then in EDSA 7!!!