In another view

Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis

Nowadays, how do we respond to the controversies in the government? The Society of Jesus produced this Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis. It provides an analysis of the response of the people and the course of action to the unending political turmoil in the country. This article is reflection paper on the said guidelines.

Just months ago, we were all so eager about the ZTE-NBN controversy. It woke the Filipino spirit up. It produced many insurgencies. There were many witnesses who placed their lives at risk for the purpose of letting the people know the truth. Sadly, the truth never came out. Suddenly, nobody cared. It was as if it never happened. There could only be two reasons for this: people don't really care or they already got tired caring. This is what's happening today. We start to stop trying to make our country a better place. We stopped hoping for a better Philippine democratic government. I hope that things won't stop at this. We can always do something. The problem lies on the initiative of the people to make a move. We can't be forever slaves to the lies of our government. It's not how Filipinos are.

I've noticed, even before our current president took the seat, there are always parties asking for the president's resignation. Right now, many are wanting to unseat the president. Maybe, it's the right thing to do, maybe it's not. What's happening right now won't in any way solve our national crisis. We blame each other for the problems we are facing. Politicians point their fingers to each other. We point our fingers to politicians. Instead of trying to solve our problems, people waste their time on bad mouthing each other. I don't think it will solve any problem. Maybe it's time to work together. We should settle our problems together because we are al part of this country, this government. It is not a favor that we do for anybody, it's a responsibility each of us must fulfill.

I've just one question, if ever GMA would be ousted, who will be seated? In times like this when the government is unstable, many politicians who are hungry for power just wait for their chance to seated. They wait and try to watch for signs. Some of the politicians who are rallying with revolutionary groups have their own personal hidden agenda. They just want to be seated in the palace. Maybe this is why political upheaval in the country is endless. Just when we think we're doing the right thing and trusting the right person, things start to get out of hand. Who should we blame? Should we blame them or should we blame ourselves for falling into their game?

More than anything else, I believe that the main and biggest problem in our country is poverty. It is everywhere if you only care to observe. I understand the inadequacy of some people to provide themselves and their family their basic needs. But I think this is what's wrong with our society. We tolerate and accept the presence of poverty. Those who are poor think poor. Only few of them work hard and try to uplift themselves from their poverty. They only depend on the mercy of those with higher social status. They limit themselves to the current situation they are in. Some may say that it is impossible to escape poverty considering the current situation of our country but nothing is impossible if you have the will to do or achieve something. Instead of giving them crops to eat, we must teach them how to grow these crops so that they may be able to eat not just today but in the coming days. We can fight poverty, we just have to believe in ourselves.

At the end of the day, we are still the one responsible for our democracy. It doesn't matter what your age is, what your education is, what your income is, what you look like. For the youth, we must involve ourselves because the product of what's happening today is ours tomorrow. We must familiarize ourselves with the mistakes that our parents have committed which have caused the national crisis we have today so that we won't be able to do the same lapses by-and-by. For everyone else, let's be in this fight together.