My life seems dry at this twilight moment of my MA programme here in KL. I am feeling some form of alienation which I, unfortunately, don't have the courage to write here. Nevertheless, I would have wanted to write a thoughtful piece on the current political crisis in the Philippines but my programme is nearing its end, and hence, there are so much academic requirements to deal with.
I owe a lot of friends responses from the e-mails they have sent me and the comments they have posted here in this blog. These days they have been urging and asking me to write about the ongoing political crisis in the Philippines. Of late, one of my ka-blogistas, Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX, mentioned me in his recent post entitled ‘The Definition of Elite Rule’ referring to my 12 July 2005 post here expressing my solidarity to the Laban ng Masa outcry to put an end to elite rule through a transitional revolutionary government. (Please also see a recent comment by an anonymous ka-blogista on a previous post here on 2 February 2005 entitled ‘Another Philippine Society is Possible’.) Thank you for all your notes. I'll find time to write here soon a discourse on elitism that is so well-entrenched and pervasive in the Philippine society in political, cultural, and economic terms. In particular, I hope to address this problematique: why, despite its internal crises and contradictions, elitism thrives and survives in our society?
In the meantime, I am pasting below an excerpt of my last week's (10 July) Yahoo! Messenger conversation with Ryan, who is a fellow EDSA II activist and who is currently a bar reviewee, in which we had a brief chat on the current Philippine political crisis. Ryan was the Chair of the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Student Council during EDSA II in 2001. I was then Representative of the Department of Political Science to the Student Council. I hope that my ka-blogistas could somehow follow the discussion below, bearing in mind of the informality of an on-line chat. Too, I hope Ryan does not mind posting this unedited conversation....
I owe a lot of friends responses from the e-mails they have sent me and the comments they have posted here in this blog. These days they have been urging and asking me to write about the ongoing political crisis in the Philippines. Of late, one of my ka-blogistas, Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX, mentioned me in his recent post entitled ‘The Definition of Elite Rule’ referring to my 12 July 2005 post here expressing my solidarity to the Laban ng Masa outcry to put an end to elite rule through a transitional revolutionary government. (Please also see a recent comment by an anonymous ka-blogista on a previous post here on 2 February 2005 entitled ‘Another Philippine Society is Possible’.) Thank you for all your notes. I'll find time to write here soon a discourse on elitism that is so well-entrenched and pervasive in the Philippine society in political, cultural, and economic terms. In particular, I hope to address this problematique: why, despite its internal crises and contradictions, elitism thrives and survives in our society?
In the meantime, I am pasting below an excerpt of my last week's (10 July) Yahoo! Messenger conversation with Ryan, who is a fellow EDSA II activist and who is currently a bar reviewee, in which we had a brief chat on the current Philippine political crisis. Ryan was the Chair of the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Student Council during EDSA II in 2001. I was then Representative of the Department of Political Science to the Student Council. I hope that my ka-blogistas could somehow follow the discussion below, bearing in mind of the informality of an on-line chat. Too, I hope Ryan does not mind posting this unedited conversation....
(Chat between Bonn Juego and Ryan Tan [aka 'bradpwitt'], 10 July 2005, around 3pm)
bonnjuego: pare!I thank Ryan for a conversation like this which I truly miss. I miss the Philippines amid its contradictions, and I am looking forward to be back home soon. But I miss my friends even more. As the description of this blog - quoted from Will Durant - goes, ‘Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game’.
bonnjuego: kumusta na?
bonnjuego: ayos lang ba sa review?
bonnjuego: all the best to you atty!
bradpwitt: very distracted by the state of affairs of the country. I am sure you miss being here hehe... di ba dapat nasa tabi ka ni ka dodong?
bonnjuego: well, sinabi mo pa!
bonnjuego: hehehe
bonnjuego: am bored here!
bonnjuego: am in the wrong country at the moment!
bradpwitt: hehe... ewan. bakit kasi ngayon lang ako nagbar hehe...
bonnjuego: ka randy david wrote to me when i was in europe... he said everything is collapsing in our country
bonnjuego: but this should not despair me... i should enjoy my stay in europe hehehhe
bonnjuego: true.. too bad... still the perpetuation of elite rule as i see it...
bonnjuego: gma has to go soon but elite compromise has already been made... this is my fear..
bradpwitt: i am not in total agreement with Randy David. But I see that he is very disappointed to point of giving up
bonnjuego: randy is not giving up... as for him, cynicism would be the worst state of mind for a nation....
bonnjuego: suwerte pa ni gma.. umuulan hehehe
bradpwitt: hehe... are the civil society groups united? parang hindi eh
bonnjuego: i'm just waiting for the momentum.. i believe in the power of numbers.... sana mabuo ni bro. eddie iyong million niya uli... pero.. nakatatakot gagamitin lang as canon fodders ang masa ng mga eliltista
bonnjuego: as always, civ soc is not united..
bonnjuego: this will be a politics of compromise and negotiations na naman among various actors.....
bradpwitt: i am threatened by the instability... FVR is putting his mark really good.
bonnjuego: .but i do hope.. jp captures this moment... and that he must use kule as an instrument for social change......
bonnjuego: as always si FVR...
bradpwitt: ive been telling him that. he has a mind of his own. Yeah, its his time to shine...
bonnjuego: come to think of it... these elites would rely on the instability and even violence that must be created by the masses and civ soc in the streets... without this violence the incumbent will be very complacent
bonnjuego: i'm in touch with JP lately... he wrote to me when i was in denmark last month... binabanatan pa rin pala siya nitong mga RA
bradpwitt: kaya naman nya yan. Tell me what bonn... Do you agree with ka-dodong's position?
bonnjuego: yeah.....
bonnjuego: this is the most daring call you could have at the moment
bonnjuego: when you ask people... kung ano problema ng bansa.. laging sagot ng halos lahat na sensible na tao... sistema...
bonnjuego: ngayon.. ito na... kung kailan systemic change ang tawag ayaw ng tao...
bonnjuego: practically pare.... mahirap talaga... building institutions has never been easy... but it must start somewhere....
bonnjuego: na-overshadow nga ng grupo ni ka dodong ang mga CPP-NPA... medyo na-insecure sila... as ever, daring si dodong eh.. unlike them, tinatago pa nila sa 'national democracy' ang hangarin nilang komunistang lipunan!
bradpwitt: I have only one critique though... Kelangan nyang magcompromise with FVR group... That is also systemic change, in a way. We have to ground it in strict legal terms to facilitate the changes we want... Compromise... that is the only way I see how we will get ka dodong's plan into action...
bonnjuego: yeah... ka dodong knows it.... whether we like it or not the elite is so well-entrenched in the society... this is now a matter of political will, a question of political skill... i hope the masses won't lose their ground....
bonnjuego: fr. bernas' discussion of constitutional and extra-constitutional discourse is interesting
bonnjuego: i hope u buy fr. bernas' idea
bradpwitt: I hope the demons... the dark force of the elites won't sway the masses. Mabuti na lang fragmented ang Estrada group.
bonnjuego: btw, had the chance to be taught by bernas?
bonnjuego: problema rin tol.. ang media.. elitist pa rin ang framework...
bonnjuego: incumbent vs opposition pa rin ang tingin ... pati alternatives - boil down pa rin noli, susan, etc...
bradpwitt: Yup. He's my guru. I know where he's coming from. It is not really totally different from Dodong and FVR proposal. Playing safe lang
bradpwitt: elite will always be elites bonn
bradpwitt: you know that..
bradpwitt: but i know u havent forgotten that elitism has several categories
bradpwitt: where are the intellectual elites?
bradpwitt: the moral elites?
bradpwitt: it seems they are not in agreement still...
bonnjuego: i know .. still ... basic for us politics students.. iron law of oligarchy........
bradpwitt: but that is the political terrain. this is the political space we operate on... i see only one soution... take the common denominator...
bonnjuego: i fear that this will once again be a circulation of elites..... the now counter-elites will soon be elites, and vice versa
bradpwitt: that is the political terrain. this is the political space we operate on... in fact that is the operational definition of "elite" di ba, hehe... i see only one solution... take the common denominator...
bonnjuego: sometimes i feel bad on what we did for edsa 2... wen we were so passionate to oust erap... but we have replaced him with a cheater and a lame duck leader for a hopeful nation
bradpwitt: common denominator is constitutional change. every sector in society should come into terms as to how we shall draft the fundamental law...
bradpwitt: don't despair... time has come to realize that systemic change must be done... asap
bonnjuego: maganda sinulat ni randy ngayon:
bonnjuego: 'It is one of the supreme ironies of our time that it may sometimes be necessary to step out of the Constitution's iron grip in order to preserve its spirit.'
bonnjuego: but as always, i do hope that when we struggle we should not only struggle politically, but economic-wise as well....
bonnjuego: it is this tremendous material inequality that perpetuates elite rule and grinding poverty
bradpwitt: good luck na rin sa atin pare hehe...
bonnjuego: galingan mo atty!
bonnjuego: maghihintay ako sa top 10 ha!
bradpwitt: sana nga makaconcentrate... i suddenly realized that politics is still closer to heart hehehe
