Why armed revolution is not
a good option at this time
By BART
SAUCELO, M.D.
May 20, 2005
"...we have no guarantee that the leadership that can come out in an armed
struggle will not be as corrupt as the present one."
My wife was recently
scheduled to have hip replacement surgery. However, when she found out that
some people with the same problem who had steroid injection to the hip joint
were doing well, she decided not to go ahead with surgery and to try first
getting the steroid treatment. She wants surgery as her last resort, which
is the prudent thing to do.
My wife’s predicament is
analogous to the situation in the Philippines. While the situation in the
Philippines is really bad that requires an immediate and drastic action we
need to exhaust all other alternatives of a bloody revolution. In Edsa I and
II we demonstrated to the world with pride that a non-violent revolution is
effective. When America had a civil war, the young country lost more lives
than in any other war that America ever engaged in. Nobody wants to see
Filipinos killing fellow Filipinos Our generation has seen enough of the
ugliness of war.
War brings out the worst in
man resulting in brutalities that normally are not part of his behavior.
Kindness and compassion are replaced by cruelty and irrational insensitivity
to his fellowman. An armed revolution would be a setback at this time when
we badly need to go forward from our backward position. Other than
destruction of lives and properties and disruption of the lives of the
people, an armed revolution would create even a worse image of the country
making it impossible for foreign capital to come into the country. War will
extinguish practically all the initiatives that are now developing to
alleviate poverty and remove corruption in the government.
In addition, we have no
guarantee that the leadership that can come out in an armed struggle will
not be as corrupt as the present one. There is that possibility that the
condition in the country could even be worse than what it is now. The world
knows that dictatorship is bad. But we know it by experience and no one of
us wants to go through it again.
There are now many groups,
organizations and movements that are trying hard to solve our major problems
of corruption, inefficiency in the government and poverty in the country.
There are many more groups that are likely to sprout from this miserable
condition. These positive forces are run by cool-headed people with strong
patriotic conviction and the abiding belief that righteousness will
eventually triumph over evil.
In addition procedures and
methods of detection and eradication of corrupt practices are now being
developed as a result of pressure from outside and inside the country. There
is a fast growing and stronger demand for better governance and elimination
of corruption that the government can no longer ignore.
The President is naturally
concerned with the growing unhappiness of the people and the embarrassing
and humiliating state of the nation that she is leading. It is difficult to
believe that she is devoid of the feeling of shame, embarrassment, guilt or
sense of responsibility while the nation is sinking. It would be against
rational thinking for her not to be concerned for her place in history.
We have to consider that
many of the problems of the country and of the government were inherited
from previous administrations while there are also anomalies during her
administration. The government that she inherited was infested with
corruption of previous administrations. We are not giving her an excuse for
not cleaning up the government because she could have done it or at least
showed convincing efforts to solve the problem. We are just trying to
understand the difficulty of removing a systemic disease that has plagued
the government for so long. But we need to pressure this government to make
drastic reforms and soon.
GLOBAL FILIPINOS FOR
PROGRESS has an innovative, bold and practical alternative to an armed
revolution. We are going to do it through economic and educational programs
starting with the GFULP described in our website: http://www.globalfilipinosforprogress.org
under PROGRAMS.
A respected Editor-Publisher of Manila-US
Times in Los Angeles expresses deep concerns to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
in open letter
May 6, 2005
Her Excellency
Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo
President, Republic
of the Philippines
Dear Madam President:
The letter from Rev. Steve
Berdin of Cebu, openly supporting the Bishops who were demanding your
ouster, is a very serious threat to the stability of the government. I am
not in favor of the President stepping down with unfinished term. The
election process was a very expensive one and the Philippines is not capable
of spending billions of pesos again for a similar undertaking
without any guarantee
that the next president to be elected will be better than you. Besides, once
your leadership is toppled, by any group or any means, the economy will
collapse; investors will run away with their capital, and the Filipino
people will suffer the most.
This is not the time for the
members of the Clergy to make bold steps for the sake of making bold steps.
What is needed now, more than ever, is solidarity behind the leadership of
the President so the present economy can move forward, peace and order is
maintained, and the poor people given appropriate attention.
Instead of just providing
for food on their tables, these people must be taught how to plant and how
to fish, so that with everybody working together in unison, the concentrated
effort will help eradicate poverty, one of the root causes of some evils.
There is still enough time
to address the mounting problems. The President must act extraordinarily and
decisively so that her Cabinet members, as well as elected officials can put
to maximum use their talents, resources, including their pork barrels, and
network from Metro Manila down to the remotest barrio, from Aparri to Jolo.
Any drastic action from
people, like the bishops and priests, and some retired generals, without
weighing the pros and cons and their ill effects to the general public,
especially the poor, will definitely be detrimental to the general well
being of the people.
I am for the status quo of
the present leadership, but they MUST act fast enough to arrest the sliding
popularity, put a stop to spiralling cost of basic commodities, and
concentrate on domestic affairs. When the people – including the bishops,
priests, students, farmers, fishermen, jeepney drivers, bus drivers, taxi
drivers, tricycle drivers, vendors, laborers, employees, businessmen,
business owners, housewives, maids, police officers, military men, security
guards, teachers, Members of Congress and Senate, Governors, Mayors and
their respective council members, Barangay Captains and Tanods, the NPAs, the
MILFs, the MNLFs and everyone else -- see a genuine transformation coming
from the top then may be, just may be, we can still work together as a Team,
and not as a divided country.
People have suffered in
previous sudden change in the top leadership. We cannot move forward, like
our neighboring Asian countries, because there is too much burden to carry.
Subalit dapat nating sugpuin
sa lalong madaling panahon ang walang-awang pagpatay sa mga journalists na
ang tanging layunin ay maghatid ng makatotohanang
mga balita at masugpo
ang mga anomalya sa gobyerno; ang walang katuturang patayan sa Samar, sa
Mindanao at iba pang panig ng Pilipinas.
Madam President, I am
sending you this personal note in the hope that you will pursue the right
approach to the problem. Hindi pa huli ang lahat. Marami
pang pagkakataon
upang mapanumbalik ang pagtitiwala at pagmamahal ng sambayanan sa Pangulo ng
Bansa. Huwag na nating hintayin pang lumala ang sitwasyon.
Napakarami nang pagdurusa
ang tinamo ng ating Inang Bayan at ng ating mga mahihirap na kababayan.
Naiwan na tayo ng ating mga neighbors kagaya ng Japan, Thailand, Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, at iba pa, pagdating
sa ekonomiya at teknolohiya.
Ang mga estudyante ng
Thailand ay nag-aral tungkol sa agriculture sa
U.P. College of
Agriculture (Los Banos, Laguna) at nagpakadalubhasa sa IRRI (International
Rice Research Institute). Tayo ang nagturo sa kanila sa pagsasaka at
pagtatanim ng palay. Pero ngayon nag-iimport tayo ng bigas hindi lamang mula
sa Thailand, kundi pati na rin sa Vietnam.
Tayo ang nagturo at nagbigay
ng fingerlings na bangus sa Taiwan. Ngayon sila na ang lider pagdating sa
bangus.
Ang ating mga computer
wizards and tumulong na magset-up ng mga computers sa World Bank, pero hindi
tayo maka-ahon sa pagkakautang sa World Bank at palagi na lang tayong
dinidiktahan ng IMF.
Noong idiniklara ang
Philippine Independence, akala nating lahat ay iyon na ang simula nang ating
pagiging independent, pero hindi pala.
Let us act cohesively and
firmly toward a new direction that will benefit the people so that the poor
people will not only depend on the resources and assistance being extended
by Gawad Kalinga, whom I salute for their concerted effort and splendid
performances in the past few years for their unselfish motives, dedication
and strong determination to lift the country out of the 3rd
world country status
-- an ambitious vision, yes, but achievable.
The letter from the Very
Reverend Father from Cebu and the joint endorsement of some Bishops for the
ouster of the President will not only create chaos and upheavals, but in the
end will only add more miseries to the already miserable situation of our
beloved country.
Let this serve as a WAKE UP
CALL!
HAPPY MOTHER's DAY, MADAME
PRESIDENT. And Happy Mother's Day, too, to all
mothers within the
reach of this loop.
Very truly yours,
MANILA-U.S. TIMES:
JOHNNY M. PECAYO
Chairman, Publisher
and Editor-in-Chief
Glendale, California
Race for radical reforms in the Philippines
By
BART SAUCELO, M.D.
March 14, 2005
"When these shameful abuses continue in a country where about half of the
people are already suffering from severe poverty it is only logical to
expect that the outrage of the people would reach the boiling point where a
revolution becomes inevitable..."
It is becoming more evident
that the situation in the
Philippines
cannot last much longer. Anybody who knows the situation there will agree
that it is time for a radical change. The only question is whether it is
going to be a radical non-violent reform or a bloody revolution.
There are an increasing
number of people who believe that a bloody revolution is inevitable. The
only question is the right time for this to happen. They believe that
because corruption and inefficiency in government and poverty of the people
are going from bad to worse with no visible hope for reform the country is
now ripe for a revolution.
Many people who used to be
against any form of violence now share the belief that this hopeless
situation has got to change in one way or another. Billions of pesos
earmarked for paving roads and other public projects are disappearing to the
pockets of corrupt officials and hundreds of containers of donated and
purchased materials from overseas are getting lost in Customs. Government
officials continue to make public projects their “milk cows” from which they
continually siphon funds into their pockets leaving public works and
services neglected. Some high officers of the army, the Police Department
and other branches of government are stealing huge sums of money and
investing them in expensive real estate in
America
in increasing number.
Foreign businesses are
getting out of the country due to corruption leaving millions of people
unemployed. We will need to have a thick book to contain all the abuses and
corrupt practices in all parts of the country. Some say this is worse than
having a dictator. It is tyranny by an elite group of the rich and powerful
using their stolen wealth to silence judges and government officials as if
the government has become a crime syndicate. The people’s unhappiness and
complaints are being ignored and they have nowhere to go for redress of the
continuing injustice.
When these shameful abuses
continue in a country where about half of the people are already suffering
from severe poverty it is only logical to expect that the outrage of the
people would reach the boiling point where a revolution becomes inevitable.
No one can wait too long when the stomach continues to be empty and the
children are crying for food while government officials continue to plunder
the national treasury and impoverish the people.
The “People Power” that was
the pride of Filipinos for ousting a corrupt dictator by non-violent
revolution of Edsa I and another which removed another corrupt president in
Edsa II, did not seem to make a lasting effect on the corruption and
inefficiency of the government. They really did not remove the root cause
of the systemic corruption resulting in loss of respect and trust of the
people on the government, extreme poverty and fiscal crisis of the
government.
However, a bloody revolution
is going to be costly in lives, properties and national stability and will
set us back even farther into turmoil and disunity and make foreign
investors even more afraid in setting their business in the country.
Besides, those who would lead it could be just as corrupt and the resulting
condition could be even worse than what it is today.
Yet, a radical reform is
necessary if we want to survive and be proud again of our beloved homeland.
There are many organizations of concerned Filipinos all over the world
trying in their separate ways to help the country and avoid a violent
revolution. However, their efforts are parochial, regional and limited.
While they can continue with what they are doing there is a need to join our
hands and heads and to unite our efforts in order to achieve strength in
number and influence and promote coordination, cooperation and
sharing of resources.
Our enemies, CORRUPTION and
POVERTY, are too massive for small fragmented and scattered organizations
with small arms and limited ammunition to tackle the powerful, well
entrenched and widespread enemies. PEOPLE POWER is still our best if not
our only weapon. We know that the type of PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION of Edsa I
and II is not going to be enough to uproot corruption in the government. It
has to be more powerful, GLOBAL and COORDINATED with combined resources
fighting in a united front and sustained until the desired reforms are
secured.
The one element in Edsa I
and II that we will still utilize is the strength in number. We will have
millions of Filipinos from all corners of the world and all parts of the
Philippines to participate in a GLOBAL PROTEST to secure the desired reforms
combined with ECONOMIC PROJECTS to create jobs and fight poverty. With the
magic of the Internet we can have a more widespread and coordinated
demonstrations throughout the country and the world. We will also have
educational and motivational programs to arouse responsible nationalism and
activism.
It is with this perspective
that GLOBAL FILIPINOS FOR PROGRESS (GFP) is spearheading a non-violent
revolution; a global movement that we hope can prevent a bloody revolution.
But we have to act fast before a bloody revolution overtakes us in our race
for radical reforms. No true Filipino can afford to be just a bystander,
passive and indifferent when our motherland is dying and being abused for
too long now. The enemy of the people is worse than the corrupt dictator
because corruption now spreads through all segments of government. It has
weakened democracy and democracy is losing its luster in the eyes many
people.
The main target of GFP is
government corruption and inefficiency because we believe that it is the
major cause of poverty and unhappiness of the people. It is the major cause
of bankruptcy of the government.
GFP would like therefore to
invite all Filipinos all over the world to join us by becoming members. We
also invite all Filipino organizations around the world to join our movement
to form a coalition large enough that the government can no longer ignore.
Membership form is available
at our website:
http://www.globalfilipinosforprogress.org. We also invite you to read
educational and inspiring articles under ARTICLES in our website.
In order to fund our
non-violent revolution we are inviting participants in our GLOBAL FILIPINOS
FOR PROGRESS UNITED LENDING PROGRAM (GFPULP). This exciting and innovative
program is outlined in our website under PROGRAMS. (send
comments)
Morales will whip Pacquiao in 12 heats
By
ALEX P. VIDAL
March 8, 2005
If we read
the sports items in the national papers everyday since January this year,
the March 19 fisticuffs in Las Vegas, Nevada between our hero Manny Pacquiao
and Erik “El Terrible” Morales of Mexico are already over with Pacquiao
emerging as the macho man.
Almost on a daily basis,
sports pages of daily papers scream that the 5 feet and six inches Ring
Magazine “world champion” from
General Santos City
will terrorize and dominate the 5 feet and eight inches Mexican phenom who
tots a fearsome ledger of 47 wins, 2 losses spiked with 34 impressive
stoppages, in their pay-per-view tussle.
Abetted by some over excited
scribes who regularly lift stories from the internet highlighting the
self-serving boasts of A-1 trainer Freddie Roach that his Filipino ward will
definitely steamroll Morales, it seems the May 19 fight will be nothing but
an all-Pacquiao show.
One may also wonder if
Pacquiao will fight a dishwasher or a cab driver or if the rules have been
changed allowing Pacquiao to carry a pistol when he trades leathers with
Morales.
Obviously, little credit is
given to the fact that Morales is now fighting as a junior lightweight (130
lbs) while Pacquiao, who packs an equally sparkling record of 39 wins, 2
losses, 2 draws with 31 KO’s, is only a featherweight (126 lbs) and will
fight Morales in the junior lightweight class.
Morales, who has never been
knocked out in his career, has the best wheels in boxing and he starts the
brawl by winding up like he is working off a mound. He also throws fastballs
with both hands, that’s why he is touted as “El Terrible”.
Some Filipino fans think
that because he lost two of his three encounters with fellow Mexican legend
Marco Antonio Barrera, he has no chance of beating Pacquiao.
Wrong logic. Ismael Laguna
beat Carlos Ortiz who knocked out Flash Elorde two times in as many
encounters (Feb. 15, 1964 and Nov. 28, 1966); Elorde beat Laguna.
Iran “The Blade” Barkely
KO’d Thomas Hearns who knocked out Robert Duran who beat Barkley. Rafael
“Bazooka” Limon KO’d Rolando Navarette who stopped Cornelius Boza Edwards
who beat Limon. Cebuano Rolando Pascua KO’d Humberto “Chequita” Gonzalez who
beat Melchor “Cob” Castro who whipped Pascua. And so on and so forth.
Both Morales and Pacquiao
are KO artists but Morales moves faster and has the crisper combinations as
against Pacquiao’s killer left he used in pulverizing WBC flyweight kingpin
Chachai Sasakul in 1999 and annihilating Fashang 3-K Battery in December
2004.
We must take note that after
Juan Manuel Marquez recovered from the three flash knockdowns in the opening
canto versus Pacquiao two years ago, the WBA-IBF featherweight champion
managed to eke out a draw after 12 rounds. Meaning that he was able to
perfectly avoid Pacquiao’s killer left and nearly scored a points win if not
for that three knockdowns.
Both Barrera, Marquez and
Morales are now wary of that previously mysterious and dreaded left of
Pacquiao who has the tendency to expose his chin while moving in to deliver
a left straight.
There is no doubt that
Pacquiao is the stronger fighter. However, it will be another story if he
can catch the fast-moving Morales who is expected to plod and weave and cut
the ring using his height and dizzying speed and win the fight by unanimous
decision after 12 rounds. (send your comments to this article)
** Alex P.
Vidal is the Philippine Supervisor of the World Boxing Foundation
Don’t blame God if Eric Morales will outduke
Manny Pacquiao
By ALEX
P. VIDAL
March
4, 2005
We, of course, want our very
own Manny Pacquiao (38-2-2-1NC, 30 KO’s) to win over Erik “El Terrible”
Morales (47-1, 34 KO’s) in their much-awaited March 19 rumble in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
In fact, it is not right for
some quarters to invoke God as “on the side of Pacquiao” the reason why he
is purportedly sure to win. This is ridiculous since we all know that God
does not play a loaded dice. God is fair and square to everyone; He is the
most neutral Referee in the world.
Joe Louis had claimed that
"We're going to win because God is with us" and so Max Schmeling decimated
him in the 12th round on June 19, 1936.
If God will throw his lot on
the 26-year-old Pacquiao as the Filipino fans are wont to believe, is He not
unfair to Morales who also comes from a predominantly Catholic Mexico like
the Philippines? When Pacquiao climbs the ring to face the 28-year-old
Morales, God certainly will not go down from heaven just to guide the
punches of the Filipino lefty as did the Greek gods who guided the arrow
that hit the tendon of Achilles.
If boxing had been a
competition on how to reach heaven, it would have been an insult to the
angels. For the past weeks, national dailies have been dishing incredible
stories that predict a Pacquiao sure win as if he will face a blind and
crippled opponent. Awed by Pacquiao’s reputation as a heavy banger,
oddsmakers have initially installed the Gen. Santos City little necromancer
as the slight favorite, 2-1. Two weeks leading to the fight, the odds are
expected to either hike in favor of Pacquiao or will reverse.
Due to Morales’ awesome
punching power that brought him fame and riches, his investiture into the
pantheons of greats is already assured regardless of the result of his
engagement with the Filipino fisttosser.
To guide our readers how to
pick their winner without being nationalistic, aside from Marco Antonio
Barrera, here’s another common denominator between Pacquiao and Morales:
On July 31, 1999, Morales
mangled beyond recognition then RP junior featherweight champion Reynante
Jamili of Silay City, Negros Occidental in Tijuana, Mexico. The then World
Boxing Council (WBC) super-bantamweight ruler pole-axed the Ilonggo
pretender in only six rounds of a scheduled 12-round title fight held at the
Toreo de Tijuana.
Two years later in Manila,
Pacquiao ambushed Jamili and left him incapacitated with cracked vertebrae
in the second round in a battle for the vacant WBC international junior
featherweight crown. If I remember it right, Jamili would never fight again. (send your comments to this article)
