Guilty
I decided to put my blogging in hiatus but today’s events made it hard to resist not writing anything down.
Just a while ago I heard someone on tv say something like "ang verdict na ito ay makakapekto sa taong bayan," or something to that effect (I can’t remember his exact words). I beg to disagree. Call me cynical or pessimistic or apathetic, but tomorrow, when all have been said and done about the trial, the poor will still be poor, the hungry will still be hungry, and (hopefully) we will still go back to work. Short of some freak miracle, I don’t expect our rollercoaster economy to change for the better anytime soon. So for those rooting for a guilty verdict, don’t expect something radically good to happen from an economic standpoint.
While some people say that a guilty verdict will give Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo some solid ground with regards to the legitimacy of her office, I do not think that is the case. Proving Estrada’s guilt will give justification to the Filipino people’s desire to remove a President who is not only corrupt, but is also ineffective in the performance of his mandate. Arroyo’s ascension to the presidency in 2001 was just a result of the Filipino people’s decision to assert that will, an action which was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court.
In effect, the Arroyo administration’s legitimacy issues will linger on until each and every one of the controversies it is facing is addressed, especially the cheating in the last 2004 elections. This victory is not of Arroyo, this is a victory for the Filipino people. So for political pundits painting this as a battle between Arroyo and Estrada, that is not true. This is the battle of the people against corruption and bad governance. And it is a battle that is yet to be won.
