- COVENANT: The Search For
New Politics...
"Out of the heap of ashes of
your failures will rise your success!"
The mention of politics rings confusion. We hear:
"Marumi ang politika!" "Ang disenteng
tao ay di dapat makialam sa politika! Dahil sa politika laganap
ang 'graft and corruption'".
But the truth stands: No nation
exists without politics. In fact, every decision that has
public reach is a political decision. Every law takes effect because
of a political action.
When the constituencies of a nation together with
their government get their acts together we have a political will
which is essential for the unity and solidarity of a nation. Only
then will a nation progress.
What I am going to talk about is a search for a
new politics. It is a search for ways
and means whereby politics operate as it should for the good of
a people. We call the new politics COVENANT. It is a covenant by
which the nation together with their government get their acts together
to have a political will for the common good. The word COVENANT
resonates with God's pledge with his people: "I
will be your God, You shall be my people."
1. WHAT IS NEW POLITICS OR COVENANT?
The story of NEW POLITICS OR
COVENANT is a story of a search for a new politics which
will give new rays of hope to the nation and its constituency. The
search stems from 'the heap of ashes' of the recurring failure of
our Philippine politics to 'deliver the goods'. The present politics
is so littered with graft and corruption from
top down; there is constant bickering among politicians for
the sake of their vested interests. Consequently, the hope of the
nation is fast receding, and its constituency is driver to near-despair.
Out of this heap of ashes of our failures to get
our acts together as a nation, we sustain the hope that someday
will rise our success as a nation, as a people with a political
will and who can stand among the nations of the world "taas
noo, kapitbisig" on our way to authentic human development
of the whole human person, body and spirit, and for all human persons.
EDSA I was an unexpected historico-political event.
Who would think that President Marcos who was well entrenched in
power would be ousted? But Providence had it otherwise. Crisis developed
in the issue of peace and order; financial stability became precarious;
his 'lupus' disease disabled him from functioning the way he used
to. This over-all situation created a lacuna in the governance of
the nation, which gave the opportunity to his wife, Imelda, and
Gen. Ver to do their 'own thing' - in fact, both were suspect as
the agents who connived in the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. This
last incident was believed to have been 'the straw that broke the
camel's back'.
Victimized by the abuse of political power the people
had enough of the bitter gall under the Marcos 'dictatorship'. Numberless
victims were summarily killed ('salvaged'). Marcos and his cronies
plundered the coffers of the nation. The poor were getting poorer
which the rich were getting richer. Freedom of the press was suppressed.
Fortunately people did not have recourse to violence.
On the contrary, people sought a venue where they could display
and make their grievance forcefully heard against the Marcos regime.
They gathered in EDSA and raised their voices: "Sobra
na, tama na, palitan na!". A bloodless ouster of the
dictator followed. "Napalitan nga, pero
may pagbabago ba? Wala!"
Traditional Politicians (Trapos)
who were during the martial law regime sidelined now bounced back.
They came back and worked out again their scheming in a system that
they have mastered where they could satisfy anew their starved interests.
The military hardly gave up the power that the martial
law regime allotted to them. They practically held hostage the government
of President Cory Aquino by staging one military coup after the
other, about six of them. Because of this threat that hanged like
the sword over Damocles' head, President Aquino failed to resolve
the assassination of her husband, Ninoy, which was popularly attributed
to military connivance.
President Ramos took over from President Aquino.
He focused on strengthening our economy. Like the other Presidents
who preceded him he pinned his hopes for our economy on the IMF/WB
tandem and the TNCs. While seemingly the economy showed stability,
serious economic problems were passed on later to his successor.
Hope seemed to have returned when the overwhelming
popular vote installed Joseph "Erap" Estrada as President
of the Philippine Republic. His campaign slogan "Erap
para sa mahirap!" caught fire among the impoverished
masses and spread like wildfire.
But this hope was short-lived. A former 'companion
in arms' of Erap double-crossed him. Chavit Singson, the governor
of Ilocao Norte, squealed and made public Erap's plunder of the
nation's treasury. He accused Erap of having accumulated 3.5 billion
pesos through graft. Once opened, Pandora's box revealed facts and
data that led to the impeachment of President Erap Estrada.
Riding on the crest of this public expose' the businessmen
and the middle-class joined the public denunciation. This protest
and demonstration escalated to an EDSA II.
EDSA II resounded with a similar cry as that of
EDSA I but withy a qualitative difference. It is not anymore just
"palitan na". It is something
more: "Sobra na, tama na, ayusin na!"
It happened in the wake of the impeachment of President Erap Estrada.
The people saw that the adiminstration of the nation should be set
right. Ayusin na ang pamamalakad ng pamahalaan. We need good governance.
Good governance calls for a civil society. Using the definition
of President Lincoln of democracy, civil society is the 'rule of
the people'.
The million-dollar question is: WHO will straighten
out what has to be straightened out in the political life of the
nation? The people upstairs? Or the people downstairs? Or people
both upstairs and downstairs? But whose voice should prevail? The
voice of the many or that of the few?
EDSA II occasioned the clarification of who holds
the political power according to our Philippine constitution. The
Constitution states that the citizenry is the rightful holder of
the political power of the nation! The citizenry entrusts its political
power to the government officials whom they vote into office. And
this transfer of political power from the hands of the citizenry
to the hands of the office holders has an accompanying mandate.
And that is, government officials must exercise political power
for the common good and not for their own vested interest. Neither
must they exploit the citizenry, violating their constitutional
freedom, through vote-buying.
2. NEW POLITICS OR COVENANT IN ACTION
It is in the climate of this new unrest that the
COVENANT was born. If constitutionally the citizenry is the rightful
holder of political power, then civil society should pay attention
to the citizenry. The citizenry should be conscientized, that is,
made conscious of their rights and duties, enlightened and organized
for political action, guided by ethical principles, towards good
governance, demanding from the government the services with their
accompanying budget that the government owes the citizenry.
NEW POLITICS OR COVENANT'S PRINCIPLES:
- Sustainable development starts from the bottom
going up.
- Participation of the people from below is motivated
by personal consciousness with an ethical principle.
- The people's personal consciousness leads to
personal "owning" of the action to be taken.
- Political will happens when all parties involved
get their acts together.
- These parties are people elected to government
office, government line-agencies, organized sectors (peasant farmers,
labor sectors, indigenous people, women, youth) religious groups,
church people (bishops, priest, laity).
- Regular meetings hould be held.
- transparency and accountability must prevail
in relationships and group program and action.
- Last, but not the least, the nature of COVENANT,
as a non-partisan group, should be zealously upheld.
The NEW POLITICS OR COVENANT
calls for a Revolution. The Heart of
the Revolution is the Revolution of the Heart. Every believer of
New Politics must strive for Self-Conversion to God for the sake
of the Common Good. The Common Good is
Nourished and Sustained by Self-Expression,
Self-Determination and Self-Fulfillment. This is New Politics
or Covenant. This is the path for real People
Empowerment.
THE POOR NEED
NOT DESPAIR
"THIS NATION WILL BECOME GREAT AGAIN"
HONORABLE ALVIN
ALVINCENT ALMIRANTE
Chairman
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