Thursday, December 14, 2006

Adversus hostem aeterna auctoritas esto

Thus goes the old Roman adage- "To the enemy no quarter."

In many ways this is especially true today. We live in an age where mercy and clemency are vanishing in place of vengeance and over-the-top political correctness. Nowadays, if someone happens to slip up, the crowd goes into a frenzy worthy of the mob. This is especially evident in the Philippines as shown in all the brouhaha spent on the Cha-cha/Con-con/Con-ass issue(s).

Don't get me wrong. I'm entirely against them, too. Not only does the issue seek to circumvent the constitution entirely, but it is also a mere facade for politicians to extened their reign of terror in Congress or the Senate.

However, I'm also of the opinion that the militants and other various groups opposed to it have crossed the line.

Last Tuesday, 12 December, at exactly 2pm, a massive rally organized by the pseudo-Communists ( I call them this because majority of them wear red all the time ) marched along Commonwealth avenue, obviously to air their views as regards to the Dance of Death ( economic, political, cultural, you decide. ). They carried banners, placards, streamers and other paraphernalia that scremaed variations of 'No to Cha-cha', 'No to Con-con', 'Oust gloria now', 'Lechon-in si De Venecia' and other colorful slogans, such that can only be found here in Glorious Philippines. The rallyists were convened at the door of St. Peter's Church ( the drama! ), with some of their members still platooned in front of Diliman Preparatory High School. As you can imagine, this caused SEVERE traffic that was to last up until 6.30 in the evening. And I don't mean 'severe' in the ordinary, day-to-day sense. This was pressure-boiling, vein-busting, heat-stroke inducing bacchanalia at its finest.

It's moments like these that make me want to be a wannabe Fascist. I'm all for free speech, but please, don't make your business my business. And not helping to clear this mess ( but in fact, even contributing to it ) is the CBCP, which, in my opinion, has degenerated into nothing more than a political mouthpiece for bleeding-heart liberals. Case in point: my very own bishop, the Most Reverend Antonio Tobias, of the Diocese of Novaliches, is one of the most vocal critics of the Arroyo government.

I'm not exonerating the government as well. But really, you would think the Filipino people would have learned by now that bickering solves nothing and leads only to further division. Former President Cory Aquino, ironically enough, is also an ardent anti-Arroyo activist; recall that her reign was besiged by many destabilization attempts, and expect her most of all to know what the repercussions of such actions are.

So what exactly are my political beliefs?

For starters, I'm not so keen on a democarcy. There, I said it. Afterall, 'democracy' is but one letter away from being demoncracy, the rule of demons. I believe that an enlightened dictatorship or even a monarchy would be best. However, seeing as how that's nearly impossible to accomplish in this day and age of extrme political correctness, a system patterned after the Singapore government would be acceptable. In Singapore, they believe in the efficacy of corporal punishment, even for cases that are not that 'extreme'. One might recall that in Singapore, public caning is stil very much a common thing. By God, sodomy is a capital offense there: what's more to want? Remember, a state without teeth is rendered weak and helpless.

Going back to the rally, don't you think that the four hour period spent shouting slogans and calling for an end to Con-con ( haha, another thing, it seems the rallyists forgot that it was already trashed-- THE DAY BEFORE )by the militants could have been better used by acutally going to work? Instead of concentrating on abstractions an overwhelming majority of the rallyists don't even understand, they couyld have used the period instead by working, earning a living, and PROVIDING FOR THEIR FAMILIES. And I'm really serious. Most of the rallyists were from the disenfranchised sector, which we give the politically incorrect term of 'squatters'. I don't want to sound like a total elitist, but it is true when I say that they don't even understand what Cha-cha/Con-con/Con-ass is all about; I'm thinking they're just finding something, anything to vent their anger at. It's sad, I know, when a sector of society is generalised; but such is the sad truth here.

I love my country. But with all these Judases and Caiphases that populate all sectors of the society, maybe even including myself, I cannot blame anyone who decides to leave the country for greener pastures abroad. I can only hope that, someday, the Filipino people will realize just what freedom is.

3 comments:

Deany Bocobo said...

You must look for something to believe in. Something to fight or die for. Something to lose your smugness and disdain over, something to be alarmed and supernally concerned about, so that your life will mean something beyond yourself. Else what is talent for?

Archistrategos said...

It's not so much that I don't believe in something-- in fact, I'd argue the complete opposite-- but the fact that so many people who are supposed to be fighting for a cause have sunken so low as to further their own ends in what is supposed to be a valid concern. I'm against Cha-cha as well, but the hostility of the militants to the government is unbearable. I believe in the Philippines; I know that there are many virtuous souls who dwell in these lands, but manage to lead a quiet life. This is where the real change comes from. And lest we forget, many governments have been toppled in the past for legitimate concerns-- but too often have the ones that replaced them been worse off.

Anonymous said...

Traditionalists and Left Wingers though occupy the opposite ends of the Weltanschauung spectrum nevertheless stand on the same pole. Catholic conservatives/traditionalists and Marxist-lefties are both vilified, shunned, and misunderstood for their uncompromising and unyielding adherence to their dogmas/party-line. In this day and age of postmodern relativism and political correctness, it takes courage to proclaim that one possesses absolute and universal Truth and that those who refuse to take sides, those who choose to dally on the middle and on the uncertain would find themselves crushed to powders come the decisive moment of ideological collision.

Leftists/militants do not just find fault and hurl criticisms against the government just because they want to or arbitrarily venting their angst and anger against the government officials who should know better. Marxists have a totally different vision of how society should be shaped and run. Those people you call squatters may not have a delicate understading of "society" "power struggles" and "revolutions"; they follow the grumbles of their stomach but does that disqualify them from making the government responsible for the miseries of their wretched lives? I find it quite arrogant and irritating when I hear people say that the masses with their soiled cheeks and dressed in their filthy rags don't have any right to register their grunts and gripes just because they don't know understand the theoretical bases of their cause. Tell you what brother, the grumbles of their empty stomachs and feelings of desolation and despair is as REAL and TRUE as all the sophisticated conceptual definitions you encounter in your Sociology or Political Science class. Academicians have the luxury to study and dissect the sociological truths of poverty, corruption, and whatnot. The dirt poor get to LIVE them IN THE FLESH. You should appreciate your status and privilege. SEE how you could even afford to post a blog regarding the squatters and the noisy leftists.

You said they go to rallies instead of working their sorry asses, have you ever stopped and wonder how it should be like for these "squatters" to find a decent and profitable work when they don't even know how to read and write? And please don't peddle me that disgusting petty-bourgeois individualist, Manny Villar-like success story of working your way to the top through one's own wit and cunning. We all know that fairy-tales like that are just used by those who profit from the system to keep the dirty and stinking dukha from expressing their discontent and create false hopes that the system could possibly accomodate everyone's happy dreams.