I didn’t march in Luneta last Monday. I support the cause of the pocket picnic and those who participated in it and I’ve expressed my agreement with it by sharing posts on social networks for the issue to garner more attention, but to be honest I’ve become skeptical – if not cynical – about the whole notion of activism – in a traditional sense of taking to the streets at least. I’ve been accused of lacking the idealism that’s expected of the youth. That passion to go out into the world, all guns blazing, and change it. In light of that I’d like to take this time to clarify my stand.
As inspiring as going out “all guns blazing” sounds, the same metaphor leaves us to ponder the idea that the pursuit of change takes on a sort of belligerent form – that of a war that we must fearlessly engage in. This image we call to mind is now worth scrutinizing then. The idea of an explosive, adrenaline–overload shoot out is no doubt based on Hollywood’s portrayal of any battle in war. This fails to capture the myriad dull yet necessary efforts of waiting patiently for the enemy , tediously mapping out the battlefield, or trying to carefully gather ammunition because the fact of the matter is war is a process – a slow, meticulous one at that at least if you want to win. And going out all guns blazing runs the risk of gassing out soldiers in the long stretch of a tiring conflict. Taking to the streets is, no doubt, effective especially in a country that has often utilized People Power but how long can it actually be kept up? Forcing action against alleged criminals is one thing, institutionalizing reforms is another. Much like war, change is a process. A gradual procedure that requires constant and steady discipline to guarantee long after the rest of the people have gone back to their daily lives.
Given the above-mentioned concept of change we must go back to the concrete example of the massive march in Luneta during the recent Hero’s Day celebration and ask how this all relates to philosophy. In Marcel’s notion of reflection as attention, reflection is prompted by an obstruction in our daily routine – like the loss of a precious object such as the pocket watch in Marcel’s example...or 10 billion pesos . When the country found out that the tax payers’ money had been greedily pocketed by a few people it caught our attention and led each one to reflect on the issue. And though reflection is a personal endeavour, here we also see the intersubjective nature of truth wherein people shared their individual reflections on the issue whether it be how appalling it is that Janet Lim-Napoles and her co-conspirators – that include some of our very own congressmen - funneled billions of pesos to ghost NGOs for their own benefit, or how we have let the abuse and misuse of the pork barrel go unchecked, or even the issue of widespread corruption itself - all of which are examples of reflection as introspection. Different paths to the truth that a great atrocity was committed against us.
Onto the 3rd and final phase of reflection, upon realizing that people have been wronged, the consensus was that there should be something done about it. That we have to change our attitude towards the issue into a more active one - this is where reflection as conversion comes in. And so the people marched. And, as participants of the said event will be quick to point out, Napoles surrendered herself to the president just a few nights ago, 3 days after the march and less than an hour after the announcement of 10 million peso bounty on her.
Does that not affirm then the effectiveness of activism? Well it’s a start. We must remember that the clamor in Luneta was for the abolition of pork barrel and for the alleged abusers of this government allocated fund to be held accountable. Only part of the call was heeded with Napoles’s surrender, a fraction of the march’s aims that, in fact, still has to undergo another process. Another fight, this time in the courtroom trenches in a long legal battle of attrition that goes on for years and years.
This is where the real challenge to those who seek change starts. In the slow judicial process of the country, criminal lawyers have discovered and exploited a deadly secret; Filipinos have a very short memory. The modus operandi is quite simple. Lawyers and their accused clients just wait it out. In due time the public will lose interest in the issue and as media here, unfortunately, just cater to the whims of their viewers, the case dies down and in the quietness of it all these lawyers make their shady deals with their shadier contacts and their clients just silently slip out. A few stay in prison, of course, enjoying special privileges like being able to go out for a dentist appointment – remember the Tony Leviste incident? And with the insidious cunning of these pettifoggers how can we reflect when they very well make sure that the issue never again captures our attention? Does anyone remember the Comfort Women? The Marcos regime victims of human rights abuse? The NBN-ZTE scandal? The Maguindanao Massacre? A few, yes. But is their clamor for justice, for reform, enough to garner a buzz in social media? To make at least the front page of the paper? Will people still be marching in Luneta 6 months from now, or a year from now, or decades from now if it takes that long to prosecute these criminals? Will the screams of makibaka, ‘wag mag-baboy! echo through to the end of the long and dark tunnel of the judicial process?
Reflection starts with attention. A constant attention to the things that have long been forgotten. An awareness enough to galvanize us into action.
Just in Katipunan there are kids begging in the streets, the cliché image of poverty, has probably now taken on a new meaning in contrast to the grand lifestyles of the people involved in that billion-peso scam. There is no shortage in the opportunities to see social injustice, just the challenge of finding it important enough to actually grab our attention despite our desensitized attitude.
The greater march is the day to day walk along the poverty-stricken streets. The greater rally is the constant reflection on the constant injustices that we must address. Let’s not forget that.
