The Philippine social volcano is ready to erupt. It might be worse than the infamous Mt. Pinatubo when it exploded and covered many provinces, cities and towns by lahar. This social volcano has been sleeping for hundred of years, and admittedly it has more lahar to cover and to change the political playing field, currently strewn into chaos and milieu of fear among the elite; and the festive ambiance of the poor, looking forward for a change.
2016 Philippine election is heating up, moving people to participate and to engage in the electoral process when the head of the country will be elected and governed for the next six years. But the political landscape has been changing everyday when the two leading candidates have been exchanging massive accusations and tirades.
The political battlefield is between Rodrigo Duterte, the Mayor of Davao; and Mar Roxas, the protege of the current President Noynoy Aquino who wants to continue his mandate of “Matuwid Na Daan”. Along with these two presidential candidates are the people behind their candidacy: Duterte has the common people, mostly marginalized, mostly the poorest among the poor; while Roxas has the backing of the Malacanang honchos, by the selected elite, by the moneyed people, by the big establishment. Charges and counter-charges have been the litany of actions. And the accusation of corruptions have been the cry from both camps.
Between these two candidates, the poor, the marginalized, the outsiders of the system have been crying for changes and underneath they are burning with the desire for equal treatment, for a government serving the people, not the elite, not the moneyed people, not the corrupts. The heat is on, like melting lava and hot rocks ready to explode.
Duterte has been the leading candidate, and the probable winner in the May 9th election. Print and broadcast media, let alone the social media, have become the messenger, the informant of the dirty and filthy election process, a defining symptom of a dysfunction government. Most of the media are promoting fear of a possible imposition of a military government. Fear begets fear, and the elite and the powerful have started digging more dirt to stop Duterte. It has becoming an ugly war between the rich and the poor!
The elite and the moneyed populace are afraid for the change which Duterte has been fighting for while the poor, the marginalized, the people outside the system have been rallying hard to make changes in the governance, benefiting every one, making themselves as the recipients of the wealth of the nation.
The 2016 Philippine election ignites political debate and induces personal tirades for black propaganda, making this democratic process thrown into a lion’s den where the strong, the mighty survive and the loser dies of too much pain and hardships.
Yes, pains and hardships are the common threads in the Philippine’s more than 25 millions who are victims of inequity for many decades, hoping for a better life. Many presidential elections had been held, unfortunately, the cries of help were unanswered. Corruptions have become the underground business of the governed, the elite has reached much higher levels, the rich has become super rich and the poor has become much poorer in the country where the natural resources are more than wealth to sustain the growing population. The Philippine is brazenly politicalized against the will of the majority.
President after president, unsolved problems after unsolved problems like the unabated corruption, inept governance,and malfunction execution of justice and inequitable distribution of wealth.
Yes, the economy is growing to a 6% but the question is: does it help the poor?; yes the Philippines has become a lender of million of pesos to some countries, but the poor has been hostage for a very long time.
The majority of the people are tired of hoping for a radical change and has lost faith in the dysfunction system and the sleeping social volcano is ready to erupt.
And its suffocating lahar might change the political landscape, and this has been coming for a long time.
