TIME TO ACT

By RG San Luis
October 4, 2017

The original quote from George Santayana is "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The modern variation has it at "those who do not learn history are doomed/condemned to repeat it."

Philippine history's greatest defect is there has never been a cathartic period where the status quo, or the establishment was overturned.

The Americans beat the Spaniards before the Philippine Revolution could succeed. Prior to this, Emilio Aguinaldo sold out to the Spaniards. He repeated it again by selling out to the Americans.

Manuel L. Quezon and his cabal carried over from the Philippine Revolution were the next to sell out to the Americans with the establishment of the Commonwealth.

The new world order after the end of World War II forced the Americans to recalibrate their priorities. They granted independence in name to their colony. This time, it was the turn of Manuel Roxas to sell out to the Americans with the grant of parity rights.
And so on this went from Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal and Marcos.

It stopped at Marcos because he refused to extend the Bell Trade Act which granted parity rights to the Americans and shortened the lease of the US bases in the Philippines. He was the only President who wasn't a total sellout to the Americans. He was also the only President to have invested heavily in infrastructure development.

Cory Aquino sold out to the Americans again in exchange for her assumption to the Presidency. Ramos obviously sold out because he's still America's son of a bitch in the Philippines. GMA did the same, following in the footsteps of her father. PeNoy did the same following in the footsteps of his mother.

Compared to our regional neighbors, the Philippines is the only country in Asia which hasn't undergone a catharsis in society.

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have all undergone purges of the monarchy or the communists, or both, in recent history.

At this point, the Philippines is only ahead of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Indonesia and Vietnam have already overtaken the Philippines. If we keep at our current pace and with all the politicking that has been taking place coupled with other socio-economic issues which remain unresolved, it won't be long before the three countries which are still behind us will also pass us by.

This is why it's imperative for Duterte to take the bull by the horns, wrestle it down and put an end to the anarchy and chaos which has been prevalent for the last thirty-one years.

It won't make much of an impact on the economy if the President cracks down on those who are out to oust him since either way, there is nothing to lose anymore. If they can't achieve their goal of ousting him, they will make sure that his Presidency fails to achieve the goals he has set.

The Yellowtards and the Redtards are brazen because no one in their ranks has been assassinated. But give them a taste of what happened in the late 80s up to the 90s and they will surely run like rats.

Just look at the Redtards in the US and the communist leadership in exile in the Netherlands. The deaths of Lean Alejandro and Rolando Olalia were more than enough to scare the shit out of them.

The window of opportunity is fast closing. If after the 2019 election the Opposition still doesn't quiet down then the prospects are dim for any institutional reforms to be put in place.

The time to act is now.