A New Year usually starts with a
high degree of optimism and hope. Not so for the year 2003.
For as we usher in a new year, war
drums and war preparations by the United States against Iraq are
making war almost imminent. At home, the government's peace
talks with the National Democratic Front(NDF) and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front(MILF) have virtually collapsed since
the Arroyo government has piggybacked on the Bush campaign to
declare these groups as "terrorist". It is such a bleak
beginning.
But with fellow peace advocates
like Kate, Reinier, Shelley working with me at Yonip.com, as
well as others in the Gathering for Peace, People's Task
Force for Bases Clean-up and Asian Peace Alliance, I can always
hope and maintain sustained optimism for the future of this
planet.
This first day of the New Year,
2003, I was invited by the ABS-CBN News Channel(ANC) , Channel
31, 9-10AM to share my thoughts and reflections on "World
Peace". Here are SEVEN RESOLUTIONS FOR WORLD PEACE AND GOOD
GOVERNANCE that I shared to the world on this first day of the
year.
"1. Strengthen nationalism, social
responsibility and community consciousness rather than
individualism and self-centeredness;
2. Inspire humility and less sectarianism
rather than conceit or political partisanship for principled
national unity;
3. Dialogue and non-violence in the pursuit
of social, economic and political reforms rather than threats
and local or foreign-assisted militarist solutions;
4. Justice and reconciliation rather than
revenge and confrontation;
5. Strengthen the national economy and local
industry to create more local jobs rather than foreign-dictated
policies that expand foreign capital and market foreign goods
locally;
6. Resolve root causes of social conflict, rather
than relying on palliatives against symptoms through military
solutions; and
7. Focus on critical basic social
services(i.e. health, education, housing) for the poor majority
rather than unproductive military expenditures or debt
servicing. "
The people of the world, together
with the peace-loving American people, must avert war ,
especially the kind of "preventive war" that the United States
government is now trying to ignite. As Pope John Paul II in his
recent Christmas message said, "This preventive war (advocated
by Bush) is an act of aggression."
Questions and Answers on Current Issues
1. HOW DO WE ASSESS THE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRESIDENT GLORIA ARROYO NOT TO RUN IN 2004?
On one hand, it is a good starting point for the new year(2003)
so that the Arroyo administration can really buckle down to work
to improve the economy. Since the day that it took over from the
Estrada presidency, Arroyo has engaged in cheap gimmicks and
image-building,such as her 'Men in Black' photo sessions and
personally presenting to the media every suspected criminal that
our law enforcement agencies have apprehended. These, however,
have backfired on her administration, and has in fact made her a
political pygmy of some sort as reflected in the latest public
opinion surveys showing President Arroyo being ranked No. 4 if
presidential elections were held today. In short, the general
perception is that her administration is just engaged in
political gimmickry to enhance her chances of winning the
presidential elections in 2004. Of course, she has also been
pulled down by the highly publicized reports of anomalies
involving some of her cabinet members, including those linking
the first gentleman, Mr. Mike Arroyo.
But the problem really is credibility. If she was leading in
recent opinion poll surveys, it would be a great sacrifice for
her not to run in 2004. Is she really giving up so much when she
is not even anymore a serious presidential timber, but a
political pygmy even to her ruling political party, the Lakas-NUCD
which she heads? In 2000 when, as vice president she became the
constitutional successor to deposed president Estrada, she vowed
that no close relative of hers including her son, would be
allowed to run for public office. Then, when elections came, her
son was included in the slate for Vice Governor of Pampanga with
the full backing of Arroyo's political party machinery, an
election which his son handily won. Actions like these speak
louder than words!
2. WHAT ABOUT THE HIGHLY-PUBLICIZED SUGGESTION OF HOUSE
SPEAKER JOSE DE VENECIA TO FORM A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY
THAT WOULD INVITE LEADERS OF REBEL GROUPS LIKE JOSE MA. SISON
AND HASHIM SALAMAT INTO THE CABINET?
These are laughable suggestions, at least for genuine leaders of
the people. They are measures to coopt or even bribe with
positions of power and privilege principled leaders of people's
movements, tactics which have been utilized since the Spanish,
American and Japanese colonization of the Philippines. In those
days, our colonizers bribed weakling resistance leaders with
local positions of political power so they could be used against
their own people resisting colonization.
If the Arroyo government were really serious about renewing
itself, then it should integrate into its national agenda
pro-poor and pro-sovereignty programs and implement these with
priority budgets to assure their realization. People's movements
as well as revolutionary movements are not struggling and
sacrificing just so that certain leaders will get positions of
power without altering priorities or reforming the system.
A good start would be for the Philippine government to implement
the pro-peace provisions of the Philippine constitution by not
supporting Bush's war preparations against Iraq and instead work
for peaceful negotiations towards disarmament. Arroyo can also
begin a renewal by asking her supporters in Congress to put
their budgetary priorities on the vital basic social services
like health, education and housing for the poor, instead of the
military, police and intelligence budgets.
This is just to remind us that so long as the root of grave
social inequalities are unresolved, rebellion and uprising will
remain an attractive option to the unfree and the poor.
January
1, 2003
* Article by Roland G
Simbulan - For a full professional background of Professor
Roland G. Simbulan (Click
Here)
