Farewell Cory

We never met.

I never had a chance to tell you how much your actions affected the course of my life and made some of the things that I do possible. Blogging is the high tech equivalent of speaking out in the streets, some would say, and I can hardly imagine writing some of my entries for fear of being taken away in the middle of the night, never to be seen again.

Now that you're gone after having suffered for quite a bit, I look back at some of the thoughts I had written out and feel a little bit of regret after having, in a way, disparraged the first and only EDSA Revolution so many times. But then again, perhaps, you knew how democracy bites back and maybe if it is true that you are a saint of this nation, you would have already forgiven me by now.

I had said that the EDSA Revolution was not a revolution, judging by the way the Oligarchs had returned to power and how government, was once again, their biggest milking cow. I find it revolting that some of members of the so-called opposition publicly deride the incumbent President but also seek favors from her in secret and earn money from fat government contracts through their relatives, cronies, and dummies. I find it revolting that those who were with you when you were cheated out of a rightful victory in a snap election, have also resorted to vote manipulation. I find it revolting that those whose business interests were stricken down during Martial Law now have a firm hold over the biggest busineses in the country.

I find it revolting that the ideals of EDSA 1, remain ideals.

And I almost forgot what they were until I found an old copy of your Freedom Constitution:

WHEREAS, the new government was installed through a direct exercise of the power of the Filipino people assisted by units of the New Armed Forces of the Philippines;

WHEREAS, the heroic action of the people was done in defiance of the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, as amended;

WHEREAS, the direct mandate of the people as manifested by their extraordinary action demands the complete reorganization of the government, restoration of democracy, protection of basic rights, rebuilding of confidence in the entire governmental system, eradication of graft and corruption, restoration of peace and order, maintenance of the supremacy of civilian authority over the military, and the transition to a government under a New Constitution in the shortest time possible;

WHEREAS, during the period of transition to a New Constitution it must be guaranteed that the government will respect basic human rights and fundamental freedoms;

WHEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the sovereign mandate of the people, do hereby promulgate the following Provisional Constitution:

Article II Section 1.

The President shall give priority to measures to achieve the mandate of the people to:

(a) Completely reorganize the government and eradicate unjust and oppressive structures, and all iniquitous vestiges of the previous regime;

(b) Make effective the guarantees of civil, political, human, social, economic and cultural rights and freedoms of the Filipino people, and provide remedies against violations thereof;

(c) Rehabilitate the economy and promote the nationalist aspirations of the people;

(d) Recover ill-gotten properties amassed by the leaders and supporters of the previous regime and protect the interest of the people through orders of sequestration or freezing of assets of accounts;

(e) Eradicate graft and corruption in government and punish those guilty thereof; and,

(f) Restore peace and order, settle the problem of insurgency, and pursue national reconciliation based on justice.

ARTICLE III

GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION

Section 1. In the reorganization of the government, priority shall be given to measures to promote economy, efficiency, and the eradication of graft and corruption.

I've made a mistake of blaming the failure to realize the mandate of this Constitution on your leadership, perhaps it's time I really owned up to the task.