EDSA Dos; Eyes Wide-Open The list of Philippine presidents is riddled with bad apples, and one of them is Joseph Estrada. A leader with an inclination for theatrics, he led the people on with his hero act of bringing highprofile criminals to jail in his stint in the Anti-Crime Commission. This made him win the presidential elections in 1998 by a large margin against Raul Roco and Jose de Venecia, jr. As many tragedies go, his term started well with efforts to improve the country’s tax collection system and demilitarizing the government, but ended badly with allegations of siphoning government funds for gambling. People’s tensions started to stir in October 2000, when Chavit Singson, a close friend of Estrada, went public with his accusation that the highest official of the land was gambling using the money of Filipino taxpayers. This earned the Filipinos’ ire, as public servants are supposed to serve the people and not act like petty kings. One relative of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous, remembers the pivotal moment when the masses mobilized against then-president Erap. Along with many people around the country, they are intently watching the broadcast on television as the impeachment trial happened in January 16, 2001. When 11 of the 21 senators voted not to open the envelope said to contain substantial evidence against then-president Erap, people started making placards with whatever materials they had and took out to the streets. Text messaging , she said, also played a big role in mobilizing the masses, as a slew of text messages urging the people to rally against the decision was received by her phone. The movement went on for days, she said, that another sister of hers got in labor in January 19 with the revolution still underway. After long hours of labor, her niece was born on 3 p.m in January 20, with the news blaring on the television that Joseph Estrada has stepped down and that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now president of the Philippines. The interview felt surreal, as with the birth of a child, a corrupt leader was overthrown. It must be acknowledged however that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the one who replaced Estrada, was no saint, either. She had her own fair-share of controversies and anomalies. It is quite disheartening know that the people fought hard to topple a corrupt official, only for him to be replaced with another corrupt one. What can be concluded here is that in the game of politics, it is often the masses who suffer. They are the ones who are being stolen from when those in position pocket millions of pesos from taxpayer money. They are the ones whose needs would not be met, as the funds needed for the projects that will benefit them are diverted to projects that interest those in power. As students continue to suffer from lack of textbooks, as people continue to struggle on muddy roads, as public transport services continue to stall because of the misused funds, our country cannot move forward at the pace we want it to take. Everyone has the same inclination to good and evil, as history has always proven. Marcos had those who opposed him tortured and killed; Cory, who replaced Marcos, ironically held on to the lands her family was supposed to give their farmers, resulting to the Hacienda Luisita massacre in 2004. Gloria Arroyo had the “Hello Garci” scandal, Noynoy Aquino drew flak for mismanaging the Mamasapano Encounter. What these circumstances clearly put forward is that we, the Filipino citizens, should have a watchful eye on our elected officials. There is no time to be a die-hard fanatic, blindly defending beloved politicians when substantial evidence proves otherwise. They are public servants, not public bosses. References: ANDREO CALONZO, G. (1970, January 01). Controversies under PNoy: Loss of lives, misuse of public funds. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/528862/controversies-under-pnoyloss-of-lives-misuse-of-public-funds/story/ Clapano, J. (2017, September 08). Erap on staged cleanup: It's sabotage. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.philstar.com/metro/2017/07/22/1720579/erap-stagedcleanup-its-sabotage Elections of 1998. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2020, from http://malacanang.gov.ph/74722-elections-of-1998/ Inquirer, P. (2019, January 10). Goodbye, 'Hello, Garci'. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://opinion.inquirer.net/118788/goodbye-hello-garci Simbol, D. (2016, November 16). 12 years on, still no justice for Hacienda Luisita massacre victims. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.rappler.com/moveph/hacienda-luisita-12-years-justice
