Parliamentary of the Streets
October 27th, 2005 at 8:50 am (General, National Politics)
Daily, we watch the news and see people in the streets with their banner, propaganda and idealism. They want PGMA out of the Palace and they want a new administration.
Weeks ago, a “prayer rally” led by former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Rep. Satur Ocampo and Fr. Robert Reyes was water cannoned by the police. There was much uproar over the violent dispersal of a supposedly religious rally. And then there was even more hullabaloo over the presence of an armed man (Sen. Madrigal’s bodyguard) among the ranks of the rallyists.
Much manpower, resources and energy are undeniably spent by both sides for either organizing or controlling these street demonstrations. Which begs the question: “Are these actions still effective?” In my opinion, not. Filipinos have already become accustomed and even immune to these protest actions. The moment which was supposed to spur the greatest amount of rallyists (the death of the impeachment cases) have come and gone. Street protests have become daily, common occurrences which defies its very purpose of catching attention and encouraging action from those who remain apathetic. Filipinos have become so used to the demonstrations that they would rather ignore it or even criticize it for causing more traffic and chaos in the streets.
I think that the so-called “parliamentary of the streets” have become ineffective for our current political situation. If the opposition is really serious in changing the administration, it’s about time they realize that their tactics are getting old and ignored. They should, instead, think of a new idea of attaining their goal because apparently, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the rest of the nation have become deaf and numb to the calls from the streets.
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Major Tom said,
October 28, 2005 at 5:39 am
It’kinda really sad that a once potent mechanism has now become a lame weapon. I guess, frequent and incessant use of such mode has made it so much ineffective now when good timing and wise use should have been undertaken.