for greensophia
So, what basically is Roco’s strategy that can raise “this country from the loony bin”? How will he empower the youth? And what is that “idealism” your talking about? Is it as extreme as Plato’s?
Roco's (we call him in the party RSR), ideals in politics and nation building are compromised between his own and that of Plato's.
i think its time for me to answer this.to greensophia, im sorry this came in late, i got my hands filled with accounting and newspaper stuff, not to mention going to his wake each and every day that his body was laid at the dela strada church.
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And what is that “idealism” your talking about? Is it as extreme as Plato’s? Roco's (we call him in the party RSR), ideals in politics and nation building are compromised between his own and that of Plato's.
like Plato, there are certain aspects in the system that RSR immutably believed at. one example of which is the country's electoral process and the capacity of the people to finally choose the candidates out of the people's conviction and not on the candidates' popularity. he denied to himself patronage and band-wagon politics.he fought the election thinking that the "perfect" system would work for him and that the people would judge according to their WISE convictions. such thing did not happen but still he believes in the people and the system. he believed in the perfect ideals of nation building and he worked in accordance to his perfect ideals of nation building. he taught us the "sunshine principle" and the principles of non-compromise politics. he believed in the youth and its united ideals and clean convictions. he denied the existence of a divided Filipino youth. he had a perfect country and that all these that the country undergoes shall pass, and the ideal country he has shall prevail again. it only takes leaders and the citizenry to let it pass. however, he recognizes his limitations the limitations of what he can do. he once said that he would never eradicate poverty and corruption totally. but he will start the work and eradicate only a portion of it. i guess its safe for me to say that he too was a realist.
in the years that i have been with the party i can say that he is a neo-idealist. he refused to accept the unacceptable practices of politics, even if it cost him his political career. he refused to subscribe to the practices of traditional politics. he instilled in us how should the country be, how should the politicians lead the country and how should the youth take charge in nation building. yet he instilled in us the values of realism, saying that what the country should work for is attainable and measurable, otherwise, all efforts will be futile.
what basically is Roco’s strategy that can raise “this country from the loony bin”?
in economics, the country's resources compose of land, labor and capital. in his own words, the country's resources include land, labor, capital, and intellect.
indeed, the root of this country's problems is the people's lack of education. imagine a country composed of us, the educated youth. things could be more acceptable is it not?
he never said that reforms could be achieved in six years. he never said that there is still hope for this country in his lifetime.
reforms can be achieved in decades of hard work and there still hope for this country should we, the youth, start working for it. and there is hope for this country in our lifetime.
How will he empower the youth?
he did not specify how he would. but with the experience that i had i can say that he can empower the youth by showing us what should be.
when we look at our fathers for guidance we see cynicism. when we look at our politicians for guidance we see misplaced pragmatism. he lived with the ideals that we yearn and with that he showed us that there is still hope, that cynicism has no room in politically immature nation and that misplaced pragmatism is unacceptable for the country.
indeed there is still hope, only if the youth would become politically matured enough.
posted by ray john @ 4:27 PM
15 Comments:
Very well said I should say but do you think that having an educated youth or population for that matter is the solution to the problem of this country? Can it change the disposition of the Filipino people? Personally I think it is not just poverty that is hindering some people from having good education; it is also their lack of proper disposition to learn and change. But certainly making education accessible even to the poor is going to be a great help. The present administration does not seem to understand this for every year Gloria cuts the budget of state universities while increasing that of the military. Did Roco have something to say about this issue?
I can’t also help but think what would have happened if he won in the last election. Do you think he could achieve even some of his goals in the span of just one year and two months to be exact? And also I think if he did win… our country would have been experiencing a great political instability right now (well maybe not as great as the political crisis that we are in now) for those political beasts (who have insatiable appetite for power) would again fight for the post left by him. And then things will be as it always had been for Philippine politics. That is why I find it hard to blame the people who have gone cynical. This country has seen all the worst sides of politics. People have been fooled again and again. But I am not one of them fortunately. Like you I still have hope for this country. I know that the time will come that people would finally get tired of being used and fooled and that they will leave behind false beliefs and accept changes that are necessary in order for things to finally go right. But what will it take for this thing to happen? A philosopher king perhaps? Nah, of course it is too ideal and yes people would kill him before he even reigns. I can only hope that if ever there would be someone closest to this kind of leader, he would live long enough to leave a mark that can not be ignored nor erased by the political beasts. And yes maybe Raul Roco was that kind of person for the Philippines.
yes, i very well do. looking at it in a broader scenario, this country has long been in the loony bin because of its leaders. right? this country has long been in the loony bin because not that we lack intellectual leaders, but because we lack sincere politicians.
looking at it in a broader scenario, this country has long been in the loony bin because we, the people never knew how to cooperate. it takes two to tango so to speak, and yes, you'll be correct if you will argue that not everything in this goddam country is the doing of our politicians. of course, there are those who contribute to this country's slow demise. no pun intended to some people, but the left contributes to its excrutiating ordeal in the toilets. the rightist and cetrists do as well. but they are only few in the society, yet they are hell bent on pushing for their own agenda.and who goes in the middle, which these groups use as their mass base?
yes you're correct, the hapless masses. its not that i am undermining them, but i should know that much of them know nothing everytime these groups tag them along in a demonstration at Mendiola. i should know because i see them all the time.
indeed, the country's woes are not less of a question of which meal to eat tonight? and it all boils down to the people's lack of education.
if only the people are educated enough, then they would head to the streets not because they were paid money to buy themselves packs of lucky-me for dinner, but because they know what their convictions are. in this scenario, no one will be used to stage another EDSA people power revolution.
if only the people are educated enough, they would know that division out of differences in principles is a no-no in this country.
am i making sense? i dont think i am. i am bit rattled, please do understand if i dont.
and most important of all, we would not have insincere leaders if only the people are educated enough to ascertain what is real from what is not.
sovereignty rests on the people, all power shall emanate from them.
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The masses… what an irony. They are powerful and yet powerless. They are powerful because obviously they have the numbers and powerless yes because of their ignorance. I understand what you are trying to say but like other ideal things it is easier said than done. Empowering the youth is hard enough but educating the masses is I guess the toughest thing to achieve. How can you make those people understand about what is right and what is wrong when they have not yet eaten for days? You can not talk morality with an empty stomach. Again the issue of poverty is talking here but I do not want to dwell on that matter. Since it is almost impossible to educate the masses, the alternative theory there is of course is to rely our hopes on the middle class. This class in society is not as numerous as the masses but they eat at least thrice a day and have a proper disposition to learn. Yes of course it reminds you of that popular theory in politics by Aristotle which is the Golden Mean. In my opinion it is more feasible to lessen the number of the masses (or decreasing the poverty) thereby increasing the number of the middle class then educate them.
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yeah i know, it is indeed a herculean task. and you are correct with your argument that you cannot teach a hungry stomach. that is why we in the party recognize the limitation of what we can do.i never said that we can educate the entire masses, i never said that we can effect total overhaul in the system and that we can launch our own concept of social revolution thru education. but we can start it.
as i have said, we recognize our capacity and its limitations. total overhaul of the system can be achieved drastically by killing all filipinos and start a new society. one needs to reboot the system in order to overhaul it in an instant. but that is too drastic and impossible to say the least. we recognize that if one wants to reform the system thru education, one will take decades, not just one, not just two.that's the only way to go.
that is why this country should educate the young, start to teach them what is and what is not. an ounce of reform would be enough in this lifetime, let the next generation carry on with the next step untill all that is left is an educated society.. sounds ideal? yes of course. but unattainable? nah, it is... an ounce would be enough...
indeed, the middle class will start the efforts for this ideal.
i have a class, i think i have not answered querry on poverty.. ill get back to it after my class
huh? sablay yata yung una? whatever
I see… so it’ll be one step at a time. So what’s the first step of educating the youth? And by the way what do you mean by “educating”? Is it in the form of formal education (i.e. going to school)? Pardon but I have this cynical thought again. How can you educate the youth if their parents are not educated enough to even know the value of good education? Is it ok to force them to send their children to school? And where are we going to get the funds needed to support those who are willing to learn but do not have the means (again the issue of poverty)? And what about the saying “Kung ano puno sya ring bunga”?
Funny but I was kind of reminded of a book I’ve just recently finished. It dealt about the issue of utilitarian bioethics. This branch of philosophy advocates the killing of people who have nothing good to contribute to society (e.g. people with incurable diseases, very old people, babies born with physical disabilities and yes, people who have low IQs). Its goal can be so extreme that the only people that would be left are the ones that have Ph. Ds. after their surnames… the “perfect” ones. Sounds very wonderful, isn’t it (setting aside moral issues of course)? Imagine a world full of people talking about the teachings of Plato, Descartes, Nietzche, Socrates, and other great thinkers with so much enthusiasm but without people scratching their heads because they do not have a clue what those “perfect” people are talking about. Now, that would be too boring, isn’t it? Further most often than not high intellectual capacity comes with intellectual arrogance so those “perfect” beings will be fighting like hell on who is the most brilliant of all. And then there would be intellectual war. Well, I don’t want to picture it any further. It can be very entertaining but it is quite exhausting and it is not going to happen in the Philippines anyway.
Yes I know that is not really what you are advocating; I just wanted to share it. Indeed high intellectual capacity sometimes comes with an ethical price.
that utilitarian thing that you have read is we have thought before and yes, setting moral issues aside, that is too ideal.
i can see that somehow you are a bit cynical over this education thing.. i see, i will become a bit technical here.
first off, do you think that the country is poor in terms of its economic resources (based on our context of capital, labor, land and intellect)? i think otherwise. the country is not rich, neither is it poor.
the country has the monetary resources to fund for a decent public education, unlike the hapless one the government provides as of the moment. the key word is proper budget allocation.
yes, the law says that education should have the biggest cut in the country's budget. but tokenism already reside in the hall of the congress when they set out the bigest cut for DepEd, yet they continuously cut it down and plug it to other useless endeavors such as modernization of the military and corruption-magnet infrastructures. thus:
1. the government should refrain from cutting down the budget for education.
2. wise prioritization. the country does not need a superhighway in the middle of manila bay, neither does it need huey choppers and other vietnam war junks for its military, badly. therefore, the corresponding agencies' budget should be cut down and should be plugged in to DepEd's budget.
3. tax reform, in the context not that of the system of taxation, but rather in the system of collection. based on my accounting education, i can say that the country's tax system is one of asia's most comprehensive, if not the most comprehensive.therefore, the problem lies not on the rates and on the law itself, but rather on the agency instituted to collect taxes. the congress has yet to pass another vital bill that will institute reforms in the BIR - the Internal Revenue Management Act of IRMA.
less corruption in BIR=better collection=additional revenue=additional budget for education.
4. debt restructuring. of course the country should not ask for condonement because that will paint a worst image in the country's capacity to pay its debt. the better solution is to restructure its external liabilities. in the context of accounting, debt restructuring means converting the country's presently maturing obligation to long term obligation. part of this is the negotiation for its interest. in this way, the country will experience a respite in paying its debt, thus it can allocate the money intended for its debt repayment to basic services, more specifically, education. further, this will buy the government time in raising the needed fund to pay its debt come its due date. this will further, if the country will be lucky enough, bring down its debt's interest rate.
5. efficient resource utilization. the country is not an industrial country, it is an agricultural state. in its effort to raise revenue, the country should focus more in its agricultural resources. bring back the days of marcos and macapagal where the country was the food bastion of the asian region.
you see there is money for education, you just have to convert it into books instead of bullets.
now is it a formal education?
i say, its a multi-pronged attack. of course, formal education comes first. but it should simultaneously come with political education so that we will become politically matured, socio-cultural education so that we will fully grasp what we are as filipinos.
i dont think there is a single parent who doesnt want to send his kid to school. if you are speaking in the context of the masa, who would rather have their children work than to go to school, i dont think they deliberately want it. that is cynicism in the purest form. they do not believe that the system will work for them even if they want it to. they are sucked up by heplessness mainly because the system doesnt really work. but if you will show them it is otherwise and that you will make it work efficiently for them, they will be receptive to it.
the tasks are very daunting,but it is better to move a bit than not to move at all and nag.
I acknowledge the fact that I am being pessimistic and these are the things running on my skeptical mind right now after reading your post.
Problem: ignorant people and inefficient leaders
Solution: elect people who know how to allocate scarce resources efficiently (e.g. who know how to prioritize education over less important matters)
But the people are ignorant and will be fooled again and again by political trapos.
Solution: education plus the political education you are saying.
How? The government again but it is ineffective.
And then you’ll think again “Yeah, if we only have leaders who are not just intellectual but also ethical and honest. If only.” Or a better alternative would be someone who is not that ethical but who gets things done (the one prescribed in The Prince). Ends shall justify the means. If you can meet the basic needs of the people they will love you and will respect your rule even if you have imperfections (well no one is perfect anyway).
So how do you break the cycle? Yes, maybe part of the problem is that we rely much on government. The people should realize that they are also part of the problem. It is not government alone that should work but also the civil society at large which includes orgs like the NGOs. I believe that these organizations can really make the difference and can put an end to that cycle. You just need that kind of intervention to break a seemingly endless cycle and from there maybe good things may just happen.
But the people are ignorant and will be fooled again and again by political trapos.
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that is where youth empowerment sets in. in the EDSA DOS that i joned, majority of the protesters were members of youth sector. i do not know the exact figure, but the youth sector composes the biggest chunk of the country's population. majority of this sector is composed of voting youth. now how do you start it? of course, the masa will be fooled time and again by traditional politicians. give them a bag a lucky-me and they will praise you. but the youth, somehow, thinks first. if we could only muster an, as big as what we have envisioned, to unite the youth then we can make and unmake a political career.
you will ask me how?
1. leadership by example is vital. you have to show the youth that there is hope. no punn intended, but you have to see it yourself.. peace
2. youth empowering youth programs. (forum, sympoium, etc etc etc)
3. intesify the advocacy of youth empowerment thru student publications
4. creation of Department of Youth Affairs (DYA)
5. revised history curriculum
6. revised CAT curriculum
7. reform the Sangguniang Kabataan
8. utilize mainstream media efficiently for the advocacy.how? thru shows and printed materials that are appealing to the youth that espouse the ideals of youth empowerment
im afraid i have to cut this, its 20 mins before the last train leaves for cubao...
Ah, yes I know I will have to see it for myself. Anyways I think we can’t really meet on some matters here and I apologize for taking such a huge space on your comment space here in your blog. I also want to thank you for taking time on answering my comments. Really nice of you, Mr. Bangi.
Well, I just hope that when you run for office (I am quite sure you will), I hope I am still alive by then (if my cynicism has not killed by that time. He he.) for me to be able to vote for you (if you have not lost yet the idealism that you have now which of course I hope you will not).
Propagate the good seeds and wither the bad ones.
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i will no longer run for public office. but that does not end there and i will still contribute in the efforts of nation building, in a different capacity though.
RSR will be remembered not as the country's president but rather the one who planted the seed of change.
i remain committed to that. and someday i will be remembered, not as a politician, but the one who nurtured that seed. i do hope you become one of us in your own capacity... produce student leaders...
Are you sure? Baka mag ala-Gloria ka nyan. He he… peace, man.
“…. seed of CHANGE.”
Whenever I hear the word “change”, my cynical mind would be active again. “Nothing endures but change” according to Heraclitus, but why is it that the Philippine politics has not change even one bit for decades? Same kinds of politicians run our public offices. Oh wait yeah yeah I am doing it again. Pardon. Changing a system like that will not happen with just a single blow of the wind. The Filipino people will need to work hard for it to happen.
So may the God and the Filipino people be with you and your party.
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