When I was young—in my teens, that is—I always hear these people called politicians who proclaim to all and sundry that “all of us have identical desires and wishes; we have common aspirations for what is best for our society”. I thought then, innocent or naïve as I was, that what he meant was that all of us humans have the same wish and dream for our respective selves. And that is, we all nurture the same longing to get rich! I couldn’t help but point my inquisitive thought in that direction as the end of everyone’s life’s journey, seeing that all the politicians I knew became well-to-do after some time in public office.
And most of them, mind you, are good speakers! There was one I remember who held the distinction of being ceremoniously introduced as ‘bantugang orador ug orador sa mga bantugan!’ [a great orator and orator of the greats!] every time his time to speak came. Haha. Quite an introduction eh! In fact, if there was an outstanding quality among politicos that lasts in the memory of the electorate, it was the “gift of gab” that most everyone of them possessed.
But going back to their claim that “all of us have identical desires and wishes; we have common aspirations for what is best for our society”, it occurs to me now that they were saying a truth. Yes, the politicians and us do want peace to reign in our country. And this is what President Noynoy desires. That is why he wanted so much the BBL to be enacted with haste.
Well, the people — Moro and Christians alike — do want peace too. But President Noynoy, as spokesman of the economic interests of the foreign monopoly-capitalists, the big comprador capitalists, and the landlords, do want peace that is very conducive to the continued subjugation and exploitation of the masses. He desires a kind of peace where the workers and peasants, especially the Lumad people, and the other impoverished masses, would just keep their mouths shut—would not lift a finger to protest the plunder of the nation’s wealth and resources by the US imperialists and their local cohorts—would remain docile in the midst of extreme poverty and misery—would not resist the blatant abuse of their fundamental human rights. To the eternal enjoyment of heaven by the ruling classes, and the eternal damnation in hell of the masses!
Peace for the ruling classes means no disturbance in our holidays for profits and riches. Freedom—freedom from opposition and resistance to their comforts in draining the country of their treasures and resources. They do not want pickets, strikes and other people’s collective action that threaten or tend to jeopardize their economic interests. They hate people’s unity. And so, they must “divide and rule” the masses and maintain peace by mobilizing the State security forces— the military. And that’s the very rationale for militarizing the countrysides of Mindanao, because it is here in this big island where their economic plunder must be protected—the mining operations of the foreign monopoly capitalists, the big plantations and other foreign investment interests, including the big businesses of the domestic cohorts of the imperialists.
On the other hand, peace for the masses of the people is the longstanding quest for peace of mind. As it is now, as it was in the beginning, as always, the masses have no peace of mind. All the days of their lives they endure the pangs of hunger, the fear of sickness and death, the worries and insecurities that they may not wake up for the next day of troubles and vicissitudes because the food they eat today can not even last a day. And so, how would it be tomorrow? If there is still tomorrow in their wretched lives!
Add to these, the lack of clemency or cruel ways by which Nature has avenged humankind’s mindlessness and abuse of her munificence! The turbulent winds and rains, the floods and landslides, the buhawi, the tsunamis, and all the other punishments imposed by the Bathalas who do not discriminate between the real culprits and the victims of imperialists’ injustices. They, the Bathalas, would no longer hearken to the cries and supplications of the suffering masses. This may be their way of reproaching them for not wielding enough of their “people power” against those responsible for boring the atmosphere’s ozone layer.
Indeed, the masses, in their naivete, just sigh out in silence their miserable query “why do the calamities always hit the poor and spare the rich”? And this query, addressed to no one and to nowhere—not even to the sky—for fear that the gods of the ruling classes would send down more punitive lashes, just dissipates in the habagat winds.
Yes, the ruling classes and the masses have a common aspiration–Peace. But their premises for seeking peace are for divergent interests. Peace for the former is for the continuance of exploitation and oppression in the pursuance of their economic interests. Peace for the masses is the kasili (river eel) that they have endlessly dreamed and sought for— to hold and catch—to eliminate the hunger they have endured for centuries.
[To be continued]
