MANILA, Philippines?It is Independence Day in the land of the yellow morning, where the moon is a greasy pearl, freedom is a Twitter hashtag and the brave bawl in their cradles (unless the cradles were pawned for the rose-red heart of a bottle of cheap gin). Philippine Airlines offers a ?Proud and Free? Promo for the patriotic Filipino?$135 for Hong Kong, $690 for Honolulu, $790 Las Vegas (not including government taxes and ticketing service fees). In New York?s 20,000-strong Filipino community celebration, Christian Bautista sings ?Beautiful Girl? and ?Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile,? Carlo Orosa soars with the ?Impossible Dream,? Sarah Geronimo is ?well-applauded? for ?You Changed My Life,? and fortunately remembers to sing ?Magkaisa.?
Out on the Quirino Grandstand, on a stage with ?a select group of 180 people,? the woman rumored to have a heart harder than the rampaging lead hooves of Leon Guerrero?s horse demonstrates that in the end, all you need is love. If only you could show her love, bring her flowers, buy her a two-piece Jollibee chicken meal in the fast-food court of the nearest SM shopping mall, play her your Jason Mraz ringing tone while holding her hand as you wait in line for tickets to John Lloyd Cruz?s ?A Very Special Love.? But this is a woman whose natural milieu is the table beneath a Le Cirque chandelier, and so if love will not appear prostrated before her dragging Gilbert Teodoro, love can be bought, at the price of a P10-million praise parade bought with taxpayers? money to ?showcase the outstanding achievements of the 10-Point Agenda of the Arroyo administration.?
?Since the President is stepping down after nine years,? says Economic Spokesperson Gary Olivar, ?I don?t know if we would still take away from her the opportunity to communicate, even just a little bit, what she has done the past nine years.?
The pageant begins with a float titled ?Budget Reform??a last-minute change, as the original item in the agenda was ?the balancing of the budget? and no such balancing occurred with a projected P293-billion budget deficit. It is a last bid for legacy and memory, remember me, see what I?ve done, so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good night. In a series of advertisements?on taxpayers? money, naturally?welcoming the new president, Ms Arroyo also spent considerable space congratulating herself for a job well done, as awkward a welcome as her congratulatory phone call from Shanghai to President-elect Benigno Aquino III.
It is Independence Day in the land of the yellow morning, and the euphoria is still riding high with the moral victory of the son of heroes against the villains of Philippine politics. His is the crown, hail to the king who slew the bad queen.
Criticized for his appointments to the Cabinet, his defenders leaped into the fray, offering sword and shield against all who have questioned his decisions. It is true that much of the criticism is unfair?some have condemned all members of big business, have condemned all entertainers, have condemned all former members of the Hyatt 10, for no other reason than their affiliation. That is wrong, just as wrong as this newspaper implying that those who did not vote for Mr. Aquino have no right to demand, to criticize or to question.
?Others may have some things to say about that,? says the Philippine Daily Inquirer, ?but the crucial post-election question is: Shouldn?t the winning candidate be given the space to implement his platform?? Should people who did not vote for Aquino ?dictate how Aquino should form his government to meet his mandate??
It is Independence Day, and democracy is tripping over its own yellow shoelaces. The public does not dictate, by opposing it engages, and what matters is a government that is willing to engage with these questions. The argument that a president should be left on his own, to have space to implement his platform free from criticism, because ?an undisputed election victory is another way of saying? that we should ?cut him some slack? is an odd idea, as if winning a landslide is a passport to a no-holds-barred party in Malacańang. The right to question does not belong only to partisans. They belong to the people, whether they voted for Aquino, or Richard Gordon, or Joseph Estrada, or accidentally colored in the circle for Jamby Madrigal.
In another Independence Day, on another afternoon nine years ago, it was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was the People Power president, who was the sudden and reluctant hero who faced down the bad king. For a time it was love and roses and national headlines, a positive approval rating and a mandate that came from the caped crusaders of the Supreme Court. And it was that complacence, the lack of questioning, of criticism and engagement that made many of the sins of the Arroyo administration possible.
So when Aquino announces that his refusal to stop smoking is a virtue and a manifestation of his independence, it is necessary to ask if it is good for the nation that the incoming Philippine president has offered presidential endorsement to a product so dangerous that all advertising was banned in 2007. When he leaves sex education to the mad bishops of the Catholic Church, it is important to ask how he believes he is still promoting women?s rights. When he says that he is against appointing relatives to positions in government, it is fair to ask what stunning credentials have led him to offer the running of the Department of Tourism to his sister?s best friend at his sister?s suggestion.
?I was the one who brought it up with Noy,? says Kris Aquino, ?I was the one who brought it up with Boy, not realizing that it would cause such a major [issue].?
This is not to say an entertainer cannot run a government department, but neither is being an entertainer a virtue in itself?it is as illogical as saying Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Lito Lapid are equally good lawmakers because they are both entertainers. It is the same question that should be asked as to why ?actor-hunk? Dingdong Dantes should run the National Youth Commission, or why Ogie Alcasid, who starred in the celebrity extravaganza that was Aquino?s first commercial, should have a position that has ?something to do with the youth.?
If they say yes to his offer, says Aquino, ?Why not??
It is necessary to ask why. To critique is not to dictate, it is to participate, to speak, to engage. That promise made on May 10 when millions lined up for hours for the right to choose leaders begins its work now, and will continue for the next six years even when the applause ends, love dies and the hero is stripped of legend.
It is Independence Day in the land of the morning, where the moon is a greasy pearl, freedom is a Twitter hashtag and the brave bawl wet in their cradles. Take down the swag of yellow flag, let the stars out, let the sun shine?it flies blue and red today.
