MANILA, Philippines - President Macapagal-Arroyo should be happy that the most insensitive and the most stupid government in the world is found not in the Philippines but in Burma (Myanmar).
The decision of the military junta running a country of 47 million impoverished people not to allow foreign aid workers defies all laws of logic. It completely disregards and mocks human dignity.
With tens of thousands of Burmese dead and millions of others homeless and at risk of losing their lives from diseases after a terribly devastating cyclone, the junta chose to continue holding a constitutional referendum, which guarantees a quarter of parliamentary seats to the military. The new constitution also bars Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from seeking the presidency. Human rights advocates around the world had hoped that the Burmese people would say “No” to the vote. But even if the Burmese people had voted no, their military rulers would have “fixed” the results anyway.
But Burma could teach Filipinos a lesson or two. Most commentaries on Philippine politics talk about those on top—about reforming the bureaucracy, prosecuting corrupt officials and expelling the pretender to the highest office of the land.
Perhaps, the people of Burma are too impoverished and too weak to launch any Edsa-like people power uprising to topple their government. Buddhist monks have tried to do this but in politics, prayers can only get you to a certain level.
If I were to suggest the perfect audience for a lecture on John Rawls’ “A Theory of Justice,” I would select a high school class in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur. This is because two years from now, hundreds of thousands of high school students will be casting their vote for the first time. It is sad that the minds of our leaders are already made up and that no matter what we do, their bank accounts have all given them hearing problems. But all hope is not lost—the youth constitute a critical mass, exactly the same amount of U-238 needed for atomic fission—to change the course of our history.
—RYAN MABOLOC, via e-mail
