Here is an interesting excerpt from Manuel L Quezon III’s recent column on the Inquirer.net, “The Mandate” where he gushes about Aquino’s “landslide” win in this year’s elections:
It is the largest plurality since the present Constitution came into force; and only the second indisputable presidential win in a generation. It ends the legitimacy crisis of 2001-2005. It has even been called a landslide.
It’s interesting because MLQ3 highlights the period 2001 to 2005 as a “legitimacy crisis”. Apparently he is exercising a bit of editorial license (fair enough as his column is an editorial) to add political equity to President-Elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s government by implying that Noynoy’s coming to power represents a breakthrough in “legitimacy”. Indeed, the Noted One seems to suggest to us that Noynoy Aquino’s ascent to power “ends the legitimacy crisis”.
Well now. Let us shed a bit of light into what caused this so-called Great Legitimacy Crisis of 2001-2005 to begin with, shall we? Here is what the New York Times‘ Seth Mydans said of the advent of that “legitimacy crisis” reporting on the ouster of President Joseph “Erap” Estrada back in 2001:
People Power II was met with doubt and criticism, described by foreign commentators as “a defeat for due process,” as “mob rule,” as “a de facto coup.”
It was seen as an elitist backlash against a president who had overwhelmingly been elected by the poor. This time, it appears, “people power” was used not to restore democracy but, momentarily, to supplant it. Filipinos seemed to prefer democracy by fiesta, still shying from the hard work of building institutions and reforming their corrupt political system.
“It is either being called mob rule or mob rule as a cover for a well- planned coup,” said William Overholt, a Hong Kong-based political economist with long experience in the Philippines. “But either way, it’s not democracy.”
Two words and a Roman numberal to note: People Power II.
“People Power II” a.k.a. the last great Ocho Ocho Revolution is what heralded the dawn of the period of what Quezon now calls the “legitimacy crisis”. Indeed, no other phrase holds greater claim to the status of flagship “product” of the Aquino Franchise than “People Power”. That the Noted Blogger, Manuel L Quezon III would fail to see the obvious irony in what he writes for the Inquirer.net in adulation of the Vacuous One comes across as quite quaintly amusing. I’ll spell it out for you Mr Quezon, in case all of the above still flies over your pointed head:
It is quite ironic how one credits Aquino’s win in the 2010 election as one that breaks a “crisis of legitimacy” — one that was, to begin with, effected with that crown jewel of Aquinoist rhetoric: People Power “Revolution”.
Quite annoying how the stink of campaign bullshit deposited on one’s own backyard wafts back into one’s home as one sits to enjoy one’s victory feast, isn’t it?
Somebody’s pedigree
is coming back to bite…
Get Real Philippines 
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True, Edsa II was indeed the cause of the legitimacy crisis of the last decade. Indeed, it was even the cause of the political instability that led to annihilation of the already feeble democratic institutions we had. I think Manolo can’t deny that too. Ironic indeed that someone whose family name is attached to that cause of instability and illegitimacy crisis comes up with a mandate that, indeed, ends the legitimacy crisis. The question is, will he also solve the instability crisis? Will he be able to somehow rebuild the pale imitations of democratic institutions that was destroyed by Arroyo? Only time could tell.
By the way, I went for Gordon in the last election. I campaigned against Noynoy. But, in my opinion, now that the people has chosen Noynoy, we should at least give him a chance. We should support him instead of badgering him. He is, afterall, OUR president now.
Well, we don’t really have a choice.
I still think that’s he’s totally unproven, but I’ll shut up if he brings progress to this country.
On the other hand, I don’t like people who constantly trumpet him as the best thing since sliced bread.
Surely isn’t mine. Though I’m going to have to accept as a Filipino every bit of negativity he brings because he represents the country, like the other black-eyes the country has but he’s my least favorite of the black-eyes.
The badgering is part of the process and the scrutiny in my opinion. Its part of the burden of being a leader. Either he survives in the burning house that he helped create or the flames eat him. The only one the people can count on now are themselves, whether they like it or not.
I won’t necessarily shut up because progress for the Philippines is going to take time, investment and resources and a real outlook and vision to look beyond 6 years.
Nobody is telling you to shut up if you can’t keep your mouth shout, but can’t you at least give the guy a chance? A benefit of the doubt, perhaps? Kasi tinitira na natin, hindi pa man nakakaupo at nakakapormang gawin trabaho nya eh. Typical Pinoy.
Again, useless disclaimer: I didnt want Noy to be prez. I campaigned for Gordon. But I think its our duty to support OUR new prez.
Nice counter, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s the most unqualified guy for the job. If his little actions (all before he’s going to be president now) such as his delegation plans, how he suggested a people’s rally if he didn’t win, his focus on investigating gloria and the supreme court issue isn’t raising any flags already on how he’s going to handle his administration, you sir lack a bit of imagination. But he is setting the bar VERY LOW for his expectations so many of you are wondering what is the worst he can do now?
Hindi nakakaupo at nakakapormang trabaho? May ginawa syang trabaho sa senado kundi matulog at mag fiscalize? I’m utterly surprised you are expecting something out of him, like the rest of his hopefuls. Like I’ve said before, tell yourselves that line that we have support him and what not, but its all been said and done before before other weak presidents past him. Same old SH&T, different election year. The only thing typical is you and everyone else’s sordid reaction, which is understandable. Your disclaimer IS rather useless since its completely redundant.
Ahhhh. So since he sucked in the Senate, he would probably suck in Malacanang so why bother supporting him or giving him a chance? I get it.
While at it, why don’t we hold a people power fiesta against Noynoy and install Gordon? Ahh, but that guy has said we should just support and rally behind Noyskie. What a disappointment.
@benign0, I liked the message of AP before the elections. But it seems that AP is gearing more towards partisanship. That was great during the campaign. But after the campaign, I think AP should set aside partisanship and focus more on its fundamental commentary. Just a humble suggestion from an avid reader.
@J
Whatever you want to do. I’m really happy that due to Gordon’s exposure to people, he’s got them to try out volunteering for once, most likely the young adults. However your propensity to put words in peoples mouths is rather annoying. I merely am keeping my expectations of him rather low and preparing for a crisis when he gets enacted into office by June 30. And as I’ve said, your words of support are rather redundant (and your reason behind it) considering you have said during the past 4 presidents before. So it DOES become a rather binary choice regardless with no real consequence.
Besides, if you were looking forward to the presidency so much, why not add ideas to help people out in a barangay/community level. So they have something positive to look forward to when things get real bad. Or better yet, HOW to support the new president, besides the obvious.
Sorry, I don’t think there was a legitimacy crisis at all. If there was a legitimacy crisis, then why did GMA garner 12 million votes as opposed to Erap’s 10 million. And in 2001… look at the picture above, mates.
I think Mr. Explainer has a legitimacy crisis himself. 😛
Her 12m was mandate to be Veep, not to be prez.
But after Erap was trounced as pres, the Veep took over. So people say the former veep’s legitimacy is questionable.
Then why did they trounce out the pres? Why did they vote in as the veep someone they will hate later?
Filipinos really don’t put much thought into what they’re doing, don’t they?
So if they question the legitimacy of the 2001-2005 government, there’s no one else to blame but the people.
but edsa ii people was not THE people. it wasnt a spontaneous people power but rather a meticulously planned power grab. so there.
@ J, indeed it was an engineered job. But just the same, almost 2 million people responded to the “job”. A clear case of people not thinking and simply dancing to the tune played by those who engineered the job. Who’s ultimately accountable. Think of it this way: anyone with a human brain is accountable for his/her actions.
When Erap was ousted, Arroyo was only supposed to be sworn in as ACTING president. Maybe the plan then was to hold a special election to elect a new president. But when Chief Justice Davide saw the EDSA II mob, he felt pressured to swear Arroyo in as president, not just acting president. That’s the version of the story in “Shadow of Doubt”.
Arroyo at that time was the yellow darling. The mob wanted her in position right away. If a special election was held, an Erap proxy backed by the masses could have challenged the elite’s yellow darling. So nanigurado na.
The rest is history. Arroyo turned the tables on her principals and did not turn out to be the malleable puppet they thought she would be.
Even if it was a power grab, a good deal of the people were part of it. A lot of sectors, from business to middle class to even some lower class people participated in the rally. Heck, even the political people who hate GMA now were part of it (look at the Cory-GMA pic, please?). These same people are also backers of Noynoy against GMA. If they suddenly drop Noynoy later on, I wouldn’t be surprised… they’ve been doing it from day 1.
@benign0 and chinoF,
Yes the 200,000 people who danced in Edsa II is accountable for their stupid actions. But the point of my comment was that contrary to what chino was trying to say GMA has no mandate because those who danced in Edsa to trounce Erap and install GMA do not constitute the majority of the people. Yes a good deal of people were part of it but doesn’t mean it was representative of the pulse of the majority of the people then. Heck, we had the May 1 Edsa III didn’t we. The middle class is just so full of themselves to think Edsa II gave GMA a legitimate democratic mandate when in fact Edsa II was nothing but a coup d’etat.
And by the way, the crowds at Edsa? That moron named Sin required every parish and Catholic school in the vast Manila archdiocese to produce at least 50 warm bodies. The Pope was against it, but Sin disobeyed. I believe that’s the reason the Pope split Sin’s teritorry into several small dioceses.
Thing is, GMA sat, and now she’s going. Now people fear her return as a congresswoman, and if the country goes parliament, they fear she’ll come back to take over again. I don’t think so. Those are bogeymen arguments, red herrings, overuse of fear. But if she returns, so what? If she makes the country go forward, that may even be better. I have big doubts, like many writers on this site, about what our incoming president can do. We voice out our doubts here; if you’re annoyed by our super-strongly voiced doubts, just tune off.
I myself don’t question the legitimacy of Edsa 2 and Noynoy’s win in this election, but the Inquirer editor and MLQ3 are hyping the latter at the cost of the former. They should be taken to task for it because we believe they have biased views, and hence this article by Benign0 is put up for that purpose.
If you don’t question the legitimacy of Edsa 2, an uprising of the noisy minority then, then perhaps you have a different yardstick in determining whether a leader has mandate or none; so it really is hard for me to argue legitimacy with you. Well, it is really hard to argue with someone who tells a reader who have something to say to just stop reading this blog.
I still see the legitimacy of Edsa 2 as the part of the responsibility of the people, so if we question Edsa 2, question the people. There is no absolving the people.
So you still think Edsa 2 was the will of the people when obviously it was merely the will of the noisy minority.
I think I should have said, the will of the “people,” or noisy minority behind Edsa 2 are the same will of the people/noisy minority behind Noynoy’s win in this election. So their legitimacy is the same. Like when once GMA sat and they started sniping at her, after Noynoy sits, we’ll see them sniping at him. And we’ll be questioning his legitimacy like what we’re doing now with GMA.
Whoops, mistake with italics there.
I don’t think it started last 2001. It started back when people “reclaimed” “democracy” since the first People Power.
Haha, that’s an interesting view of it.
I think it started when MLQ1 said, “I want the Philippines to be run like hell by Filipinos.” I’m tempted with the thought of exhuming his corpse every now and then, and beating it with the shovel until it cries, “Sorry!” 😛
By “2001-2005 crisis of legitimacy”, MLQ3 could be referring to three incidents:
1. EDSA II in 2001, the unconstitutional ouster of Estrada which made Arroyo President the first time around
2. The elections in 2004 where Arroyo won over FPJ
3. Hello Garci in 2005 spoiling Arroyo’s mandate
In all three episodes, the Aquinos were on Arroyo’s side. They created their own monster. That’s the ugly truth people can’t seem to admit.
Can’t locate the link, but the Comelec did an analysis recently showing Arroyo would have won over FPJ anyway, with or without Hello Garci. The questionable votes were not enough to change the overall outcome.
Legitimacy is in the eye of the beholder. Or best used to suit one’s own purpose at that time.
So what are the odds that Noynoy actually delivers on his campaign promises?
First one coming up — Noynoy saying he has a list of names of smugglers and tax evaders who he will put in jail in his first month of office.
I hope Noynoy delivers on this one by October.
wait are we going with his platform and beyond his political campaign tagline?
One of the things I saw in his platform was like gay equality or something. Honestly won’t happen, especially if he wasn’t specific as to which issue regarding the gay community.
I think we need to come up with some kind of checklist or report card. Hmmm…. (light bulb flashing in my head…).
obameter.
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/
So far his truthiness has been consistent and he’s only been in office no longer than a year yet.
What is the proposed name of the site? Noyfactor? Noybi_factor? I.P. Daly observations? LegacyNET?
Lol. Noynoy has a list of small fishes he wanted to jail.
If really wanted to effect good change as per his campaign, he should jail several senators and congressmen including his allies who he must have known to perennially bled and dry the country’s coffers via their fork allocation.
Yes. A website similar to politifact.com would be a good idea. It’s going to be a good way to show to those who blindly supported Noynoy how much of a ‘better’ choice he was compared to candidates with a platform.
But is there any way to make concrete, measurable statements from the vague statements that our President-elect called a platform?
For one, even if someone did come up with a list, Noynoy could:
1.) Easily ignore it – just like debates, which according to him are a waste of time
2.) Argue that his presidency has to respond to changing needs; which means that he has better things to do (like play with his PSP, as someone pointed out in a comment)
3.) Argue that the list expects too much within a short time frame.
4.) Argue using dozens of other excuses. 🙂
@benign0 and chinoF,
Yes the 200,000 people who danced in Edsa II is accountable for their stupid actions. But the point of my comment was that contrary to what chino was trying to say GMA has no mandate because those who danced in Edsa to trounce Erap and install GMA do not constitute the majority of the people. Yes a good deal of people were part of it but doesn’t mean it was representative of the pulse of the majority of the people then. Heck, we had the May 1 Edsa III didn’t we. The middle class is just so full of themselves to think Edsa II gave GMA a legitimate democratic mandate when in fact Edsa II was nothing but a coup d’etat.
And by the way, the crowds at Edsa? That moron named Sin required every parish and Catholic school in the vast Manila archdiocese to produce at least 50 warm bodies. The Pope was against it, but Sin disobeyed. I believe that’s the reason the Pope split Sin’s teritorry into several small dioceses.
@ J, (re Noynoy is “our president”) indeed I agree; he is our president in the sense that he will be occupying the Office of the President of the Republic. So as much as I’d respect that office, I would also expect him to respect the Office of the Chief Justice which by transitivity would constitute a respect for the Supreme Court and by an even bigger leap of transitivity, the overarching institutional framework of the State.
Notice how the above lacks the one concept that seems to perpetually IMPRISON the small mind of Da Pinoy: personality.
In order for us to move on, Noynoy should tell his henchmen in the Media (such as the one I cite above and bozos like de Quiros and other emo “experts” on many matters) to stop filling the vacuous minds of the Pinoy with idiotic small-minded notions of how Noynoy has it in his right to act like a brat. Instead they should encourage this little boy we voted to the presidency to grow up and get over his politicians’-son upbringing and BE A MAN. More specifically be a statesman.
Also agree and have myself highlighted many times. The numbers at Edsa 2 (though huge) by no stretch of the imagination actually represent the people. Even if they numbered in the tens of millions (the flaccid magnitude of vote numbers required to elect presidents in our pathetic country), they would STILL not represent the “people’s will” as long as they exercise this vacuous “will” OUTSIDE of the framework of The Law. So, the number of people itself is not even the issue. The issue with “people power” moronisms espoused by bozos like Abe Margallo, Conrado de Quiros, and Neal Cruz, is the channels through which they exercise their strength, all of which are OUTSIDE the framework of the Law and therefore ILLEGAL and (considering the intent which is to overthrow a legitimate state artifact) all constitute a more nefarious ACT AGAINST THE STATE.
edsa II is has long been settled as constitutional. what happened is a validly exercise of freedom of speech. Erap resigned from the presidency. so there was no legitimacy crisis. From domestic point of view, it was within the law and also in the international point of view, the transition of power was legitimate.
Well, the Supreme Court swore GMA into power, so everybody outside the Philippines had to accept it. It is OUR LAWS that are in effect in OUR COUNTRY.
While it did have the backing of the Supreme Court, everybody else in the world saw it as a blow against due process. In effect, the Filipino people lost out, because the general public didn’t get to the bottom of Estrada’s case. Sure, he plundered, but how much? Did some of his money come from jueteng? Who else was in cahoots with him?
your answer will be answered if you read the courts decision that convicted estrada…
Well, the Supreme Court swore GMA into power, so everybody outside the Philippines had to accept it. It is OUR LAWS that are in effect in OUR COUNTRY
other state were not obliged to recognized the new established arroyo government, since recognition implies legitimacy, despite this fact, most if not all states recognized the arroyo government as duly constituted authority. thus, in their eyes and the eyes of international community, it was a legitimate succession.
with regards to due process, it is only the opportunity to be heard, estrada was already impeach, the trial only serves to determine his culpability, in order to determine the cupability you need an impartial tribunal, what transpired then is that the prosecutor and the public lost faith in the impartiality of the tribunal, thus they merely exercise their constitutional right to petition the gov’t for redress of wrong. Estrada impliedly give way to the clamour of the people in edsa. Thus, he effectively abandon his post and the rest is history.
Its only chief justice davide who sworn GMA….
@ J, thanks for the above feedback. I think though that AP was more partisan during the campaign (with a some of us being quite clear about who they were supporting). Now we have a call to return to the core message which is highlighting the dysfunction of Pinoy culture.
I don’t think anyone is being partisan here. It just so happens that Noynoy and his followers seem to now be a major source of the dysfunction we are seeing nowadays; specifically around (among others):
(1) Inability to separate personalities from the Office or Institution they represent;
(2) Spinning dramas around irrelevant or trivial issues (the same ol’ droll, intelligent, forcused on the irrelevant spiel I keep highlighting as characteristic of the Philippine National “Debate”).
(3) Nepotism, padrino/crony politics at work.
Remove the names and parties involved and you cannot deny that the above three are pretty much the core issues that underpin the chatter across the blogosphere and the Media these days.
It just so happens that Noynoy is at the epicentre and, in most cases, the ORIGINATOR of the above.
So don’t worry. AP and GRP of all people can be counted upon to STICK TO THE ISSUES even as everyone else panders to or latches onto personality and partisan politics. Noynoy just happens to have stepped in the crossfire and is foolish enough to exhibit the very unsavory traits that we here have made it a vocation to call out. Kung baga he finds himself in the unfortunate circumstance of being on the wrong side of the “debate” we maintain here. Poor bozo. 😀
There is absolutely nothing wrong to admonish or expect something out of his performance or actions BEFORE becoming official in June 30th. As I saw in one of the other articles pointing to a specific FV where someone there wrote that he deserves the benefit of the doubt, and that he deserves a clean slate. No one is judging or is condemning him yet to completely run the country down. And there isn’t much of a choice but to support him, as J states vehemently.
But what kind of support can you give when as Benign0 states that:
He has no real expectations for what he wants to do when he comes to power, except promising to go after Gloria and 6 corrupt officials, the latter having a timeline by November of this year. Then god knows which of the platforms he decides to pursue, all being pretty generalized and vague in detail. Followed by the senate being led by Manny Villar with support from others, the issue with the supreme court judge and pretty much he’s brewing a recipe for total dysfunction.
So as much as we want to expect it to be yet another ho-hum presidency, the guy to be isn’t letting it happen. He showed how how weak his duty was as a senator and now he’s showing how weak he is garnering support from the other bodies of the government when he takes office. He’s not showing any effort to convince the people, including AP that they should give him their support regardless of any benefit of doubt. There is nothing wrong to EXPECT MORE. But I find great expectations foolish when you put your faith on a guy who has proven less.
if noynoy will become such such person as the AP forecast, then it will be easy to kick him out of office.
@killem
whose authority? The same people who voted him in? Read far back with discussions in AP regarding this. Pretty much the consensus is if the people themselves rally again to usurp Noynoy out of the presidency, then screw democracy. Screw politics and screw government and go back to despotism, or vote Kris Aquino. You honestly cannot justify the people going tsundere over Noynoy when they themselves don’t know how to follow through the democratic process.
Besides, I honestly doubt he’ll be kicked out. GMA herself was shrewd enough not to completely piss off certain forces (i.e. the Oligarch) to allow her 2 terms. The Oligarchs have invested much time and money on Noy-Binay so I honestly doubt they’ll have their puppet president’s time cut short of a full 6 terms.
@J i appreciate your sensibility
Isn’t politics about partisanship?
How come other blogsites can display THEIR partisanship and not get that kind of heat?
How come MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS can be partisan and not, well, get clubbed for it?
Ah, yes: the Freedoms that come with a democracy.
You know, really, its okay to be partisan when it comes to politics. I actually wish more Filipinos would quit with the pseudo-fence sitting AND TAKE SIDES. Because when you take a side in an argument, then you’re fighting for your beliefs.
And in a democracy, that’s good. Better the noisy, who passionately struggle for what they believe in, than the silent ones who don’t pipe up about what they think or feel and thus allow shiz (hey, it sounds like… CHIZ!) like SURVEYS to determine the course of this country.
I actually liked the partisanship in AP during the campaign. At least you know where these guys were coming from.
I guess it depends on which layer one prefers to engage in debate. I personally choose to as much as possible keep a cultural perspective on the issues that infest Pinoy society. My view therefore is that the sort of politics we see are merely symptoms of a deeper underlying rot at the very fabric of Pinoy society. And as such, I believe that there are no political solutions (even a good president will simply be subsumed into the bigger and more profound collective dysfunction of our society).
I therefore “take sides” at the cultural layer rather than the political layer (i.e. ‘getrealists’ vs Filipino triumphalists).
Take people we classify ethnically or culturally as “Chinese”. Their communities’ success seems to transcend forms and quality of governance across the different countries that host significant Chinese communities. They are an example of a cultural makeup whose trackrecord of success exhibits a weak correlation with the governance and politics it is subject to.
In a sense, Pinoy culture could be an antithesis of the Chinese case. Our culture’s track record of failure seems to have a weak correlation with the governance and politics it is subject to. No matter who is president or no matter what type of governance is applied, we seem to FAIL as a collective.
Looks like even Noynoy’s legitimacy as an election winner has been challenged now that more allegations of cheating, despite the automation of polls, are being reported in so many places.
The alleged automated cheating is alarming and should be investigated by an independent body as Comelec officials are reportedly involved here. The reports make us more suspicious of the delayed in the PCOS testing/sealing and the last-minute replacement of the memory cards less than a week prior to election day.
If we are to believe the whistle blowers including a Comelec insider (former staff of Commissioner Melo), millions of votes were added to candidates who paid the syndicate at a rate of Php20/ballot for national posts and Php10/ballot for local. According to Alias Robin, Gibo was reported to have lost about 5 million votes; Erap with about 4 million votes, and Eddie Villanueva with about 2 to 3 million votes. Binay was said to have gained from the automated “dagdag bawas” , with his chosen president (certainly not Erap).
If such allegations are not cleared, this may trigger another wave of mass action. History tends to repeat itself.
if you really study the process of automation in the recent election, you will know that whistle blower version of cheating is very very far from reality…
But i must admit, the version of “robin” cheating will cast doubt on the minds of the persons who are ignorant in the process of automation…
And who’s the usual first suspect when the cheating allegations fly around?
The winner. 😆
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The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.
if noynoy really f**ck up, the people can impeach him, if the impeachment trial become a kangaroo trial, the people will know what to do… Afterall, public office is a public trust, you dont have the right to be in public office if the people doesnt trust you anymore…
Oh really. The people, the same 12 million who voted him in looking for something in the 6 years will know what to do? You didn’t say if they were going to do it correctly now. Sure its public trust but see, that doesn’t necessarily solve the real problem. It then goes to the VP, who is yet another guy controlled by external forces with vested interest but more than likely knows his way around politics than the guy before him.
It goes back to the question why have an election when you will just get rid of the guy the moment he completely screws up? And no better for people like GMA who was shrewd enough to stay in her position. The Philippines is a democracy but to quote Gordon, it is a dysfunctional government.
every politician has its own vested interest…
t goes back to the question why have an election when you will just get rid of the guy the moment he completely screws up?
in election you vote someone in the hope that he/she will not completely screw up…so if he completely screw up he can be removed from office following the principle underlying the very existence of the govt “salus populi est suprema lex”
The idiocy in the perverted notion of “people power” being supposedly the “ultimate power” in a “democracy” is exemplified in the closing statement of the High Priest of moronic Aquinoism — the eminent Abe Margallo — in his recent piece on FilipinoVoices.com:
He forgets to mention that the “final say” of “the people” is delivered via a number of institutional channels in a real democracy:
(1) Direct expression of popular will via elections and referendums where votes are cast indicating a selection among presented options.
(2) Indirect representation of a constituency’s collective will that is delegated to an elected representative in a government post.
The above two are the key legitimate channels for ordinary citizens to express and manifest their influence over their government. It comes down to the question of how astutely these implements are wielded by the electorate.
Yellow zombies are addicted to People Power because they do not understand what a real, functioning democracy is. They do not understand that a democracy still needs to operate through an organizational structure, with institutions and laws. Like small bratty children, they think they should be given whatever they want as long as they can scream the loudest.
The level of ignorance Margallo displays in his blog post is shocking. I doubt he is even conscious that he is making a fool of himself by putting his ill-informed thoughts out for everyone to see.
let me remind the other commentators of the RP history…. what happen in edsa 1 is revolution, a complete defiance of the 1973 constitution.. so there is no real, functioning democracy to speak of because back then we are not a democracy…. it is a revolutionary government and somewhat authoritarian form of government….
ignorance work both ways…