To be governed
"To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated, regimented, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, evaluated, censored, commanded; all by creatures that have neither the right, nor wisdom, nor virtue ...
To be governed means that at every move, operation, or transaction one is noted, registered, entered in a census, taxed, stamped, priced, assessed, patented, licensed, authorized, recommended, admonished, prevented, reformed, set right, corrected.
Government means to be subjected to tribute, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, pressured, mystified, robbed; all in the name of public utility and the general good.
Then, at the first sign of resistance or word of complaint, one is repressed, fined, despised, vexed, pursued, hustled, beaten up, garroted, imprisoned, shot, machine-gunned, judged, sentenced, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed, and to cap all, ridiculed, mocked, outraged and dishonored.
That is government, that is its justice and its morality! ...
O human personality! How can it be that you have cowered in such subjection for ... centuries?"
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw
CIVIL-SOCIETY groups launched today the Citizen’s Impeachment Watch, an initiative to mobilize the so-called middle forces so they can take an active part in the "process of change," beginning with the impeachment of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Caught in the present political crisis, the middle forces — business, academe, professionals — have remained silent until this moment despite the fact that majority of them believe that Pres. Arroyo has lost all moral authority to govern in light of allegations of systematic electoral fraud. They want her to step down or face impeachment but are wary of the discredited group of traditional oppositionists who they see as "opportunists." They are also cold to the idea of extra-constitutional change for fear it might lead to violence and chaos.
With the impeachment process in the House of Representatives seemingly in peril given that most of its members are allies of the ruling coalition, the impeachment watch — organized by people’s organizations and NGOs led by the multisectoral National Peace Conference and Philippine Alternative Study Center for Research, Education and Social Development (PASCRES) — is banking on the middle forces to break their silence by "encouraging their legislators to vote according to their conscience and make sure that the process is transparent and will not be soiled by partisan politics."
The impeachment watch groups will be linking with the business sector, professionals and students to lobby Congress by engaging in letter-writing campaigns and personal meetings with legislators through out the impeachment process to ensure that the case against Arroyo "prospers to pave the way for truth and justice." Symposiums and forums will also be conducted around the country. A website is also in the works to provide people with an online information network where they can access the scoreboards, alerts, petitions and other relevant impeachment-related materials.
As opening salvo timed with the start of House justice committee hearings on the impeachment complaint against Arroyo tomorrow, "impeachment watchboards" will be placed in strategic locations in various parts of the country including schools and markets to "inform the public about the status of the impeachment case. The tally boards will be featuring the names of legislators who have already signed the complaint, but more importantly those who are anti-impeachment (or pro-Arroyo), and who have yet to declare their position on the issue.
As of today, August 9, the Citizen’s Impeachment Watch tally has the following House members either against the impeachment (left column) or who have yet to declare their positions (right column). Clicking on the links will direct you to information culled from the representatives’ statements of assets and liabilities and PCIJ research available on i-site.
