Status quo

Status quo

What most thought would be a shattering explosion resulted in a series of little sparks after all. Months after the accusations against President Arroyo dragged the nation into a comparably more tumultuous state, I, on the other hand, gave myself the chance to observe the occurrences plaguing the country.

No, this is not the same as sitting back and simply watching as the political drama unfolds. Instead, I took the liberty of taking a minute or two to assess the situation at hand.

The end product was amusing, and perhaps not worthy of publication. But either way, what resulted was a list easy steps to maintain status quo in our beloved country, which I will share with you:

1. Accuse the President of cheating in the last elections.
Gather tapes that suggest grave dishonesty and utter lapse in judgment on her part during the last presidential elections. Distribute it for the world to listen. Wait and see.

2. Assume that the President is guilty.
Do not read the papers, watch the news, nor listen to the radio. Treat the situation as though the said tapes hold the truth and the absolute truth alone. Ignore anybody who claims otherwise. At the same time, there are also those who balance the conflict out – those who have remained behind the President. Either way, they create conflict in the political arena.

3. Start riots everywhere.
They may be held in schools, in front of government buildings, and in the middle of the streets. They need not be massive. They may even persist daily, with some participants sitting out every other day. They may do it with a permit or without, but expect dispersal if an illegal one is attempted.

4. Persuade several bodies to unite against the President.
They are students, cronies of former presidential rivals, or the lower and middle class. Their interests may differ in wanting to unseat the President, but so long as they are united against one cause, it is assumed that they are sturdy enough to go against her.

5. Rally for impeachment.
Attempt to go through the process of unseating the President. It is a tedious and taxing procedure, but it is constitutional. It helps to at least try and push for it to happen, despite the opposition’s ill-fated loss in the bid to overthrow her.

6. Lobby against her through peaceful means.
Take a former president and get him or her to gather a group people together and unite for a cause. The grounds may have been a good basis for it to actually be successful, but unfortunately, it was not enough to be the groundbreaking solution to see the President leave.

Remarkable isn’t it? The aforementioned steps are mere observations; observations that seem to me are actually effective ways to increase our incumbent President’s stamina. Mrs. Arroyo recently put her foot down and declared maximum strictness against any riots brewed against the government. Our beloved Uncle Ferdinand gave in quite easily – with a fight – but he did give in to mass opposition and eventually left. Our previous president enjoyed a similar fate.

It seems to me that the lay man has lost interest in letting her go the same way, with the masses not as powerful and united as the group before. It’s either their beliefs are not deep-seated enough, or they simply do not care. Still, there are those who trudge on, believing the President’s incapability of leading the country and continuing to protest against her, disrupting the daily routine of the citizens.

An era and much hullabaloo later, maybe they should notice this, too.