Joke and Dagger

Title: Shock the System

I‘ve spent a good Sunday morning and afternoon, trying to find something inspiring to say to
encourage people to go out there and “be the change they want to see in the world” (Ghandi), and to
work to preserve our democratic way of life. In particular, I wanted to encourage young people to go
out and register as voters and beat the September 30 deadline.

Instead, I came up with this. Apologies in advance.

Look. We’re at the point where prices are reaching regional crisis levels - where there isn’t any
regional crisis to speak of. We’re at the point where this regime sends over 400 people along with
President and Head Nazgûl Duterte to another country, and the only thing they have to show for it is
some private “intentions” to put up businesses that will amount to an astronomic 790 jobs. (For those
keeping track, that’s not even twice the number of people who joined Duterte’s junket.) We’re at the
point where documents in the custody of government offices magically disappear and such loss
becomes the basis for revoking a grant of amnesty for (oh what a coincidence) one of Duterte’s top
critics.

We’re at that point where if you still believe that this Duterte regime will make things better, I
sincerely question your sanity.

Now, there are lots of ways to solve this. We can try impeachment. (Again). We can try convincing
Cabinet members to invoke Par. 2 Sec. 11, Art. VII. (Not likely.) We could engage in a mass exercise of
freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to petition the government for redress of grievances.
(We’ve done that before. See Estrada v. Desierto. G.R. Nos. 146710-15. March 2, 2001.) We could join
the far Left and go up the mountains. (Ask Robin Padilla how.) Not all of them are legal, certainly few
of them are practical. And while that third one is sorely tempting, we need a lot of people to make
that work. A. Lot.

Or, we can register as voters and exercise our right and duty to vote this 2019.

Here’s the thing about a virtually-autocratic governments that try to keep the impression that it is a
functioning democracy: it operates on a system that needs many willing accomplices to stay in power.
Including local government officials. Including the legislative, namely the House of Representatives
and the Senate. Including the courts.

Including the electorate. Especially the electorate.

Without the voters, the trying-hard-to-be-an-autocracy will end. The end will start in 2019, when we
vote in a fresh batch of local government officials, House Representatives, and Senators. But only if
we vote into those offices public *servants,* instead of the usual trapo yes-people subservient to the
President.

This downward spiral will end. But only if we vote the enablers of this broken system out of office.

Register. Use your vote.

Shock the system.

~~~

I don’t think I need to tell people from my generation that they need to get their stuff together and
vote with their heads this time around. Whatever experiment you thought was going to be successful
under Duterte has gone wildly FUBAR. Do it for your families, your kids. Id you don’t have kids, do it
for your pets, because you know full well that inflation doesn’t care whose food it is you’re buying.
For those who are registering and voting for the first time: Kids, thanks for getting this far into this
nearly-middle-aged man’s rantings. Now, if you’re going to take away something from this, remember
this specific bit:

“Joshua Laxamana.” Remember that name.

He was 17. He played DOTA and was pretty good at it. He did no drugs, stayed out of trouble.

They still killed him.

“Kian delos Santos.” Remember that name.

He was also 17. He was closing their shop. He had an exam the following day. That’s all he could think
about as they roughed him up and dragged him into a dark corner.

They killed him too.

People your age shouldn’t have to worry about being taken by the police and killed for no apparent
reason.

Please help us make sure that the next wave of voters don’t have to worry about it too.