A crowd of almost two million, members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) gathered at the Luneta rallying for “peace”. It was purportedly organized to tell the government, particularly addressed to the Congressmen, not to impeach the country’s second highest public official.
There have been three calls for her impeachment by various people’s organizations and concerned citizens because the Congress Quad committee had found her probable misuse (or robbery?) of millions of the people’s tax-money, while concurrently heading both the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. More specifically, the rallyists did not want the people’s representatives to push for the said official’s impeachment, because there are more pressing problems the country faces that need to be resolved as a priority.
What the well-meaning Filipino people of goodwill on the sidelines, who have been observing the Quad committee for weeks now, know and understand is that the people’s tax-money was probably misused or stolen for personal gain. Thus, the erring top official, under the law, needs to be impeached, a venue where she can fully explain the issues against her. Others felt she should be charged for “plunder”.
[P]eace in the Philippines can be achieved only when every Filipino or at least the majority of Filipinos, enjoy good governance — SOCIAL JUSTICE.
FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
If the crowd really wanted peace, then they could have called on the government to make sure the country’s public officials, especially in this case, the vice president, to serve as models of observing the law, particularly in spending the people’s money judiciously.
Aside from calling for justice and accountability for public officials’ stealing the people’s money, or engaging in corrupt practices, the crowd could have also called to account VP Sara’s father for his “crimes against humanity” for implementing his brutal “war on drugs” resulting in more than 30,000 victims of EJKs and Red-tagging.
In this connection, they could have also cited the active participation in Rodrigo’s “war on drugs” killing spree of his then Davao Police chief, now Sen. Bato de la Rosa, close colleague Sen. Bong Go, several PNP/AFP generals, his son Rep. Polong Duterte, and others.
Indeed, if peace was the real concern of the crowd in Luneta, then they could have called for the government to work seriously for Social Justice, where the decades-old income inequality or massive poverty have plagued more than half of their fellow 119 million Filipinos.
They could have called on the government to provide jobs for the jobless and decent wages for the laborers, farmers, fishermen, informal workers and the IPs.
Then Filipinos will no longer consider themselves poor, if they are able to buy a kilo of rice for P20, because they are employed with decent jobs and fair wages, plus having their own home, and enjoy a situation where the education of their children is assured, as well as adequate healthcare for their families.
In short, PEACE in the Philippines can be achieved only when every Filipino or at least the majority of Filipinos, enjoy good governance — Social Justice.