There is no better illustration, I think, of how GMA's KarlRovean tactic -- of equating any sort of dissent with "destabilization" -- has been parroted by both (alas) members of the media and the academe, than by the constant repetition of the catchphrase "people power fatigue." I read it as glib pseudo-sociological shorthand that both legitimates and reproduces acquiescence to GMA's vision of "order." Such "fatigue" is clearly contradicted by the mass demonstrations held both in Manila and in the provinces, both now and during the Hello Garci scandal (to name just two instances). The phrase -- an easy journalistic entree into understanding Those Wacky Filipinos -- (un)wittingly pathologizes opposition as being harmful to the body of the nation; it is "gulo," after all, and "gulo" apparently must be quelled through preemptive strikes.
Perhaps GMA herself said it best in her radio announcement proclaiming the "lifting" of 1071, when she thanked the Filipino people "who understand that the best way to a bright future is through hard work, not taking to the streets."
(Actually, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has an even better quote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
"I think it has some sobering effect," Gonzalez said when asked whether PP 1017 had been effective when applied to the media.Meanwhile, here's something backchanneled to me, and I'll let the unnamed person have the last word anyway:"Even the most critical media had started to reexamine their policies," he said, adding that PP 1017, like all laws, had the effect of "sowing fear" among the people.)
as far as i am concerned, my wish is to see every demonstrator on EDSA arrested for destabilizing the Philippine economy. they have no viable replacement for GMA and they are making the philippines an undesirable place for any sort of investment. what alternative do the demonstrators have in mind? another "free election?" none of the street actions have, in any way, shape, or form brought a solution to the increasing gap between those who have and those who don't.Posted by the wily filipino at March 8, 2006 11:25 PMrandy a martyr? good lord, after his support for Erap? while i am not an admirer of GMA, neither am i a fan of a loose coalition of FVR, Erap and FPJ sycophants, Marcos loyalists, Utrecht puppets, and glib neo-leftists. and that aquino widow should use her time putting some sense into her talentless daughter's brain before she wastes her energies on EDSA.
also, instead of focusing on that entire Garci incident, maybe those demonstrators should begin by locking up every member of the Marcos family and administration and making them accountable for what the Philippines has become today.