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Q &
A Yes my son, you are old enough to go to EDSA and risk getting shelled by mortar fire or ripped to shreds by a claymore mine. But no, you cannot choose the people who shall determine your future. We have no time or money for that. Yes, my son, we have time and money for making posters to mess up the streets and buy thugs, bugs and other stuff like that. Why? Because that is what we deem more important for the time being, my son. Twenty years from now, people may forget who we are if we don't make a big enough mess of this country. We have to make sure that the politician's descendants will still be ruling this country or who knows what bad things may befall it. Yes, my son, the man who stole all that money and caused you to go to EDSA with your friends is still very rich. And can go whatever he wants, and practically do what he wants. He has more bodyguards than even Clinton does. It seems like the TV show "Let's Make a Deal" was quite the hit locally. Yes, my son, the man's friends (they used to be called cronies) are allowed to do whatever they want as long as they sign a piece of paper saying the fat guy did all the bad things. And apparently, they have absolutely no money to return to the government because after all, the fat guy was the only one who stole and cheated. They now say that they were just poor suckers who had to obey him or else. Tsk tsk. Yes, my son, Allied Bank, the bank owned by Lucio Tan cannot be asked to produce the document the government needs because his "new friends" are now running the country. Yes, my son, the man who is in charge
of the cases against Marcos is also the same person who took care of the
"Kuratong Baleleng" case, and these are some stories written
about him-- No, my son, Lucio Tan has not paid his 26 Billion peso debt. As a matter of fact, a man also named Tan was the man who was trying to collect some of this money. The other Tan, a man called Benny, is now going to jail. No, my son, he is not a bad guy, this other Tan they call Benny. The bad guys paid some money and are now free to do as they please. The Benny Tan man did not pay money because he is honest, so he goes to jail. The other Tan reportedly contributes to campaigns and is now free and clear, and even though he acts like he owns another government, he looks just like just another crook-crony. Yes, my son, we imprison whales and dolphins in Subic, but allow Maneros and guys like the fat guy and the other Tan to go free. But don't worry, we gave the generals who were working with the fat guy very nice jobs in the government now to make sure that, uhm... Well, I am not really sure what, actually. No, my son, the priests seem to decide sometimes how to run this country. And what you can see when you browse over their Internet. As well as what movies you can watch. But the hunger of the poor, the real sin that is poverty, the immorality in this hypocritical society, maybe they need to be careful about. Because some of the rich people who are dishonest keep them in their jobs. That's why the Mike Velarde 'raket' is still around. He works for them on a commission basis, you see... Yes, my son, starting tomorrow, all my text messages can be used against me by the government as a means to tone down the use of such a great medium for self-expression. And yes, it is the same government that was brought to power by the text message. And yes, it was one of those former general types who run the agency that decided this. Yes, my son, the same group of Generals who were around during the rule of Marcos is still around. Still here are the faces are the leaders of the communist parties. And the same goes with the politician's faces. Maybe your generation will have the balls to take the problem head on. Maybe your generation will pick up the cudgels for the poor. Maybe your generation will recover some of the stolen wealth that the country insists on giving away so freely to those who steal it. Maybe your EDSA will take place in your hearts and make you real fighters for change, and not only attendees at a four-day street party. Yes, my son, you can forget a lot of things, you can forget the eraps, marcoses and enriles. You can forget the civil society meetings I brought you to. But, hijo, never ever forget Chino Roces and his bridge at Mendiola. Yes, my son, I am sorry that I have not been able to do more to help make your future safer, better and brighter. I have apparently not tried hard enough to right the wrongs. For this I apologize to you and your little brother, Gabriel.
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