…NOT ONLY TO LISTEN BUT TO MARCH

A Message to the Filipino People

BGEN DANILO LIM AFP
27 November 2008


We are a nation divided. Peace, unity and development continue to elude us because we have a president bereft of moral or legal authority to lead. She had, in fact, become the greatest continuing threat to the security, cooperative spirit, well being and sense of Nationhood of the Filipino people.

A true leader is a symbol of unity and a rallying figure especially in difficult times. A bogus leader is divisive and stays in power to the detriment of the common good and the National interest.

GMA continues to inflict herself on our hapless people. In the process, scarce government resources are squandered to buy for her dubious loyalties, institutions are prostituted to project a sham imprimatur to an immoral governance, public service has evolved into a buffet of graft and corruption, and morals, values, accountability and responsibility have been reduced to mere flamboyant phrases. She destroyed the very concept of truth as the foundation of every act of government.

We find the country today in deep turmoil. Oppression, corruption and injustice rule the benighted land. Internecine struggles threaten to dismantle the republic. Widespread poverty robs people of their dignity and drives many to prostitution and virtual slavery in foreign climes. Hunger incidence is at an all time high and the country’s human development index is at an all time low. No wonder, an atmosphere of destitution pervades among our normally resilient and patient people. All of these were brought about by 8 years of unelected, hopelessly corrupt leadership and a slew of failed liberal economic and peace policies.

Long starved of good governance, the Filipino people should act now to reclaim their dignity, remove the pretender from power and steer this nation on the path to greatness. I echo, loud and clear, the call for radical reforms and restructuring. The call of the times is for us NOT ONLY TO LISTEN BUT TO MARCH.

November 30, a few days from now is National Heroes Day. Let us recapture the visions and ideals of our heroes and martyrs and give justice to their golden dream of National independence.

This country needs a leader of heroic and nationalist stature who would champion genuine independence in every aspect of our national life. He or she must be committed to challenging colonial economic masters and their local surrogates, abandoning obscene foreign debt payment policies, pushing industrialization, agriculture productivity and sustainable agrarian reforms, ensuring food and energy independence, and formulating a sound economic strategy anchored on the declaration that this country’s patrimony and all of our abundant resources are solely for the Filipinos to develop and benefit from. The current President is the antithesis of that leader. For her personal aggrandizement, she was willing to sacrifice the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by dismembering the Republic in the case of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) and the baseline issue, west of our archipelago.

The latest Malacanang sponsored machinations are designed to extend GMA’s discredited regime. Secretary Dureza’s prayer and the feigned reaction revealed it all. With no semblance of delicadeza, no less than her son is doing the rounds, spearheading a signature campaign that would eventually actualize their foul design. With a subservient congress which frustrates the impeachment process at every turn and some Supreme Court justices willing to do their biddings, then their coast is clear, our political fate is sealed. I dread the thought that our best bet is for GMA to die of old age.

Now is the time to grip hands and act! Enough is enough!


(This statement was read at the KME presscon by Bishop Tobias)