Germelina A. Lacorte | Burma rising: A chat with Wahyu

By GERMELINA LACORTE

DAVAO CITY — With the recent unrest in Burma and the Burmese military junta’s crackdown on protesters fighting for democracy, Wahyu, the journalist fellow from Jakarta I wrote about here last year, was all agog.

“Burma monks are now on fire for democracy,” Wahyu wrote when I chanced upon him in my monitor.

“Yes, I read about it!” I replied.

“You’re not interested to go there?” he asked.

“I am!” I lied. “I want to go there right away but nobody will pay for my plane ticket!”

“How do you look at the move of Burma monks?” he asked again. “Will they succeed the way Cardinal Sin succeeded in leading the people power in the Philippines?”

“Sure, the protest is such a good move for the monks!” I said. “To speak up against oppression is in keeping with their role as keepers of the soul of Burma! But don’t talk to me about Cardinal Sin, Wahyu! He was such a disappointment! The Philippine people power at Edsa was such a big disappointment,” I said. “Don’t talk to me about it, okay?! We want real change, Wahyu, not a show! People power at Edsa was a fake revolution!”

Wahyu was silent for six minutes, so, it was my turn to seethe with fury. Then, all of a sudden, he appeared again onscreen. “Hahaha!” he laughed, “I don’t know why you are very pessimistic! I think the Filipino people power was an inspiring thing for peoples in other Asian countries struggling for democracy.”

“Inspiring?!” I asked. “At the moment that it was happening, yes, it was really very inspiring! We looked up to Cory Aquino. We believed in her initial moves to broaden “democratic space.” But what’s happening now?

Where is the so-called “democratic space?” What happened to Hacienda Luisita, the big landholdings owned by Cory’s Cojuangco clan, supposed to be subjected to her most touted land reform program? What happened to the farm workers there? Have the lives of the people improved after democracy was restored? How about the number of journalists and political activists getting killed everyday? How about the silent Martial Law in our midst, the Human Security Act–the law that allows the arrest without warrant of anyone suspected of being a terrorist? Edsa was really such a disappointment, Wahyu. Please don’t talk to me about it. People around the world who love the idea of the Philippine people power should not only praise and “get inspired” by it but should also study why it failed.”

“Well,” Wahyu replied, “We always get disappointed by things but I think the Philippines is still the most democratic country in Southeast Asia.”

“Democracy, my foot!” I was about to say but I restrained myself for Wahyu.