Letter

Disclaimer: I write this letter with all the love I have for the world: none.

Dear hypothetical present ocongressman of our ill-defined district,

I thank you for being the congressman of our district. I congratulate you for the positive results of your efforts in gaining (and maintaining) the congressional seat. I just want to say that I saw and was overwhelmed by the sheer passion and dedication in your political campaign and in your performance in Congress. It was an honor for this citizen to see exactly how you managed to become and continue to be the representative of our humble district.

Now, I only have one simple question for you:

Why even bother?

I am not questioning your motives, dear representative. Goodness knows what kinds of interesting things were needed to be done for you to get elected. The question still stands, though: Why even bother with our district? What do you even plan to do with our district? Are your plans for this district beneficial to mere citizens like us, or to some nebulous authority that your are either indebted with, are related to, worship to, or (worst of all) are married to?

Let us start this heart-to-heart talk (for some value of “heart”) with a few more questions about your (potential or otherwise) term as the representative of a poorly-defined district in Bulacan, from certain people whom I may or may not name (depending, of course, if they want to be involved in the” fallout” of my grand “mission”):

As a congressman, what do you think is your primary job?

What is the one thing you dislike about your district?

Who do you consult when you need to make legislative decisions?

What is the purpose of hanging banners with your names on them?

Is it frustrating to have to resort to building infrastructure or giving free things just to win or get re-elected?

Are you always present to attend and contribute to sessions in congress?

Why did you want to be an congressman in the first place?

How would being a representative benefit you?

What law, decrees, and other legal whatnot are still in the backburner?

If  you believe that some of the decrees that are still stuck in legislative limbo should be fastracked, which laws are they, and why?

Are you willing to continue the legislative endeavors of your predecessor (or his/her associtates)?

Who do you believe deserves to have the highest seat of power in the Republic?

What is the point in putting your (and/or your contemporaries’) names in streamers, boards, and any other surface that can be used to show how awesome you (and your works are)? ["Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!", indeed...]

What projects have you funded using the money from your pork barrel?

If some of those projects were in fact financed (or to be financed) by “donations,” what happened the public money that is allocated to those projects in the first place?

Have you proposed bills that will address the concerns of the people in our district?

What are the bills/laws that you have authored (or will author)  or co-authored?

How often do/will you attend the sessions in congress?

What are your views on transparency in government? Will you act on them?

How often do you conduct public forums or have you had open discussions with the people from your district (if at all)? How do you act on the concerns aired on said forums? Are consultations done in case a new project comes along?

What are your views on the political dynasties in the particular district? What do you plan to do about these political dynasties? (If you are part of a dynasty, what do you plan to do about it?)

How do you plan to utilize the funds that are allocated to this district? What is your stand in regards to the giving of allocations in the first place?

What do you believe are the long-running problems or points of improvement in this district? What is your plan of action, then?

What is your stand on the social issues in our district?

What is your personal evaluation of your performance in Congress? What is your personal evaluation of the performance of the current administration?

Finally, do you believe that you are deserving of your position as representative of our district, based on your qualifications? Do you even have to be a politician to serve the nation? If yes, why? If no, why bother?

Note that your answers to all of  these questions are retroactively binding, in the sense that these letter is an impicit contract between you and this district. This contract will be enforced through any legal means (including spoon-based protests/revolutions, if needed.)

Frankly, I do not see the point of writing to you, dear congressman, since it is assumed that this letter will first be brought to your subordinates, who will then read this letter, and dump it to the paper shredder, recycle bin, or their equivalents. However, I still make the point of making this letter, since I believe that the chance of having even a quantum of communication with your representative is a chance that should not be thrown away.

But know this: the moment that you openly and blatantly commit acts are that make a mockery of either the Philippine Constitution, United Nations statutes, common decency as defined by the majority of marginally sane sentients, or any equivalent codes of conduct (written or unwritten), by glory, everyone in our district shall be made aware of whatever tomfoolery you have committed. After that, heaven knows what might happen. Maybe a public letter. Maybe protests. Maybe legal proceedings. Maybe nothing.

But no one is sure what might happen. You might get a reprieve from a community that has been made apathetic in part by your predecessors. You may, in fact, win the legal proceedings (whether by hook or crook), giving a sense of legality (if not legitimacy) to your past (and possibly future) iniquities. You may even be praised by your peers for having a level of chutzpah that rivals that of a self-made orphan who asks the court to have mercy on him because he is an orphan.

Nonetheless, I still respect your ability to become and maintain being a congressman. I just wish that you would give me, and the electorate at large, a reason to actually appreciate the fact that you are our representative.

Yours truly,

Someone who lives in that ill-defined district.

P.S. Have a nice day, and I hope that you sleep nicely tonight...

Word count: 1096

If I am the president of the Republic of the Philippines…

I would first use my (somewhat-)democratically-granted powers to successfully control the ruling oligarchy through the personal implementation of a half-year-long localized reign of tyranny on the said elite.

With a spoon.

After the sessions of pain and laughter (preferably after making about half of the elite so traumatized that they would stir their coffee with forks), I would then categorically declare to the entire nation via a speech in Malacanang my plans regarding the following problems in Philippine society (summarized below), that will be implemented immediately during and after the speech, while having  the representatives, senators, department secretaries, generals, taipans, landlords and other people who can be considered as the most powerful people in the land as my very, very unwilling “guest of honor”:

The Family

This administration believes in the right of every family to earn a living through whatever legal means that they could find. Similarly, the government has no intention to stop any individual who willfully and intentionally wants to work abroad, given the required papers and sufficient awareness of their rights and of the perils of working abroad. Nevertheless, I declare that the era of state-sanction labor exportation in the Philippines shall end immediately. To maintain the stability of the Filipino family, the government shall realign its focus on developing local industries, so that said industries will provide jobs to our fellow women and men, so that they would not need to sacrifice the psychological stability of their family for their family’s financial stability. May I repeat that I will NOT prevent the outflow of Filipinos who dream of a better life outside their homeland. I would rather that said Filipinos will come to the Philippines not because the state said so; instead, they will come back because it worth working and living in this country. The Philippines can be great again. The Filipino can be great again. We just need to give ourselves an incentive to go beyond ourselves and our currently rotten state.

Educational Institutions

But how can we go build ourselves a new era if we can’t be bothered to have the right tools. On that note, this administration celebrates the achievements of the private sector in bringing quality education to those who can pay for it. I move that this government would institute the revamp of our public elementary, secondary, and tertiary education institutions (in that order). At the same time, the creation of a school voucher system will commence, thereby giving even the poorest qualified potential students students the capability to study in wherever they believe to have the facilities and ability to provide them with the best education this country could provide for them, whether the choice may be public schools (with the government paying for the tuition of those who can’t afford using its monopoly powers), or in private schools (with the government indirectly paying for the tuition of those who can’t afford to using financial grants). By fixing the school system through private industry and public policy, families rich or poor can now have the freedom to decide where to send their children to whatever school they like (given that said children are certified to be able to survive the rigors of schooling.) At the same time, competition could flourish between the private schools and public schools, while the government moderates the two sides through the use of public money (in a somewhat unusual case of coopetition)

Religious Institutions

As a man of religion, I declare that the state which I now represent has no right to side for or against any religion, philosophy, and similar forms of spiritual wellness. At the same time, however, the same state must not impose whatever philosophy or religion, whether directly or indirectly, whether by writing the laws of any particular philosophy outside a government building, or by using taxpayer money to fund religious gatherings in schools. In other words, this government shall remain utterly neutral in the realm of spirituality. To that effect, all advisers, government officials, and other personnel, positions and offices who explicitly or implicitly support a particular set of religious views shall be removed immediately. It is the duty of the state to give equal treatment to its citizens, regardless of their views or philosophies. I say this not only as a man of religion, but also as a man for the state.

On that note, the state shall only consider the secular implications of public policy. Whatever judgement calls that have to be made in the name of morality shall be left to each and every citizen, knowing that the state has no more right to ultimately decide one person’s fate (within the realm of law) than any other institution, including the dominant clergy in the republic. This is not to offend those with spiritual leanings; in fact, these measures ensure that each citizen cannot be compelled by any authority (perceived or otherwise) to change his or her beliefs, only that said authorities may only suggest certain actions (without implying any consequences, at least in the mortal realm) for individuals to follow. This government recognizes the free will inherent in all sentient beings.

Political Institutions

While I am a supporter of the concept of the democracy and the republic (considering that I am a president in what is at least a nominal through presumably democratic means,) I am not denying that whatever kind of government that was established here in the Philippines can not be, in almost any circumstance be called a democracy. On that note, as I hold hostage to the whole lot of you (pointing to the poor little sods in front of me that now fear the power of the spoon), I declare a new era in Philippine politics, where the possibility of me being able to hold snap elections and resigning immediately will not hinder the sociopolitical growth of the electorate and the institutions. Before I would hold the snap elections (and hopefully the resignation immediately after), I shall assemble a commission, consisting of the best minds in Philippine society, from all sectors, with the caveat that any member of the elite that is eligible under the commission MUST feel the pain of the spoon before they can be allowed. Even then, the elite that are part of the commission are considered to be lower than the other members, to ensure that they will never, ever, be able to hijack  the commission. However, I also recognize the power of weapons in allowing the elite to take hostage of the nation. That is precisely why I would use the elite as my hostages (and preferably, as human punching bags/ shields/ corkboards): so that there would be a very large disincentive to rebel.

Economic Institutions

As I have said before, the Philippines can and will be great again. It only takes a Green-Lantern level of willpower from the electorate to implement change to this country of ours. This time, since the elite will be under my control (with a spoon, no less) I would then leverage whatever power the elite has to empower the Philippines in the world stage. The somewhat vague plan, pending discussion with the commission mentioned before, will involved the treaties that the Philippines is a signatory to, taking advantage of the fact that the government has the equivalent of an eldritch abomination in its hands. The government will use the elite as a bargaining chip  (an economic weapon, even) in international discussions, so that the deals that favored the elite here in the Philippines may now be changed to favor the Philippines at large (even if by a little.) A level of chutzpah may be required to pull this off, unless the mass media will not or cannot cover the machinations that are happening behind the scenes; if found, the whole plan may either crumble or strengthen further, depending on how shamelessly audacious the beating of the promoters of the “cacique democracy” with dull cutlery really is.

Mass Media

Before I institute the power of the spoon as one of the most important tools for exerting power, I need to address one thing before the snap elections happen: the retailoring of “intellectual property” in the Philippines. It is fortunate that the Philippines, along with India and some other countries, is one of the few countries that do not legally acknowledge the concept of software patents, thereby preventing the patently absurd (pun may or may not be intended) scenario where any user of free/open source operating systems and/or programs cannot play MP3s because the codec is patented. This is no the worst to come from the world of crazy-butt intellectual property law; now that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is now being discussed upon, which is essentially a worldwide implementation of the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States (infamous for preventing users to watch original DVDs with DRM in non-proprietary programs), and International Intellectual Property Alliance is now accusing countries that recommend the use of free/open source software as promoters of piracy. As president of the Republic of the Philippines, I declare defiantly that it is no one’s business if our country decides to become independent of companies that sell proprietary software. I am not saying that the use of proprietary software is banned; I am saying that the use of free/open source software shall be encouraged by the government, as a means of promoting the development of technology within the Philippine nation’s terms, NOT of other countries’, nor of other states, merely because they lose profit. This government exists to serve the citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, and no one, not the elite, not the corporate behemoths, and certainly not the most powerful country in the world can ever top that.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. – Edmund Burke

Word count: 1649

A note about intellectual property

The concept of owning ideas is slightly problematic in a sense, since anyone who has a working brain can “have” the exact same idea you are having, while matter replicators are needed to have someone’s physical property without using force. Now, I ask: how can someone protect her intellectual property, then? She could always keep her idea in her head forever, out of the reach of anyone; if she wants to take full advantage of her idea, though, she has to risk being accused by anyone else of copying your idea from another, a plausible problem, given the number of nominally thinking sapients in this tiny insignificant blue planet.  The only for her to safeguard her idea from being “misappropriated” by other humans while also being able to use her ideas for monetary gain is o invite the involvement of the state, through restricting intellectual commerce (via copyright, patent, trademark, and others.) So it is an affront to my just-pretending-to-be-Objectivist-while-in-fact-I-am-a-socialist-capitalist philosophy that there are business groups that proclaim their inherent “Capitalist” right to own ideas while they ask the government to intervene for them. That makes me hate the whole of humanity more (though not as much as the time when I read about that Arroyo is like Marcos: some people will hate her now, but eventually everybody will love her due to her accomplishments in infrastructure, education, the economy, etcetera, etcetera, etcete-fleming-ra). The saddest thing is, their plans have horribly gone RIGHT. In fact, I am very fortunate that I live in a country where I cannot be arrested for playing MP#s using my Ubuntu Linux computer (the MP3 codec is patented, and it is only in the Philippines, India, and some other nations where software patents are invalid). Screw Disney, for leading the charge to screw us with the law every time its incredibly lame (until this September, that is) everyman cartoon character is past its copyright date. Screw Microsoft, for daring to use its patent portfolio to bribe Linux-using companies under the pretense of Linux having broken one of its patents, in the same way that a gangster would say:

“Nice store you’ve got there; pity if it would get burned down, though.”

Now they’re just playing with us.

Word count: 373