There is no reason to be jubilant today as we commemorate Bonifacio Day. For this day should serve as an auspicious reminder that workers everywhere carry the burden of oppression and neglect caused by a government that is unable and unwilling to heed its calls.
The great Andres Bonifacio, had he been alive today would have been infuriated with the brazen neglect with which this administration is walking all over democracy in pursuit of its selfish interests.
In its relentless peddling of charter change, it is ignoring the call of the poor for the basics: food, shelter, clothing and health. This scheme called charter change is designed to cater to the narrow interests of a few who only want to perpetuate themselves in power to avoid the day of reckoning.
Workers stand at guard, prepared to vote these thieves and cheats out of office, but with charter change they hope to postpone elections and stay in power until 2010 and well beyond.
And with charter change, the floodgates will be opened to economic ruin and disaster, as this beleaguered administration will continue to rely on foreign investment to shore up its image as being solid and stable, when in fact it is not.
Where it cannot coerce the various institutions of society and the general public into accepting its agenda, it does not hesitate to resort to draconian measures to get its way.
Revelations that the Arroyo administration considered declaring Martial Law in early 2006 was a sign of desperation and ultimately unmasks this administration’s dogged determination to stay in power and quell all opposition against its continued rule.
Workers bear the brunt of these measures and the general disarray within this administration. To galvanize support among the elites it is selling out the interests of the poor and marginalized to hold onto power.
We thus saw the first of many casualties: the proposed P125 across-the-board legislated wage hike was killed in Congress and the proposals instead coursed through the ineffectual wage boards. Other measures on the strengthening of union rights have also been neglected and the reason is clear: this administration cannot afford to displease capitalists because it is beset by a political crisis too heavy to bear without the use of economic and political repression.
But today as we celebrate Andres Bonifacio Day we are reminded that the sweetest victories are often borne of the harshest of struggles. We realize that the obstacles have been laid out before us but workers everywhere possess the resolve necessary to combat these repressive measures and the rotten system imposed by a few on us. We resolve to forge ahead, guided by the fiery ideals of Andres Bonifacio, against the hardships that we face day after day. Together we will fight for our rights towards the attainment of a society that is just and humane with the interests of the majority of the toiling masses at the forefront and the oppression of the few eliminated.