Hi everyone,

A year ago, no one expected us to be where we are today. We expected a different fight with different candidates and different issues. The death of Tita Cory has changed all that. It’s turned into a wake-up call for all of us. We’ve lost a hero, yes, but we didn’t want to lose what she stood for: a Philippines with leaders who place country above self, who respect the rights of all; a Philippines where justice is not just an empty word.

Tita Cory’s death has forced us to confront how badly our country has been governed by the present administration of GMA, how far we’ve strayed from our dreams as a nation. I’m sure that you’ve seen our people’s helpless anger expressed in survey after survey. It’s as if the nation wants to cry out at the top of its tired lungs, “tama na, sobra na!”

It’s true that we’ve been forced to bury our old plans and to make sacrifices (and believe me, that was not easy!) But what do you do when you sense that the times, that the country demands it? So we did something new in Philippine politics. In just a few months, we were able to create a new campaign, a new tandem not based on electoral arithmetic like the others.

No expert would have advised this a year ago. Yet here we are: not by careful design, but because the people put us there. Now that May 10 nears, we once again place our trust in the people… in YOU, as you mark your ballot for the future of this country. Rest assured that when the time comes that an Aquino-Roxas administration is given the chance to serve, that trust will be returned a hundred-fold. We will work for one thing only: to make the years from 2010 to 2016 a time of change, a time of hope… a much desired time for renewal.

Ever thankful for your support,
M.

Maraming salamat. Sa sobrang init na dinaramdam ninyo, ayan, umapoy na bigla ang ating confetti. Palakapan ninyo ngayon ang sarili ninyo!

Mga kababayan, nandito tayo ngayon—di malayo sa kung saan milyung-milyun ng ating mga kababayan ay nagtipon para manindigan laban sa pang-aapi; para harapang hamunin ang diktaturya: “gawin na ninyo ang gagawin ninyo, pero hindi kami aatras sa inyo!”

“Give us back our freedom! Give us back our dignity as free men, and leave us to make the best we can of our country!”

Nandito tayo ngayon, naka dilaw: kulay ng tapang at pag-asa. Kulay ni Tita Cory. Palakpakan ninyo ang EDSA!

Nandito tayo ngayon, handang tapusin ang minsang sinimulan ng EDSA.

Malaya na tayo ngayon. Ngayon, gagawin natin ang tunay na dapat gawin para ang mamamayang Pilipino ang siyang manaig dito sa ating sariling bansa. Ito ay para sa inyo at sa ating lahat: mahirap at may-kaya, bata at matanda, ang OFW at ang na-iwan niyang pamilya rito.

This is our country and we will get it back.

Every generation has its EDSA, just as every pasyon and Calvary has its Easter Redemption. In our grandparents’ time, our countrymen, in the millions, gathered in smaller groups to fight the Japanese invader. It took lots of courage. They faced much bigger risks. But their spirit and their sacrifice laid the groundwork for our country’s liberation.

In our parents’ time, our countrymen tried to build a progressive nation, raising it up from the wreckage of war to the heights of progress. The Philippines—our beloved country—was better off than all our neighbours combined.

Muntik na silang magtagumpay. Ngunit parang kandilang hinipan at namatay, ang mga pangarap nila’y nag-laho nung nagka Martial Law.  Naging baril at dahas ang sukatan ng tama at mali.

Both our parents and we, our generation, jointly had its own EDSA.

Oh, it was something out of legend. With a cast of millions, our country played out a drama never seen in history – a battle between good and evil; giving and taking; between guns, goons and gold on the one hand, and plain guts on the other.

Hindi na kailangang ilista ang mga nangyari. Nakaukit na ito sa alaala ng ating lahi.

Hindi na kailangang idetalye ang kabayanihan ng mga nagtipon upang humarang sa tangke at harapin ang pang-aapi. No need to recall the countless, selfless deeds, big and small, of so many unknown, ordinary people who together achieved the extraordinary!

Together, we declared and we made happen the words first uttered by Moses to Pharoah, and Cory to Marcos: LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!

Ngayon, nandito tayo sa EDSA natin at ng ating mga anak. Ngayon, nandito tayo, upang sabihin sa mga desperadong maluklok sa puwesto; sa mga nagpupumilit na manahin ang trono para sa sarili nilang interes: Tama na! Sobra na! Hindi kami papayak! Lalaban kami!

Huwag laging kayo na lang: pagbigyan niyo naman ang tao.

Hindi natin ipinaglalaban na tayo naman. Ang ipinaglalaban natin: ang TAO naman. Let every Filipino taste the Filipino dream: Harinawa’y matikman ng bawat isa sa atin ang inaasam na pangarap ng bawat Pilipino.

Eto ang eksena sa aking isipan: sa loob ng isang bahay na gawa sa materiales Fuertes, si tatay, kakauwi lang galing sa trabaho. Si kuya at si ate, naka-uniporme, galing sa eskwela. Si lola/ masiglang nilalaro si baby. Buong pamilya, magkasama, masayang magkasalo sa mesang sagana sa pagkain, at sa tahanang puno ng pag-asa.

Basic to this is a government that is really of the people, by the people; and NOT for the cronies of the people in power. To them, we say: “give our country a chance, to be all that it can be, all that it was, and all it deserves to be – prosperous, proud and truly free.

Some people think they have the right to take power and run this country to the ground. Well, there is no such right. The only right is the right of the Filipino-people to a better life.

May mga gustong ituloy ang kanilang ligaya, ang ligayang naggagapos sa atin sa kahirapan. Ang sigaw natin : Hindi kami papayag! LALABAN KAMI!!!

Ito ang ating pagkakataon. Ito ang pagkakataon ng ating henerasyon.

Hindi ito magiging madali. Hindi ito i-aabot sa atin. Kailangan nating ipaglaban ito. Ngayon ang simula ng ating EDSA. Ang EDSA ng ating henerasyon.

Iilang tulog na lang, maitatama na natin ang mali. Ma-i-tuituwid na natin ang baluktot, Mailalagay na natin sa ayos ang ating landas. It is time. It is our time. Our time to make a difference. It is our time to show what we are made of, to SHOW what being a Filipino is all about.

It is our time to prove: WE ARE WORTH DYING FOR.

May 10 is more than an election. It is our Revolution. Ito ang Rebolusyun natin: para sa totoong kalayaan, sa totoong katarungan, sa totoong kaunlaran.

It is our People Power Revolution for everything that our great country can be. Ito ang ating People Power para sa kadakilaan na karapat-dapat-lang para sa ating lahi.

Mga minamahal na kababayan, lalaban po tayo! Maraming salamat, magandang hapon, mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino.

Hi everyone,

In 1985, the thought of being involved in politics was far from my mind. But after just one year, I found myself campaigning for a person that would eventually take the first steps to heal this broken country. I speak, of course, of our beloved Tita Cory Aquino. It’s her birthday today and this is my own little way of paying her tribute.

She turned out to be our Joan of Arc – an unlikely heroic figure that represents hope, dreams, deliverance from oppression, and yearning for decency in a corruption-infested government. Because of her, I took a leave of absence from my job in New York to immerse myself in a “bara bara” campaign in Iloilo and Panay Island. When I say bara bara, I mean that it was a people’s campaign. There was no money involved here. It was about the people wanting to become Cory-supporters in every sitio, barangay and town. Back then, the issue wasn’t about debt-servicing, GDP, or local industries… It was about trust. In a government that lied, cheated, and killed, here was Cory Aquino, housewife of a martyr, who said: “Enough is enough. We deserve better. And we will take our country back.”

During those days, one couldn’t help but be inspired. But even before she became Cory the President or Cory the Hero, I had the privilege of knowing her just as Tita Cory. And as many will tell you today, she wasn’t just this larger-than-life symbol on a poster. She was the kind of person who’d lead by example, who was sincere, who was credible, and who stood her ground despite the odds, imbued with a strong but humble faith. She told me once that, “people may or may not like you [for standing your ground], but they will respect you and trust you.” I’ll always remember those words.

Tita Cory was able to change the country because people respected and trusted her. She might not have been able to achieve all of her goals: partly because she stoutly refused to use her powers to the hilt, believing it was more important to give an example of restraint and propriety; and partly because healing a broken country is a work of decades, not of a few years. And it is a task for all of us… that’s why, after her term, she continued to work patiently but with a clear vision to safeguard our democracy, our values that hold society together.

She has passed on and left us this task. Today, we remember what a gift we had in her. It is a bittersweet memory for me who was privileged to know her not only as a political leader, but as a close family friend, a wise and warmhearted woman, whose death has left a painful hole in our lives. In honoring her memory, all of us are called to work for the things she held dear, to do the right thing by our conscience, our fellow human beings, and our country.

Thank you Tita Cory.

M.

Hi all,

First, let me say that it’s great to have settled down again after an amazing honeymoon experience in Japan. As soon as I got back to the country though, a lot of my friends wanted to know if it was really me and Korina who were ‘tweeting.’ Let’s just say that I found the question amusing.  Just so everyone knows, I’ve been using Twitter since late last year; Facebook, for over two years now (although these days I prefer looking at the comments in my fan page rather than my personal account). I’d also like to call myself a blogger but I don’t think the number of articles I’ve written will justify the title, haha.  Hanggang ngayon parang newbie pa rin : )

At first, I thought that these social networks were just for getting in touch with my contacts online, sort of like e-mail only more social. Later, I was pleasantly surprised to find many of my schoolmates from high school and college adding me up as friends. People from work and even constituents from all over the country started sending me messages. Medyo na-overwhelm ako.

Reading messages came by the hundreds on some days. I’d add people up only to find out that I was limited to just 5000 friends. Now that I’ve gotten a hang of it though, I’ve limited myself to occasionally reading and answering messages, posting photos, and tweeting when time permits. I particularly like it that Facebook has a fan page that doesn’t limit the number of contacts I can have. My good friend Noynoy now has over 100,000 fans supporting and listening to him.  Sobrang impressive ang pag-dami ng supporters! I am very proud that the internet population is doing its share in bringing about change to the country.

For the record, let me state that these are amazing tools for a country like the Philippines, a country so divided by geographical boundaries that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going on without news coverage by national TV networks and newspapers. These physical limitations are now so easily beaten by two-sentence tweets or status updates. Nakakamangha.

Some say that these social networks belong to the younger generation and that us politicians should stay out of it. Sa palagay ko, hindi e. It’s an interesting experience, to say the least, both for the politician and his constituents. What better way for us to hear what people have to say than having comments appear real-time in a medium which everyone treats as their online identity? I remember when Congress attempted to railroad cha-cha with HR1109, the web exploded with so much negativity that one can’t help but be impressed with the online reaction. When the $50,000 dinners were held in the states, the net once again erupted in anger. When the flooding occurred in the metropolis, I remember reading dozens of contact details spreading virally because of both celebrity and non-celebrity tweets.  It’s no secret that the the relief effort after the typhoons was largely a product of “bayanihan 2.0” – a combination of web and Filipino culture. Ang galing talaga!

I’d go even as far as saying that it might be a good idea for all our officials to have Facebook and Twitter. For one thing it would make them more accessible to those who’re interested in reaching them. For now, just for myself, having both Facebook and Twitter accounts, reading about what people say about current events, and tweeting every now and then about my own public, personal, and even married, life seems like a good way to start. Who would’ve thought that something that allows for so much transparency in government could be so easy and fun to use at the same time? Until my next update, feel free to let me know what you think about politicians and the internet in the comments below. Thanks!

M.

Country above self. Good versus evil.

These are not mere catchphrases, nor marketing tools to sway people to vote this way or that. This is the simple truth that cannot be clouded by layers of lies and unfulfilled promises of a government that now is known as the most corrupt that we Filipinos have ever had.

As you know, a few weeks ago I made the most difficult decision of my life. It was certainly heart wrenching and painful to tell family, friends, and supporters in Club Filipino that I was going to give way to Noy… but I believed then, as I do now, that it was the right thing to do. Not just for myself or for those who supported me, but for a country eagerly waiting to be united against a familiar foe. Of course, I speak of graft, corruption, and the many evils that follow in their wake. I know that most of you may see these traditional lines as motherhood statements or the usual words politicians use to gain votes, pacify the crowd, and continue this ruinous cycle. I tell you now, with what conviction that I can muster, that these are not abstract words; that they exist in the highest offices of the land; and that the most opportune time to fight this evil is May 2010.

And this is where Noy comes in. People are beginning to believe again. As recent events have shown, he captured the passion of a country and united it against this overwhelming sense of paralysis. Stepping aside, though a hard decision on my part, is a small role to play in this struggle.

A movement has been born. I ask you to join it and reclaim a government that is rightfully yours. A few weeks ago I took the first step towards this direction. I intend to take many more steps in the near future. Let this serve as an invitation to you, reader, activist, scholar, and friend, to do the same.

Hindi ko kayo pababayaan. Mahal na mahal ko kayo. Lalaban tayo!

M.

Speech made during the FVR-RPDEV Forum

I thought long and hard about what I should say to you. So many things need to be said that we could drown in the minutiae and get lost. I think that’s one of the hallmarks of a good President: not getting lost in the minutiae, keeping the big picture in sight, juggling so many different things atop a high-wire while still keeping his bearings, his principles, and his vision intact.

This good working order is the most necessary ingredient in our development mix. But necessary as it is, it is still insufficient to determine success. And therein lies the facts of life.

I come before you knowing full well that this is a job interview, for hiring come 2010. What comes to mind now is, “To whom will I ensure my company? And in this case, “To whom will I entrust our country?” Who will put together all of the plans and programs, the dreams and ideas?”

And so, rather than give you a five-point program, or a fifteen-point this or a six-point that, I’m going to tell you about my views of government, the state of the economy, why it hasn’t succeeded, and what we ought to do to make it work for the people. I’m going to tell you about these so that you know how I think, and when the call comes at three in the morning, you’ll know the character and the mindset that informs my decisions.

In the last 20 years, we have seen 27 nations of Europe take off the armor of nationalism in exchange for the coat of solidarity and consensus. The ASEAN, in the past 25 years, has put up the ASEAN Charter that sets forth the path into inter-independence. Global citizenry is the call of the times. The more than 8 million Filipinos abroad are our vanguard.

The collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989 came in step with the rapid demise of the world communist order. Today, human security is not challenged by large clashes of ideological forces, but by breaches of security and peace made by small extremist cells engaged in asymmetric war.

Technology is now becoming a tool shaping politics and governance. One can only look at how the crisis in Iran has been catalogued in Twitter, or how the US elections were driven by blogs, Facebook, and YouTube, acknowledging that technology will be our cutting edge to enforce transparency and honesty in Government.

Through this prism and the prism of lessons learned over the last twenty years or so, I believe that we need to rethink what is popularly understood as the interaction between the market and government.

At bottom, this is what I believe: To maximize the power of the market for the good of all people, an activist government is needed.

After we embarked on a golden age of deregulation, liberalization, global and regional integration, thus unleashing the power of the market, it is time that we now all act as one. It is a lesson we could take in this world financial crisis.

Too often we have equated have free markets with having an “absent government.” “Letting market forces work” meant leaving the market alone.

Ironically it is clear that without the rules and laws and enforcement power that only government can provide, the market may not in fact allocate resources in the most efficient manner. Much less in an equitable manner.

The irony of deregulation is that it needs strong regulators to work as planned, where competition or proper regulatory controls drive down prices and people harvest the gains from these lower prices. Without strong institutions, predatory or monopoly elements that are well-placed to begin with will have a field day. Regulators ensure that consumers, the private citizen, benefit at the end of the day.

Recent examples are the ill-equipped regulation by the NTC of telecoms, and the lapses of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Legacy. These show us that indeed, regulators have been absent in those leagues.

Likewise for liberalization. Without adequate rules and laws and managers who can manage the transition, anticipate difficulties, and provide appropriate safety nets, net gains may be marginal, and even negative. In transition economies, we now know that the ‘big bang’ approach to restructuring, intended to force change by fiat, fails because basic laws and capable oversight agencies are simply not there.

This speaks of another irony. That economic integration requires that each country pulls its own weight. Indeed, self-reliance of a country should be mixed with interdependence. Thus while a country will go hungry if it isolates itself in this new world order, the solution is not to lay itself open for the picking. Borders of economic jurisdictions must be open, but should not be weak. On the contrary, the economic policies within each jurisdiction must be clear and well-enforced for economic integration to work.

In short, we have seen that markets can be ruthless. Greed and avarice are the very fuel of injustice—and it is the poor, the helpless and powerless—who are run over in the rush towards free markets. When elephants clash, the ants get trodden upon. And in our country, there are way too many elephants oblivious to the plight of the people.

The binding constraint to our development path as a nation, to achieving and sustaining a better quality of life for all Filipinos, has been poor institutions, the weakest institutions that stop our development. Regulatory agencies, enforcement agencies, and corruption are empirical evidence that support this.

The per capita growth rate of the Philippines between 1965-1995 was 1.2% compared to the other four in ASEAN at 4.8%, South Asia at 1.9% and East Asia at 6.6%.

Thus an activist government is needed. By activist, I do not mean big or controlling. And certainly, I do not mean corrupt. Rather I mean a government that is nimble, quick to respond and professional.

In IT-speak, a good processor is not just a smart one, but a quicker one. We need a government that can render systematic responses and shorter decision-making processes. One that can deal with surprises, one that is alert, aware of the ever-changing global and domestic environment, and which has the facility to act immediately and effectively on behalf of all Filipinos.

An activist government would have to be built on the foundation of accountability, transparency, independence of enforcement agencies, meritocracy and professionalism. We need to restore these to our public domain where these have been terribly undermined and corrupted over the last eight or so years.

Indeed, the evidence is right here. Worldwide indicators have decreased between 1996 and 2007. The largest decreases have been in Control of Corruption, from 45.1 to 22.2 or a decrease of 22.9 percentage points, and in Rule of Law, from 54.8 to 33.8 or a decrease of 21 points.

The bottom line is the people. To make room for their dreams, to allow succeeding generations to build on the efforts of previous ones, we must have an activist government. A government that seeks out the best, and only the best interest, of the people.

In 1993 or 1995, I heard an anecdote about a certain elder statesman who was at the helm of the peace process in Mindanao. The talks with the MNLF were nearing fruition, and he traveled to Mindanao to say his piece to the people. Traveling down a country road, his convoy was suddenly pelted with sticks and tomatoes. His stand on peace, back then, was indeed not very popular with the people on the ground.

And yet, this was the era of one of the longest ceasefires in Mindanao. It was the era of a successful negotiation with the MNLF; it was an era of peace. We can look back to that day when his car was pelted with sticks and tomatoes as the day when a leader was brave enough to say: You can throw anything at me, but I stand committed to my principles. Now, can we please sit down and talk?

That is what leadership is: It means standing by one’s principles. It means being willing to lay down your cards, despite the spite or controversy that will surely come your way—all of these while resolving conflicts, managing crises, seeing the big picture and connecting the dots all for the interest of the nation.

This kind of leadership happened in one previous administration in recent memory, and it was largely because of the vision and tenacity of a single visionary President.

There’s a saying that says: If you want to go fast, go alone. And if you want to go far, be with many. Thus, my dream is to instill a kind of government that will not rely on a single person to juggle on the high-wire. I dream of an activist government, one that has a streamlined bureaucracy — an army, so to speak, of people who know how to juggle on the high-wire, who do not forget the bottom line: The people and our nation.

Privilege Speech of Senator Mar Roxas

Mr. President, may I take a moment of the chamber’s time to rise on a matter of personal privilege.

Marami nang nasabi mula nang magsalita ako noong rally noong Biyernes. Maraming nabigla sa bugso ng emosyon. May mga nailang o nagalit. May mga nagsasabing mali ang sinabi ko. Binanatan ako ng Malakanyang. Ginamit nila ang kanilang propaganda machine laban sa akin.

Una: gaya noong Biyernes, magsasalita ako nang deretsahan ngayon: I AM NOT SORRY. I am not sorry for speaking my mind and telling the truth as I see it to be. I am not sorry for expressing my real feelings and my rage in behalf of the people whom I love.

Ikalawa: Marami nang nagbigay ng opinyon sa kung paano dapat ako nagsalita o umasal. Irerespeto ko sila. They are entitled to their opinion, and I respect it. Sana, irespeto rin nila ako, at ang pinaglalaban ko. Hindi ako plastik. I AM NOT SORRY.

Ikatlo: Bakit ako magso-sorry? Kung mag-sorry ako, para na ring nag-sorry tayong mga biktima ng korapsyon, tulad ng mga magsasakang ninakawan ng fertilizer. Para na ring nag-sorry ang bawat Pilipino na gutom na walang trabaho, na wala nang makitang pag-asa dito sa ating bansa. Para na ring nag-sorry ang mga Pilipino, na ang tunay na damdamin lamang ay katulad ng sinabi ko.

Ikaapat: Hindi ito tungkol sa salita lamang. Alin ba ang mas nakakailang: ang masakit na salita, o ang masamang gawa? Ang diretsong katotohanan o ang baluktot na kasinungalingan? Ang maruming bibig o ang marungis na kamay at konsensiya?

What are the real issues?

This government has systematically ravaged our political and economic life.

This government has twisted our institutions to suit its self-serving interests.

This government has torn apart our nation.

Ikalima, at huli: Hindi ko gustong makasakit sa damdamin ng kapwa sa sinabi ko noong Biyernes. Tinukoy ko lang ang tunay na kalagayan ng bansa. Nagpakatotoo lamang ako, at nasa katotohanan ang kaligtasan at kalayaan ng ating bayan. Nasa katotohanan ang pag-asa.

Para sa mga desperado nating kababayan, tatlo lang ang puwede nilang gawin.

Magmukmok, manahimik, at umiyak sa isang tabi.

Umalis, maghanap ng pag-asa sa ibang bansa.

Mamundok. Mag-armas at lumaban.

Ayaw nating mangyari ang mga ito. We do not want our people to suffer in silence, nor to have to leave their families, nor have to take up arms. Kailangan nating kapitan ang katotohanan. Kailangan nating ihiyaw ito. We must shout out the truth so that we can be free. We must break the apathy and the paralysis. Our outrage will move us forward. I must speak of the people’s anguish.

Sabi nga ni Ka Amado Hernandez, isang pambansang alagad ng sining:

“Kung wala mang maglalamay sa gabi ng pagbabangon, Lumuha ka nang lumuha’t ang laya mo’y nakaburol.”

Kasama ng taumbayan, I say: I AM NOT SORRY.