The Road Back

After Cory’s death it was clear that that torch and burden of the EDSA spirit was passed to a new generation. The passing of Philippine democracy’s icon caused more than just a resurgence of hope in the morally aligned, it fanned the ambers of activism in the young that has far been dulled by indifference and time. With the dwindling count of rally attendees and the frequent politically tainted calls for protests, who could blame them anyway.

Our economically challenged times dictate that work should not be sacrificed in exchange for our beliefs however seemingly right they are. “Can my attendance in a rally add a single peso in my bank account?” is the usual mantra for the yuppie on the street..."Leave the protests to the reds, they seem to be happy doing it anyway" - some may even add. Given the solo flight trend affecting us, It seems that this generation is fighting a different dictator after all…a strong man that doesn’t shackle the collective but promotes the individual’s instinct to preserve himself. The changing times has truly spawned an uglier authoritarian...one that can only be deposed by a personal coup-de-etat..a personal protest…an internal act of defiance.

Fortunately, true to the principles of evolution, human progress has armed us with tools to cope with the forces that threaten to wipe out the Filipino's internal mechanism for collective action..in this case a road back...ironically using the same vehicle being blamed in bringing us astray in the lonely streets of individualism.

The technologically spiral to segmentation has gifted us with the opportunity to optimize the Internet. The web riding in tandem with cable TV undeniably were the happy bikers responsible for touring the wide eyed Filipino to the vista of international landscape. This was good for globalizing Juan but also was bad on the flipside because it allowed him to stray far from what was happening in his own backyard. Unfortunately for us, given the price of DSL & Laptops, the bulk of those led far away were the middle class youth and the intelligentsia...both critical ingredients in a successful democratic political movement given the premise that any revolution lead by the masses will be bloody. With this at hand, how does the Filipino bourgeoisie make-up for lost leadership time then?

Believe it or not like fashion transcending eras, the 10’s is the new 80’s. Just like how a trend repeats itself in a cycle of 25-30 years, we can still refurbish and resurrect the base tools of the 1986 Edsa uprising to combat the new authoritarian.

Internet activism (also known as online organizing, electronic advocacy, cyberactivism, E-campaigning, and E-activism) according Wikipedia is the use of electronic communication technologies such as e-mail, the World Wide Web, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster communications by citizen movements and the delivery of local information to a large audience. Internet technologies are used for cause-related fundraising, organizing volunteers, community building, lobbying, and organizing.

Web activism is no diffrent to the regular thing, exept it can be done in a larger and even limitless scale. Imagine cyber-rallies and web led boycotts and mass commenting. No police thug can whack you with a baton when you protest on your blog. Blatant government disregard of equal justice can now be circumvented by presenting evidences straight to the people through direct video upstreaming. Organizing groups without fear of right & left wing physical persecution is now possible through the networks. The opportunities are limitless.