The advent of the internet, especially blogs, microblogs and social networking, has pumped fresh blood to the mass movement of people seeking social change. The internet has obviously become a new platform for individuals and groups to voice out their views and to launch all sorts of initiatives. This is good anyway you look at it, except, of course, if you’re part of the rotten Establishment.
We are in a better position than, say, our Burmese neighbors thanks to the democratic space we continue to enjoy. That some continue to make full use of this space for civic-minded, pro-change purposes is admirable. We can only hope they stay the course and inspire even more Filipino netizens to make the internet their virtual bullhorns.
The virtual organizations and virtual protests that have sprouted and continue to grow via blogs, microblogs and social networks are truly novel, noteworthy and deserving of praise. These take online political action a step further by organizing and mobilizing on the worldwide web and they capture a considerable and articulate segment of the burgeoning Philippine internet population.
Whether the virtual communities and virtual movements could themselves be the leading or principal factor to effect social change of a scale like the upcoming national elections or the efforts to ensure Gloria Macapagal Arroyo relinquishes her illegitimate hold on the presidency is another matter altogether. It is highly doubtful that they and their efforts alone can obtain their desired results.
It is likewise mildly amusing to find out that some netizens harbor illusions about the internet’s role in political action. Yes, the internet has become influential but not yet to the extent that it can already mobilize Filipino netizens to go offline and take their fight to the streets or the polling precincts. What is more dangerous is the idea that virtual communities and mobilization can and should replace mass movements of non-government and people’s organizations and the many efforts offline — where we actually live, study or work and where change is badly needed. These organizations know fully well the difficulties in staging mass actions but they persist because these same actions are needed and demanded by the people.
The idea is dangerous because it posits that Filipino netizens — creative, articulate and internet-savvy they are now — should be offline to the majority of the population. Indeed, the idea posits that Filipino netizens should “go offline” to and to “disconnect” from the people, especially the more numerous workers and farmers who simple faults, aside from being impovershed, could now include having no means to meet us online and to join our virtual communities and organizations.
Moreover, who benefits from such demarcation o division? Our foes! For at every instance when the learned and enlightened folks online raise their eyebrows and refrain from merging and expressing profound solidarity with the bigger movements of common people marching down Ayala Avenue, it ultimately benefits the Establishment and its choice of Eternal Leader, no other than Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Virtual communities and organizations and the more traditional movements actually have much in common than they choose to admit. Most are united by common causes like eradicating government corruption, providing opportunities for those who seek to work or establish businesses, aiding the poor and the dispossessed, better government services, a self-reliant economy, etc. They may have also met offline and online. Many of the more traditional movements have long planted their flags on the worldwide web, with some antedating the first Philippine blogs.
What I’m saying is that they both have more reasons to cooperate, to exchange notes, to work and go forward together than to drive a wedge between and among themselves. The socially-conscious Filipino netizens may be looking for an advocacy to join, to nurture and perhaps to lead. The activists and their movements meanwhile may be searching for new Emilio Jacintos who could come out with a modern “Kalayaan” to expand the ranks of those who seek change. They have all come together in the past and I find no reason for them not to right now or in the near future.
A Chinese philosopher reminds us too that effecting social change is not a picnic. It entails sacrifice and definitely takes more than clicking “join” or “accept” to a Facebook Cause invitation. In the fight to oust and hold Arroyo accountable for her crimes, nearly a thousand Filipinos have given up their lives (extrajudicially killed) and hundreds have disappeared. Some were tortured or harassed. This information is not meant to scare you or anyone, but to give us a sense of proportion to the demands social change asks from us and to perhaps help convince us to carry on the fight of those who have fallen as our tribute to their supreme sacrifices. Joining rallies and other forms of protests thus becomes very reasonable modes of action. The alternative, which is to take the cynical and apathetic view, is to help prop up Arroyo by giving her propaganda ammunition to claim that the learned classes and the intelgentsia continue to support her much-hated regime.
Take Juana Change for example. The initial and principal medium is internet video. But Juana Change likewise chose to go offline — for many important reasons. Perhaps most important was to capture the imagination and support of the more numerous who are offline. Juana Change felt at home both online and offline. The people warmly welcomed and appluaded Juana Change. This is aside from the crossover Juana Change made from new to old media and back.
Techies belonging to the Computer Professionals Union are unapologetic in their choice of principal “clients”. They want ICT to benefit the people, starting with their organizations. They provide technical support and advice to human rights advocates who document and seek a stop to political killings and hold workshops for groups that wish to take their causes online, among others. They always have contingents joining mass actions, almost always marching side by side with the geeks and scientists, trade unionists, professors and teachers, and other sectors.
An earlier and more familiar example is the role of mobile phones in movements and protests. Starting as a personal communication tool, the cellphone gradually assumed political color as transmitters of political jokes and information and other political propaganda, until it reached its political peak as the weapon of choice in the second People Power uprising. Today, the cellphone is an indispensible tool for new and old activists.
For in the end, we seek to bring change to one, single country, the Philippines. We may be online and offline to the internet at various times, while most may not have internet access at all but it helps our common causes that we always seek to unite among ourselves as one people and we use all available tools, old and new, at our disposal to attain our democratic and national aspirations.
Leave a Reply