Dr. Carol Araullo on People Power

Blog Action Week on Edsa 2 continues.

In her piece titled “Power to the people“, BusinessWorld columnist and Bayan chair Dr. Carol Araullo explains why People Power 2 remains relevant, who or what is the real source of public disappointment and what needs to be done to achieve fundamental changes.

Here’s are excerpts:

The truth is that People Power I and II, were no less than the direct and awesome assertion of the sovereign will of the people. While they constitute an extra-constitutional mode of removing an incumbent President and replacing him with another, they were not unconstitutional. They were justified beforehand by the extreme oppressiveness of the regimes that the people decided to overthrow, and justified after the fact by their success, which eventually earned the people’s stamp of approval and recognition by the international community.
Again the truth is that while the ordinary citizen is sorely disappointed with the aftermath of People Power I and II – with no significant, much less fundamental, changes wrought in the political and social system and more so, life having become even more difficult and the future, more bleak – this doesn’t mean that the people have given up on their aspirations for real empowerment, for a better life, a better government. It also doesn’t mean that they are no longer willing to take action to make these aspirations come true.

Dr. Araullo was a convenor of the Estrada Resign Movement which later became Plunder Watch.

She is also known as the mother of TV personality-turned-reporter Atom Araullo and award-winning triathlete Sandra Araullo.

oOo

REMINDER: Everyone’s invited to Bloggers Kapihan 3.0 tomorrow, Sat., Jan. 19, 2:00 pm at Kape Tasyo, Anonas Commercial Complex, Quezon City. More info here.