When shall you be truly free?

It is with heavy heart and burdened spirit that I reflect on today's celebration of the Philippines' independence day. On this day where we rejoice on our freedom, I find my country is anything but free.

On this day where we celebrate the freedom from bondage of more than 300 years of Spanish oppression, we Filipinos find ourselves still chained by the corrupt power of our own countrymen, the few who hold the wealth and power in this land.

On this day where we celebrate the courage of the brave men from our history who have fought for our freedom, we Filipinos find ourselves careless, jaded, tired, or merely afraid to speak out and take action against the atrocities subjected to the few who are still brave enough to speak the truth.

Can you smell the scent of freedom, Islas las Filipinas?

Opinion column from The Philippine Daily Inquirer
As I See It : "GMA’s creative solutions to nation’s problems"
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the June 12, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WHEN THE VALUE OF THE PESO WAS APPRECIATING, Malacañang crowed: It was due to President Macapagal-Arroyo’s “sound economic policies.” Now that the peso value is dropping, Malacañang is so quiet, and government agencies have taken to long, convoluted, song-and-dance explanations conveniently called “global imbalance.”
If for nothing else, you have to credit the Arroyo administration for being creative in solving problems.

It miraculously reduced the unemployment rate not by creating more jobs but by changing the definition of “work.” Before, if you have no means of livelihood, you simply are jobless, out of work. Now, if you have given up looking for a job—because after so many months and years of trying, you still haven’t found one and have run out of money for transportation—you are not considered jobless.

GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) was also creative in solving the perennial lack of classrooms. With a wave of her sharp tongue, she miraculously ended the classroom shortage not by building more classrooms but by doubling the student population per classroom. So if the ideal ratio of 45 students to a classroom in public schools will mean a shortage of classrooms, then double it to 100 students to a classroom. And presto, we’ll have enough classrooms, said the President. If doubling the ratio still doesn’t do it, triple it to l50 to 1 by having three sessions per day!
So journalists are being assassinated like flies? Give them guns to protect themselves. Every man for himself.(yeah, here you don't get sued, you get gunned down)

I suppose GMA has similar simplistic solutions to our nation’s other problems. So the nation is being corrupted by the spread of illegal gambling like jueteng? Well then, legalize it. So the poor can no longer eat three square meals a day? Make them eat only once or twice a day. Many of them are doing that now—actually have been forced to do so—anyway. The population is growing too fast? Tell the military and police to kill them faster.

It’s the same with the exchange rate. After boasting that the increase in the peso value was due to GMA’s economic policies, the administration explained: Nothing wrong with GMA or her policies, “(the drop) was due to global imbalance.”

What does that mean? Never mind, you’re not supposed to understand that anyway. Just understand that it was not the fault of GMA or her policies. In the first place, she has no policies at all—except to lie, cheat, steal, bribe, suppress the truth, suppress dissent and kill anybody who threatens to unseat her from Malacañang. It is the fault of the whole world that it is “imbalanced.” It is the fault of other countries that they have stronger currencies than ours.