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Threatening legacy in the
Philippines
By Marwaan
Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Southeast Asia lost
its greatest symbol of "people power" with the
death on Tuesday of Cardinal Jaime Sin, former
head of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Philippines.
Few countries in the region
shaken by a spate of pro-democracy uprisings since
the mid-1980s had a figure to match Sin, who died
at the age of 76 after a struggle with diabetes
and kidney problems.
It was his public
statements in 1986 against the corruption and
dictatorial rule of then-president Ferdinand
Marcos that served as the tipping point toward
ending decades of oppression. The success of
"people power" the public tasted on that occasion
in bringing down a despised ruler set the tone for
Philippine citizens to turn to such measures to
oust another corrupt leader in 2001: former
president Joseph Estrada.
"Cardinal Sin
was a unique figure in the region. He was an
exception, the likes of which we do not have in
other countries in Southeast Asia," Kavi
Chongkittavorn, a columnist on regional affairs
and a senior editor at the Thai daily The Nation,
told Inter Press Service.
While there was
much respect in the Philippines - a predominantly
Catholic country - for the stance Sin took, few
outside that country could identify with him
completely, Kavi added. That stemmed from Sin
speaking out against injustice from a Catholic
point of view in a region that has large Buddhist
and Muslim populations.
At the time of his
retirement in 2003, Sin famously remarked, "My
duty is to put Christ in politics." He then added:
"Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge
of our nation."
Sin, who came from a large
family of Chinese and Filipino parentage - he was
the 14th child in a family of 16 - headed the
Manila Archdiocese for nearly 30 years.
For pro-democracy activists elsewhere, the
absence of a figure with moral authority like Sin
to confront authoritarian rulers was palpable on
many fronts. Among them was Sin's ability to
galvanize large crowds to back the political
stance he took, most notably during the Marcos
dictatorship.
This was manifest in Myanmar
- then known as Burma - in 1988, when students led
a pro-democracy uprising to end more than two
decades of military dictatorship. The military
rulers in Rangoon not have to fear a figure with
moral leadership from the country's major
religion, Buddhism, to do what Sin had done in the
Philippines.
That paved the way for the
generals to crack down on the demonstration,
resulting in hundreds of protesters being killed
or injured. (The name of the country was
subsequently changed to Myanmar and the capital to
Yangon.)
Thailand witnessed a similar -
yet successful - mobilization of people taking to
the streets to overthrow an unpopular military
regime in May 1992. In the vanguard were members
of the country's middle class and enraged
university students.
Here again, as Thai
political commentators note, there was no figure
from the country's predominant faith, Buddhism,
who took up the role Sin had a few years before in
the Philippines. Yet unlike Myanmar, such an
absence did not prevent a triumph for democracy,
since it marked the end of the military rulers'
dominance of Thailand's political landscape going
back almost 60 years.
This pattern was
repeated more significantly in Indonesia's popular
uprising against president Suharto, who had ruled
that country with an iron fist for more than 30
years. Again, the people who took to the streets
to bring down an oppressive regime could not find
in Indonesia's predominant Islamic faith a
religious leader to measure up to Sin's role in
the Philippines.
Yet in an ironic twist,
the very political culture with which Sin's name
has come to be identified for pushing Southeast
Asia down the road to democracy is under review
in, of all places, the Philippines.
That
arises from growing calls among sections of the
Philippine political class to mount another show
of "people power" to drive President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo out of office barely a year after
she was elected. The reason: charges of corruption
and vote-buying. Arroyo's opponents are accusing
her of rigging last May's presidential poll, and
to back their claims they are citing the contents
of a taped conversation she allegedly had with an
election official about increasing her vote
margin.
These calls for the third act in a
political drama to oust a Philippine president
have already triggered concern that it could earn
the country more ridicule than cheers.
"The threat of mass mobilization to topple
an unpopular government has become a tyranny of
people power, rather than a blessing to overthrow
a dictatorship," wrote political commentator
Amando Doronila in the Philippines Daily Inquirer
this week.
Such a feature, he argues,
makes the Philippines stand out in contrast to its
Southeast Asian neighbors within the realm of
democracy. "It is the only country in the region
where leadership change has been driven more by
people power than by elections."
But the
question remains: will it be the same without Sin?
(Inter Press
Service) |
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