Piercing Pens

An Iraqi group threatens to kill Filipino hostage if the Philippines would not withdraw its troops from Iraq within 72 hours.

It would not happen if only the government listened to an earlier call by cause-oriented groups.

Among the things one would notice in President Arroyo’s 2004 inaugural address was that she no longer refered to the need for new politics as she did in January 2001 at the EDSA Shrine.

In 2001, she said:

Politics and political power as traditionally practiced and used in the Philippines are among the roots of the social and economic inequities that characterize our national problems. Thus, to achieve true reforms, we need to outgrow our traditional brand of politics based on patronage and personality. Traditional politics is the politics of the status quo. It is a structural part of the problem.

We need to promote a new politics of true party programs and platforms, of an institutional process of dialogue with our citizenry. This new politics is the politics of genuine reform. It is a structural part of the solution.

It was the best thing to say at that time. (more…)