“(We are) calling for a cultural revolution. We are calling for a change not in the personalities who govern the paradigms that run our lives (with the latter being most important)”. (Jim Paredes, “HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE”, The Philippine STAR, September 12, 2010)
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More from Paredes regarding his concept of a cultural revolution:
“Changes in our society have come way too slowly and in increments. It’s time to speed things up. Many are still hopeful that P-Noy’s ascendancy will change things. At least, we are assured that he is personally not corrupt. But that alone will not change a lot of things. A whole lot more needs to be done, quickly and decisively, if we are to see drastic changes in our country within our lifetime.”
In other words, in P-Noy’s first three years in Malacañang, his agenda is to clean up the messy messy situation that former President GMA created. But P-Noy’s second and last three years, he should try to introduce long-range changes and institutionalize all these reforms. Will P-Noy do it? That remains to be seen.
Paredes continued:
“A cultural revolution will require a radical change of values and mindset that will result in a realignment of priorities at all levels of society, in government and in the way we live our lives.
“We need to take many big steps to become a fully modern state. To continue with the present inept and inefficient ways of governance is unsustainable. The system is clearly breaking at the seams. Our people need to be served efficiently.”
We fully agree with Paredes on this. The question is “How exactly can we do all these changes?” We will discuss our own idea on this issue at the last portion of this article.
Chairman Mao Tse Tung of China decades ago launched a Chinese version of cultural revolution using their young people then. That costs hundreds of Chinese lives. Whether said revolution contributed or not to the present awesome progress of China, frankly I don’t know.
Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos also launched his own “Revolution from the Center” to establish a “New Society” in our country when he declared Martial Law in the early seventies. His main target was the dismantling of the oligarchy in the Philippines. President Marcos was doing fine in the first two years of the Martial Law era until he got sick. The rest is history.
Our Catholic Church during its 1991 Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II) likewise called its Laity (lay people of the Church) to change our society. The term our Church used was Social Transformation instead of Cultural Revolution. PCP-II then clarified:
“A fifth aspect of Church life that explains the life and role of the Laity, especially in today’s situation, is the liberalization and redemptive thrust. Whether rich or poor, whether employed or unemployed, professional or non-professional, whatever their social rank, al the lay faithful are called to heal and transform society, to prepare the temporal order for the final establishment of the Kingdom of God. They have to depend on one another. They must carry one another’s burden.”
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz in his book “Call of the Laity” (2005) explains this liberational and redemptive thrust:
“To set free and let go of people chained by oppression and poverty, to empower and launch them to find and assume their rightful place in society – this is the meaning and context of the work of liberation and redemption PCP-II calls the Laity in the country to undertake and accomplish. A tall order though it may be, it is rightly addressed. Who else can and may do this with the needed corporate strength and the imperative originating from a common Christian faith? What is wrong in secular society cannot but be the immediate and proper concern of the Laity with their secular status and competence.”
The Citizen’s Movement for a Federal Philippines is another nationwide group pushing for the adoption of a Federal System of Government throughout the country. This is directed to structural reform in our governance which is a component of a truly Social Transformation. The Principles of Subsidiarity and Unity in Diversity while protecting our national sovereignty are two of the guiding principles that govern the movement.
Now here is our opinion on this nagging issue transforming our society. We have expressed in many fora and wrote a number of times in publications our point of view of Genuine Social Transformation (GST). Yes, we prefer to use this term over any other terms denoting long-term and comprehensive reform of our sick society.
The GST we have in mind consists of two major major Reforms namely: 1) Reform in the Filipino people particularly in the way they feel, think and act; and 2) Structural / System Reform starting with a Constitutional Reform through Constitutional Convention (Con-Con). We suggest that PNoy launch the former Reform as early as possible perhaps designating former Chief Justice Renato Puno as the Point Man. The latter Reform could be done by Congress with the urging of PNoy say in the last quarter of 2013.
GST, we think, should be PNoy’s main legacy to the Filipino people. If this happens, PNoy will be known in history as own Real Transformational President. How about it Sir?
by Chito R. Gavino III, Lihok Pideral Mindanaw
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