TAMA NA, SOBRA NA, PALITAN NA 

Some 10,000 protesters gathered in Makati City Friday to demand the resignation of President Arroyo. The protesters echoed the slogan “Tama na, sobra na, kilos na.” During the Marcos years, it was “Tama na, sobra na, palitan na.” Asked why they didn’t use “palitan na” this time, organizers had the same answer: Noli De Castro.

Consider the fact that through the decades, the statistic that around 10% of the population owns around 80% of the nations wealth remains roughly true. What is even more disturbing, save for the huge immigration influx that was done during the Marcos years (particularly in the 1970’s) the families that make up that wealthy 10% have not changed through the years. This accounts for a profoundly stagnant social mobility, thus making it more bizarre for our voting population to actually be giving somebody, who has nothing to credit him but his parents’ names, an indecent shot at the presidency. By adding to this the fact that somewhere around 30-40% of the country’s 80 million citizens are under the poverty line, then one can see how obscene a 10% wealthy figure is. Indeed, the attitude of the elite seems to be: it’s alright to help the poor so long as they know their place … and stay there.