The Power of the People is the Power of Change,The End of Gloria is Inevitable!

Press Release
Feb.29,2008

The so-called personalities who have appropriated for themselves the uprisings known as EDSA 1 and 2 conveniently forget the real meaning, the real power that moved people on those two historic occasions: CHANGE.

It is not merely the calls of these personalities that were heeded by the people. Rather, the people saw for themselves the need to act and institute change that was not forthcoming from a government founded on corruption, self-indulgence, and lies. This is what is happening now.

For the doctors, nurses, and other members of the health sector under Rx Gloria Out Now! (Rx GO Now!), the ecumenical and interfaith rally today at Ayala represent the people's outrage not just against the culture of corruption that is endemic to the current dispensation, but also against Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself, who symbolizes an obstinate government hell-bent on robbing the people of its future.

Even the equivocal position taken by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) does not belie Mrs. Arroyo's lack of moral ascendancy and further reinforces widespread calls for her to step down and be held accountable. Discernment does not replace but guides communal action.

So how can Mrs. Arroyo hope to silence the reverberating clamor for her resignation, when her removal from office is a requisite to instituting any change? She cannot.

People will continue to gather in rallies, in symposia, in religious celebrations, and in various forms of gatherings as the disenchantment for her illusory achievements grows, as dissent becomes more widespread, and as the desire for change and social justice gains headway.

As what was attempted at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), where the police tried to prevent students and the academe from hearing ZTE witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. under the pretext of a bomb threat, the Arroyo administration will continue to resort to underhanded and dastardly acts of violence to create a climate of fear. Mrs. Arroyo's insatiable greed is only surpassed by her shameless duplicity.

But the power of the people is the power of change. Whether or not Mrs. Arroyo recognizes this, her end is inevitable. The writings on the wall are clear: Gloria OUT Now!