Posted on March 2, 2006 - Filed Under Punch Forum |

Dan Manalo
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
dgm1205@yahoo.com
2 Mar 2006

 

Dear compatriots,

In view of the alarming developments in our beloved country, the “Filipinos For Better Philippines”, a group composed of more than 2,000 Filipinos worldwide who belong to the sectors of tax-paying professionals, skilled laborers, university students and retired senior citizens, together with their respective families, wishes to state the following:

We strongly support President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on her declaration of a State of Emergency because there has truly been a national emergency that warranted her preemptive and decisive action. There was a proven attempt by a faction of the military to withdraw support from the government with the connivance of civilians. Therefore, we see nothing wrong with her taking the necessary precautions.

It should not have come as a surprise to every Filipino that PGMA, who has battled through repeated attempts to oust her in office, did not just wait for a dangerous coup to happen. We even think that PGMA deserves credit for being able to stop the coup at an early stage. Her prompt and decisive action prevented serious damages to the country in terms of economic fallout and in lives that probably would have been lost or put in danger had the coup been allowed to materialize through inaction.

 

We are deeply saddened by the fact that while the nation is in grief because of the hundreds of Filipinos buried under tons of mud in Leyte, the anti-PGMA personalities have something else in mind – their collective greed and lust for power. Shame on them! Moreover, to think that thousands of foreigners rushed to Leyte to give assistance to the mudslide victims out of compassion, in addition to the material aids given/pledged by their respective governments. These foreigners truly know, more than the power-focused natives, what compassion and unity mean.

Many of us working overseas feel so ashamed as Filipinos whenever some of our foreigner-colleagues politely comment that what the protesters in the Philippines are doing are of “wrong timing” (what an understatement!) considering what many of our compatriots in Leyte are going through.

We reiterate our support and confidence in the administration of PGMA. We believe that she won the 2004 presidential election fair and square. The election ballots recount conducted in Cebu has validated the mandate given to her by the Filipino people. We believe in her capability to
govern the nation and lead its citizens to a progressive and peaceful Philippines. To realize this vision fully, destructive politics in the Philippines should be dispensed with.

We again deplore the biased treatment of the mass media against PGMA. News organizations are supposed to deliver the news as it is, and not the way they wanted it to sound for its audiences. News reporters must never interpret a news story to influence the public to rally against the government, but rather it must let its audience decide for themselves. These news reporters, writers and anchors must be taught the difference between news delivery and editorializing.

 

We, most of all, call for sobriety and peace amidst these chaotic times and for the people not to rush to impulses and rather to pray to the Lord Almighty for discernment and guidance.

We invite you, our compatriots, to join us in our objective of effecting a transformation in our country that should begin in each of us. Let us all be Filipinos for a Better Philippines.

Thank you.

FILIPINOS FOR BETTER PHILIPPINES
 

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