Better the Devil You Know, Than the Devil You Don't

Never mind the irresponsible ineptitude (was there ever any doubt how this would end?) or the rank ignorance/naivete (was there every any doubt how this would end?). In between ranting, overused motherhood statements, Trillanes offered one challenge: "Si Gloria ba, o pagbabago?"

The problem with this question is that for all her faults (and arguably of all recent presidents, she has one of the most), Gloria is hardly the worst option. We could do worse - we could have a Burma-style junta in charge, for example. Or an incompetent, misguided adventurist with no clue, to give another.

So, a question like "Gloria ba, o pagbabago?" can only be answered by another question - "Kung pagbabago, anong klaseng pagbabago?"

People want change - on that point, there is no debate. But not change for its own sake.

It's like asking someone who's unhappy with his or her job to leave the security of a regular paycheck, and just look for something else. To be sure, there may come a point where having no job is better than staying in a present position. But until the current job becomes the worst possible condition, not too many folks (especially those with families to feed) would take the risk.

In the case of GMA, that line has not been crossed for most. There is no one who captures the imagination, and imagining every single one of the offered alternatives as President would seem to result only in more of the same, at best.

That being the case, most of us are simply willing to wait for the change will surely come - one way or another - in 2010.

In the meantime, therefore, Filipinos will continue to tolerate Gloria simply because for now, tolerable is good enough.

There is much much more to life in the Philippines - there is Art, for example :-) - and it does not revolve around what happens in posh hotels like the Manila Pen, or snake pits like Malacanang or Congress, or even in the minds of aging bishops, has-been politicians and running priests who really should know better.

Life, real life - the kind that truly matters - will simply go on.