Changing or maintaining the status quo

In many ways, the impending impeachment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will be an issue that has nothing to do to with the co-equality of the various branches of the government. Nor will it be an issue of one institution trying to dominate another institution. In fact, it has nothing to do with that at all.     But it has a lot to do with the political divide between those who want to rule by inertia or by energy. At the center of this dichotomy is the realization that the issue is much broader and more basic than what is being conceived at the moment. For me, it is broader because it encompasses the psyche of the body politic. And it is more basic because it involves the political power to choose and to act.     I am of the thought that such realization is the lens through which the impeachment must be seen. Otherwise, there is no point in trying to go through the difficult and arduous path of the process.   As far as our political psyche is concerned, I must say that ours had been terribly damaged. This is not difficult to understand because ours is a battered image on the political domain. Abused and betrayed year after year by unscrupulous men and women in positions of power, we have learned to navigate the life of a victim. Sometimes long-suffering and sometimes short-tempered, we can be both blasé and blistering at the same time.   Why do we succumb to this contradictory sense of consciousness? Why do we allow this seemingly odd political behavior? Is this our fate? Is this all we know? Or is it just that we’ve been battered for so long that we can’t help but think of ourselves as victims?     Perhaps, the stubborn legacy of the business as usual and revolving door versions of politics run deep in our body politic that blocks any possibility of weaning ourselves off of the condition as the sick man of Asia.   And yet, we keep taking our chances with the political game despite without much success. We hope that perhaps things will change for the better. And we wait that perhaps the current operators start exorcising themselves with their own demons, so to speak.   I just hope that the waiting game will not be another bad news. We have so much of these lately and they tended to come out in droves.   I can understand now why some Filipinos seemed resigned to the idea that politics in the country is almost synonymous to corruption. But at the same time, they are vehement toward those with dubious integrity hanging on to power.     Unfortunately, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court does not have the trust and support of the Filipino people. Our people require that our Chief Justice is not only respectable and impartial, but also, impeccable. Otherwise, what is the point of having one? Ideally, this is very basic to our understanding why there has to be an impeachment process. And I believe there must be one.      Realistically though, the impeachment process while perhaps a bit ideal to some is sensibly a shell game. It is not possible to win the game unless the operators (the senatorial kind) want the players to win. An assessment of the political traits and histories of operators comprised of riggers (the ones who shuffle the shells around) and shills (the lookouts who pretend to play the game) can be telling. And it is not that sort of personal and social qualities that many of us can equivocally be proud of. And if we are going to hold them to the standards of decent human beings, I am not sure many will be acceptable.   And yet, we have to do it. We must do it. For what is at stake here is not about the defense and protection of our shaky institutions but the defense and protection of the steadfast will of the people.     In the end, it is not about whether the Chief Justice of the Highest Court of the land is impeached or not. It is about the kind of society we want to leave for our children. Will it be a society that simply conserves the old order? Will it be a society that conveniently provides a seamless transition for holdovers? Or will it be a society that challenges the way we were or the way we are now?   With an unprecedented opportunity and perhaps an unparalleled consequence, the Senate is now faced with the single most important political question that they have to answer. With the political power to choose and to act on behalf of the people, they can now either change or maintain the status quo.   Quo vadis?