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Because we are so glued to the local and national news these days, we tend to ignore what’s happening to our neighbors in Southeast Asia – see C5 villar controversy. Last April 15, 2010, 21 people died in one of the bloodiest events in Thai political history. Those who died were supporters of the ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra. He came from a poor family but through his efforts, he became a very rich and powerful man in Thailand. During his time in office, he improved the living conditions of the poor and gave them opportunity to enhance their skills. Aside from that, he presided over a country with a fast-growing economy and a rising standard of living. When the Tsunami struck Thailand, he famously said that his country will not accept foreign aid. However, his pro-poor policies did not sit well with the elite (the Bangkok old guards). A charge of abuse of power was leveled against him and the military ousted him. In exile, he continued to rally his supporters and said that he would be with them whether he is rich or poor. The current Thai government is a weak one because it cannot form a solid coalition with lesser parties. It suffered several attempted people power ousters since its creation. The red shirts or those supporting Thakshin want the government to step down and call for new elections.

Does this sound familiar? In the Philippines, the poor had been oppressed for hundreds of years. The old haciendero families are not willing to give up their holdings. The poor continue to be at the mercy of the monopolists and the oppressive families. They waited for their true representative in Congress. They want someone to help them understand the concept of diligence (sipag and tiyaga). They are tired of the revolutionaries whose formula to economic freedom in bloody and un-Filipino. They are tired of the old elite who want to bring back the caste system and those who tell them to be Juan Tamads forever. They see hope in a man named Manny Villar who came from a poor family but later he became rich through his diligence and hard work. However, the old elite are not willing to give them what they want. – see villar C5.

The old elite are bringing on their biggest guns in the media to politically assassinate the good reputation of the true representative of the masses. They made the C5 villar issue to make Villar look corrupt and dishonest. They hope that this issue will stop the people from electing him. Well, Filipinos are not stupid and they know that Villar is innocent. Moreover, they should see what’s going on in Thailand and study the reason for the rallies.