Eugeniano Perez III
A Message to the Indonesians
While we were bogged down in our elections, it appears that the political situation of our neighbor down south has moved from bad to worse. The patience of their police and military forces has reportedly grown thin and they have started to use their guns. At last count, 6 protestors were reportedly gunned down.
The Indonesian political situation closely parallels that of our own country 12 years ago. And since we have been there before, maybe this open letter to the Indonesian people will help and guide them somewhat.
"An open letter to the Indonesian People,
Twelve years ago, your Southeast Asian brethren, the Filipino people, were experiencing exactly what you are going through now. Twelve years ago, the guns of the dictatorship were placed, pointblank, on the faces of the suffering citizenry of the Philippines. But twelve years ago too, the Filipinos decided that enough was enough and went to the streets to oust a dictatorship.
Looking back on those twelve years, the Filipino people's country's restored democracy went through its own trials and tribulations. An ordinary housewife was thrown into the limelight and was made the first post-dictatorial president. She enjoyed popular support. Unfortunately, that did not seem enough as the military had ideas of their own. While coup after coup threatened the Filipino's newly won democracy, still in the end, democracy won and the system was preserved. The Filipino nation did not regress into a military dictatorship.
In 1992, the Filipinos reaffirmed the strength of their young democracy and trooped to the polls to elect a new president. Never mind if there were widespread allegations of fraud and cheating. The more important thing was that power was transferred peacefully and quickly. This was an important milestone. It showed to the world that our democracy was holding up. It was alive and well and that was more important than anything else.
Like the Philippines twelve years ago, if you make the transition from a dictatorship to a genuine democracy, you will experience the ups and downs. But in your case, you can look at the Philippine experience and hopefully avoid the mistakes.
For sure, in a post dictatorship political milieu, you will have many political parties. You will have many political candidates. It will be confusing. It is even still confusing for the Philippines. But that is all part of the growing up process.
So, my dear Indonesian people. The agony and darkness that you are experiencing are all part of the transition to a genuine democracy. Take heart and look at your neighbor to the North. You need not make us an example or a model. The Philippines has no right to claim to ever be one. But at the very least, look at the Philippines and see what could be, even with all its imperfections. After all, having one eye is better than being blind. It would have been ideal to see clearly with two eyes and a 20/20 vision but even the Philippines is still definitely far from it.
Be inspired my dear Indonesian people. Democracy is just around the corner. All you need to do is to make that extra step.
Who knows, maybe twelve years from now, you will elect your own Joseph Estrada and still take heart in the fact that the dictatorship was worse. And just like the roller coaster with its perennial up and down, once you are down, there is no other way you can go but up."
Published on May 14, 1998