She was extremely ecstatic when she arrived home from school. It is as if, she won the lottery or something. In fact, it was one of those rare moments I could feel her eyes gleaming by the mere sound of her voice talking from across the room, hers sounded of a victory, an ignominous victory knew by only those who doesn't see life closer to reality.
Prior to her arrival, my mom halfheartedly told me what happened yesterday afternoon in her campus. It appears that the President went to their "hospital" as a guest of honor to some new additional "medical" room that was opened there. Fine, she is the President so she can go wherever she wants to. And since she is quite an unpopular one these days, her critics would always find an opportunity to mess up her rather boring and ordinary day.
Here comes my sister and her groupies. It was as if the commotion was unplanned. As the President was about to enter her presidential car and join the motorcade, they began shouting at her. It was about the usual, monotonous issues. As others were complaining about the tuition fee increase, some others where crying for a wage hike. Soon the policemen who were in the area noticed them and started disbanding their little "tea party." It ended up with several arrests of prominent people (students) involved in such lightning protest.
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When my sister and I got to talk last night, I voiced out my opposition to their rather rowdy tea party. It's like the same stupid media-spotlight activity done by that high school girl from Cavite. To be honest, I don't find anything commendable in messing up such a very dignified ceremony. If she had complains with the government, I'd rather advise her to do well in school and move to another country when she graduates from college.
The same thing with my sister. Between you and me, we always get into heated arguments whenever she talks about her movement and her beliefs. It sounded too idealistic for someone like me who greats real life every morning. Why join such protest rallies when all it results to are traffic, rowdy dispersals, disruption of classes and work and destruction of lives?
In fact, just to taunt her sometimes, I would tell in her face how much I love living in a capitalist, materialistic world, even if I don't see my life living in one. I'd even say to her face how contradicting her movement is from its core beliefs in hopes that I would somehow damage her ego. Mom's approach is rather different, being in the same movement before, she understands the flame of idealism emanating from my sister's bloody red mind.
Though she's pretty opposed to her activities, mom manages to compromise with her.
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When I saw her groupmates last night in the late night news, I simply felt disgusted with their actions. There was this one guy who was caught by the police. He was obviously shaking and afraid to the point of denying his involvement in their lightning rally. As others berated at the police claiming that they're in this school and that they have the right to voice out their sentiments against the governement, several other people were escorted by the police to a private car waiting in the parking lot.
A girl and a guy who was also involved in the tea party manages to sneak fast under the policemen's noses in hopes that they could free those who were caught. The guy who was my sister's mentor was even chased by other policemen to be brought to the police department together with those other who were earlier arrested by the security force.
I was terribly ashamed I'd tell you. Those guys should go back to their classrooms instead... If they could not stand up to what they believed in. The first guy who denied his involvement in their movement reminds me of that apostle who denied his ties with Jesus. The so called mentor, who ran away while the policemen chased after him turns out to have no balls at all.
And that girl who said she's studying in this school and it's their right to say whatever they wants to say must be immediately thrown in a convent in the remote provinces. The hell, who said studying in that school offers you the protection and the right to say what you want to say? Girl, I'm studying in that school too and you know what, I think it's a priviledge being there in the first place. Who are you to bite the hand that gives you a far better future than the rest of the students like you?
You should be thankful with the government. Not all students are blessed with such great opportunity.
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In the end, I think they got the media exposure they wanted to have. Perhaps the reason why my sister was so ecstatic last night was because they've got the level of propaganda they are aiming for.
But in the eyes of an ordinary "thinking" worker like me, I guess what they did there is pure bullshit. Did they achieve something aside from the propaganda and the media exposure? I think not. All I saw was a bunch of spoiled, rebellious brats who had nothing to do with life except complain about everything.
In a woeful time of rising oil and gasoline prices, increasing crime rates and violence, threat of terrorism and joblessness, massive influx of pinoys going out of the country resulting to a serious brain drain. The least thing the government needs now is an embarrasing opposition like them. Don't get me wrong, I do have issues with the government as well. In fact, I'd love to see Raul Gonzales being humiliated and embarassed on national television at least once in my lifetime.
But to see people like what my sister hangs out with doing those crazy stuff is an insult, not only to my worker status but to my humanity as well. To see an unproductive, supposed to be intelligent minority wasting their lives in such a hopeless cause is rather bit unfair. Too see brilliant minds leaving the city to join the rebels high up in the mountains only to die in the hands of the military is such a sorry sight to see.
And yet if I was there yesterday afternoon and saw my sister being dragged by the policemen to a waiting car, I swear, I would approach the officers chin up and tell them, "boys, take me instead."
"I'd like my sister to learn that for every folly she does, someone would have to pay the price for it. I'd like to let her feel how's it like loosing someone who earns a living just to see his entire family live comfortably for another day."
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