Not So Black And White

Ricky Carandang gave the goings-on in the Black and White Movement held yesterday. While the movement is a step in a direction aimed at galvanizing all anti-GMA forces, my somber feeling is that it will amount to nothing beyond motherhood statements.

I take aim at the name of the movement itself. It is pharisaical at its best and a show-off at its worst. The name of the movement implies a very clear divide between the forces of good and the forces of evil. But is it all that clear?

Arrayed against each other on one hand are the black ops of the GMA administration whose sole aim is for GMA to finish her term or at the very least, abbreviate her government with her honor intact. On the other hand are the white knights of civil society astride on the high moral horse seeking to move the public in a unified denunciation of the president, her removal and other needed political reforms.

The motives are genuine, the intent pure but what or who makes up the movement? The Hyatt 10 whose loyalties can no longer be relied upon? The Makati Business Club whose unelected members think they are God's gift to the Philippine economy? The members of civil society who think they are God's right hand armed to smite the enemy? The members of several religious orders who, with perhaps the exception of the Society of Divine Word and the Society of Jesus, never collectively spoke out against fascism and tyranny during the dark days of the Marcos regime? Are these the leaders of the Black and White Movement?

Ricky Carandang spoke about the movement addressing their own weaknesses. Maybe far more than their weaknesses, they should confess their faults and sins. Those who, among then, became involved in this administration directly or covertly, or those who, among them, knowingly profited from their connections with the government, or those who, among them, tolerated or participated in the illegal inanities under the Nuremberg defense of "Befehl ist befehl", by their commission or their intentional omission, they are as much a part of the blame and as much a part of the problem as they are now seeking a solution. And for these things, they must not only put on sack clothes but must do restitution, if only to give credence and credibility to this movement.

Cleansing is a necessary part of credibility. After all, without it, the administration can blast them with hypocrisy and all sorts of innuendoes, which when spun properly, can put the movement, instead of the administration, on the defense. Because of its name, this has unwittingly become a Donatist controversy. The members must be pure if they want to purify the government. That premise, of course, is not necessarily a given but a very powerful moral argument. After all, how many times have we heard both sides claiming he who is without sin, cast him let the first stone?

Moreover, these movements are short-lived once their purposes are achieved. The August Twenty One Movement effectively died after the EDSA Revolution. The Black and White Movement spoke about electoral reforms since they believe the COMELEC became an Arroyo tool to cement her victory.

But fast forward to the past, where was civil society after EDSA DOS? Did they speak of reforming, eradicating or legalizing jueteng that caused the downfall of Erap? No. They were profiting from Code NGO bonds and warring amongst themselves whether to defend or destabilize the Arroyo government. What guarantees do we have that their ideals will be carried out after seeing Arroyo gone?

The only true movements that last are the revolutionary and religious movements. Red October would not have happened without a zealous revolutionary philosophy. Nazism would not have taken a foothold in the Weimar Republic without the ultra-bigoted "blame our poverty on the Zionists" pragmatic unreasoning of Hitler and his Brown Shirts. Martin Luther King would not have dreamt his dream of civil rights equality without foot soldiers willing to be bloodied, lynched and even salvaged. Does the Black and White Movement have zealots willing to carry out the fight to the end or are they just content preaching to the choir?

If the Black and White Movement is to succeed, it ironically cannot remain a distinct movement but must become enmeshed with the public, even after its goals are attained. Its ideals must convince and persuade rather than be imposed on the public to the extent that the ideals of the movement shall have become the ideals of the people.

For instance, the people must believe in their hearts that electoral honesty is a principle worth dying for instead of adhering to the "accept bribes but vote your conscience" Cardinal Sin maxim. And for this to succeed, the members of the Black and White Movement must participate in the political mainstream, not as bloggers, philosophical advocates or outsiders but as politicians themselves.

The late President Marcos always had his favorite maxim at hand when asked to prove himself and that is: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". I would like the philosophers and shakers of this movement to take on the not-so- black and white realm of national and local politics. Then, let us see if they will be devoured by the system and eat their words or if they can change the political spectrum from ROYGBIV to a simple black and white affair.

That will be a day worth watching in sepia.