Ang Kapatiran

When I first heard of ANG KAPATIRAN, my first reaction was "how come I never heard of this political party". That was just less than a year ago. But now, they are in full swing in their campaign, getting a lot of media mileage. That is good. The party offers the public an alternative.

However, I doubt very much the chance of even gaining just one senate seat. Our voters are not yet ready for this kind of politics. For them, the color of politics is still black and white. Either you are pro or anti whatever. Wala pa sa panlasang Pinoy ang klase ng pulitika ng Ang Kapatiran. But the campaign of Ang Kapatiran is a good start to make the people taste a different kind of politics. The greater challenge is how to capitalize on the "goodwill" being generated by the Ang Kapatiran campaign. After the election, there must be a sustained campaign promoting the kind of politics being espoused by Ang Kapatiran. The party must make their presence felt even when everything gets back to normal. Otherwise, all the efforts to present a different kind of politics will just go to waste and we go back to square one. Ang Kapatiran is getting the attention of the people. The greater challenge is to capture the collective imagination of the people and not just as something kakaiba as how they are being presented by media. How they differ is not really being explained by media.

My other issue with Ang Kapatiran is that masyadong middle class ang dating nila. I can't see a grassroot connection. It's like they just popped out from nowhere when in fact they have been around for years. I doubt if they have a nationwide network. Parang dito lang sa Metro Manila ang presence nila.

I do not doubt the sincerity of the people behind Ang Kapatiran and that they have no personal agenda. That they do what they do for love of country. But if they cannot make a connection with the masses, all their efforts will be in vain. As I kept saying, we, the so called intellegentsia, must see things not just from our perspective. We must know and understand the point of view of the mangangalahig, the magtataho. Otherwise, the mangangalahig, the magtataho will not listen to what we have to say. This is the reason why the Left has endured. The Left tries to see things from the perspective of the masses. From this perspective, the Left fit it their own agenda. We can do the same with the agenda being our Dream Philippines.