Kubeta Strikes Again!

Kubeta is all I could remember. A friend woke me with an SMS yesterday morning that had this word. My world was zooming in and out, as it had been for the past days when I first wake up. I felt sick. I didn't fully absorb the contents of the message. I couldn't care about a toilet. I went back to sleep.

I woke up again a few hours later, did my morning rituals, and went to school just like any other day. The noontime traffic was normal, the people were walking around as usual, and the world I beheld was as natural as the day before.

As I rounded the corner of one of our school's entrances, I noticed chairs and a television set-up beside the elevators. Numerous people were concentrating on watching the screen. Numerous people were being pictured on that screen; people carrying banners flanked by people sporting riot shields and batons. It was then that I knew that the day wasn't as normal as I felt it was.

A television means a special event, usually something affecting the school, or the nation. You see, the only times I could remember such viewing areas strategically put in the way were during the days of former President Estrada's impeachment trial, President GMA's State of the Nation Addresses, the last presidential election, and one important Jesuit celebration. There I was, thinking that it was only a special People Power anniversary.

A few more steps then my mind suddenly flashed back to the message my friend sent me earlier that morning. It could only emphasize one word: kubeta. Add that to the people that were marching and the news anchor that was commenting. Something struck me. Good lord, not kubeta. (Check the phone). Not the toilet. (Check the message). Kudeta. (Oh, my). Coup de etat. My friend was talking about a possible coup de etat.

I was shaking my head. Not again!

The week before, a mudslide claimed the lives of an entire town. Earlier, a killer stampede. Weeks before that there were bombings. There was an oil spill, a mining incident, a text scare, etcetera. Now Madam President declared the nation in a state of unrest. Ai-yai-yai. Here comes trouble. Again, as if the Philippines didn't have enough 'unrest' to wrestle with.

When the "Hello, Garci?" scandal surfaced last year, I adamantly refused to take sides after the issue subsided. If she stays in position, I would just have to deal with whatever would happen. If she steps down, I would just have to deal with whatever would happen under the next president's regime. My mind had been set for the worst because, if ever the worst happens, I could say I prepared for it. If the opposite happens, then I could rejoice that the worst didn't happen.

If the trend of rallies to overthrow the president continues, I could say that my decision hasn't failed. I'm simply waiting for the ultimate outcome, watching the people from a safe distance, a few feet away from the television screen.

I couldn't blame the people who flood the streets, shouting for a better nation, shouting for reform, and shouting for the removal of the President from her office. Neither could I place the entire blame on the President herself. I don't know what it takes to run an entire nation. It's just my opinion that problems like these couldn't simply be flushed down the toilet. The thing is that people demand their nation to change, and they sound like they want it to happen tomorrow.

A country can not change overnight. It's not feasible. Especially with a country that suffered two decades under a president's martial law, two presidents who tried to rebuild the nation twelve years afterwards, and two more presidents whose questioned reputations mimicked an electronic cardiograph monitor, albeit their repeated attempts to also make the nation prosperous. So what happens if this nation becomes sick of their president? They oust. They elect another.

A President is supposedly voted by a majority of the nation in hopes that her/his efforts would pull sinking people out of the mud and onto solid ground. The nation thought they voted wisely, again the tables are turned.
What then will happen if ever Madam President steps down? Can the Philippines keep trusting the next head of state to be the savior? Will it be another set of rallies and scandals and clamorings to oust the President? If the nation's state of unrest continues, will Dekada '70 happen all over again?

Recently, I've grown tired (and annoyed) by loud, distractive demonstrations which coincidentally happen beside our school, repeatedly asking for the same thing. This afternoon, they took to asking us students to join them in their cause. I had half the mind to do something crazy just for them to go away and leave us students studying in peace. The other half remembers their tired faces paradoxically full of hopes that this time, their efforts would trigger the happy ending they pray for.

Who knows? The nation's future may be bright, then again it may not. One day I might look at my kubeta in a new light and remember those people who raised their voices for a better nation. If worse comes to worst, it could trigger me to hold a banner and join the ranks of those flanked by riot shields and batons.