Between economic independence and political freedom

Tomorrow is Independence Day, so-called, Freedom Day, but are we truly free? Let us reflect on this.

It has been proven by history that a people and a nation can never be truly free without economic independence. The basic human liberties of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the basic rights of the people to petition the government for redress of valid grievances are all useless if the people have no food to eat, if the people are squatters in dirty and indecent shacks and dangerous dwelling places, and are poorly clothed, with no affordable and clean water, no access to affordable medical care, and no access to quality education worthy of human dignity.

Independence is a sham in an economy where all the sources of production and distribution are monopolized by the extremely rich, exceedingly powerful, and totally influential families. It is fake when the only participation of the people are consumption and manual work. The working class is being forced to do difficult, dirty, dangerous, deceptive, and degrading jobs. Independence is just fiction when the poor continue to receive starvation wages, when the workers are subjected to schemes and machinations by employers who blatantly commit violations of labor laws, when employees are dismissed left and right without any just or authorized cause, and without due process. There is no true independence when five thousand Filipinos leave the country each day to work abroad, as maids and as virtual slaves.

There is no meaning to the political right to vote and to be voted into office when all the political parties are controlled by a few family dynasties that also own the economy. They who control the economy, necessarily also control the politics. There is no genuine meaning to the freedom of suffrage when traditional politicians insult the voters by buying their votes. And there is no real right of suffrage when the poor would give away their right to choose officials in exchange for a few kilos of rice. Political campaigns and party platforms are just for show because at the end of the day it is the party with more money, more guns, and more goons that shall prevail.

Thus, we do not need any political freedom or any human right when people are dying of starvation, malnutrition, and lack of affordable medicines and medical care. We do not need the human liberties when the Filipinos continue to work as slaves abroad, continue to dwell in squatter areas, and do not have any decent and stable employment or source of livelihood. The Bill of Rights, the Commission of Human Rights, even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have no relevance to the jobless, homeless, and hopeless people.

Tomorrow's celebration will be another farce, meaningless and irrelevant to the jobless, homeless, and hopeless Filipinos.