A veteran political strategist revealed to Nosy Tarsee that negotiations were held on the final day of the massive Iglesia ni Cristo mobilization on 17 November for diverse political forces to “hurriedly put together” a major push that would have capped the third day of the mass action in Luneta.

Negotiations centered on creating the semblance of people power, something they hoped to assemble like instant noodles, which does not work. “People power is something that develops over time,” the former Cabinet official told Nosy Tarsee.

“You cannot just instantly have people power and say, ‘Okay, let’s change the regime.’ It doesn’t work that way.” The anti-corruption campaign, he added, is being limited by a lack of unity.

“Truth hurts. But people have to be honest and say, ‘Yeah, we’ve been negligent. We’ve appointed the wrong people. We ourselves are part of the problem, and we have to make our own restitution to the Filipino people.’”

“That takes a lot of humility and moral courage. They’re at the cusp of a Damascus moment. They should take the opportunity because the Filipino people are very forgiving. When they see that you are contrite, that you humbly admit your mistakes, and they see that you’re trying to do something about it, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and support you,” the former Cabinet official said.

Nonetheless, he said people should keep up the pressure. “We have to keep up the pressure because after a while, if people let their guard down and release the pressure, they might slide back.”

He shared with Nosy Tarsee an anecdote about a pharaoh in Egypt who became a tyrant despite being well-loved by the people. During his time, he was asked, “Why did you become a tyrant?” His answer: “Because nobody stopped me.”

“So this is now a Damascus moment also for the Filipino people, that all these years, we could have stopped the rise of the wrong people in government had we been a strong society.”