There is hope

“It’s time to abolish PDAF.” I can’t believe my eyes when I was reading this on yahoo today. Did the President really just say that???  I don’t know but somehow I felt safe instantly. I have to admit it’s not easy trying to stay positive in the midst of all these political scandals, in the midst of such a depressing picture of poverty that we see if not actually experience every day, in the midst of the seemingly endless conflicts that almost always boil down to greed.

"Kailangan pa ng mas malaking pagbabago upang labanan ang mga talagang pursigidong abusuhin ang sistema. Panahon na po upang i-abolish ang PDAF," the President said in a televised press conference Friday.  I know that as the president of the country all eyes are on him and these are most of the time questioning eyes. “So what are you going to do?” That is automatic, like a body reflex that jerks whenever poked. “You are the president, you ought to do something.”   Before reading this headline, I have just signed an online petition calling for the abolition of PDAF.  My feelings when I signed my name were too many to name. But there is actually no need for it since they were all simply mundane suntok-sa-buwan kind of feelings.  But something came alive when he said: "Ngayon, bubuo tayo ng bagong mekanismo upang matugunan ang pangangailangan ng inyong mga mamamayan at sektor–sa paraang tapat, gamit ang tama at makatuwirang proseso, at nang may sapat na mga kalasag laban sa pang-aabuso at katiwalian.”

There is hope.  I dare to hang on to it.