Choices?

Democracy is characterized by the people’s power of choice. How would you like your steak- well done or medium rare? Would you like it with dinner rolls or with half a cup of rice?

In a pseudo-democracy such as ours, any government instrumentality will readily concede that we, the people, have rights to options, while effectively eliminating options that are detrimental to the survival of the current dispensation.

We always have the option to remain passive or to speak out against the excesses of government. The former assures mere survival; the latter gives life only of the kind that is best lived in the company of angels or demons.

We always have the option to remain in the Philippines or to go somewhere else. The former offers mere survival, if at all; the latter offers possibilities ranging from financial freedom to freedom from life itself, as in the case of those in some other nations’ death rows.

We always have the option to choose the name/s we would write in our ballots. Unfortunately, they also have the option to count or not to count.

We used to have options to eat our favorite dishes with either a loaf of bread or cupfuls of rice. Now, amidst government claims of unprecedented economic growth, our choices had been limited to either eating nothing or not eating at all.

We are born with the power to choose. They only took our choices away.