7 DECEMBER 2006

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THE 2007 polls will be an all-out, winner-take-all showdown between Arroyo and her adversaries. But the real battle is in winning the hearts and minds of a people that has lost its conscience — unable to discern between right and wrong, and unwilling to stand for what is good and right. Admittedly, it's an uphill battle.

At a minimum, we must persist in keeping the burning issues in the public eye, especially in the international community. The killings of journalists and militants slowed down a bit when international human-rights groups and business communities, as well as governments, weighed in on the issue.

At the same time, we must reassess our modes of engagement and reinvent ourselves, if need be.

When the Garci scandal broke out, civil society immediately turned to people-power mode, subscribing to a model that has worked so well in the past: stoke the outrage of the populace, enough to make them come out to the streets, coupled with defections from the Palace and the barracks, albeit not necessarily in that order.

But the people did not respond. There were just too many turn-off factors.

First, there was no clear alternative. Noli was simply not acceptable to some sectors, especially business. The transition council proffered by some groups was too complex for comprehension by the average man on the street.

But the bigger turn-off, especially to Edsa 1 and 2 veterans, was the sight of personalities closely associated with the discredited regimes of Marcos and Joseph 'Erap' Estrada in the frontlines. The possibility of the Marcos or Estrada family returning to power evoked revulsion for some people, and was enough to keep them off the streets.

WHAT SHALL we do then?

People power is not dead. But perhaps we need to tweak it and make it more responsive to the needs of the time. Let me offer a few adjustments we can readily make:

1) Stop the counterproductive efforts at forging a united front. We can agree on our objectives. We can synchronize and synergize our efforts. But we don't have to proclaim to the world that we are one. Each group works best in rallying its natural constituency without the baggage of having to explain why they walk side by side with other groups advocating conflicting values.

2) Rethink street actions. While they are necessary to express protest over the issues of the day, and an essential ingredient of people power once a tipping point is reached, street actions are generally perceived by the public we want to win over as disruptive. We have to be mindful of the inconvenience we cause. We have to creatively restructure the format to make the exercise less threatening and more appealing for the general public to participate.

3) Borrow marketing techniques from the business world. In the end, it's about the clash of ideas — between ours and that of an administration bent on overstaying. We need to be more media-savvy. It's pointless to organize a big rally without media coverage. We need to craft our messaging so it can be heard by the text generation. We need to think in terms of campaigns, and not just one-off programs. We need to stage events, and not just rallies. We may even have to use billboards instead of just graffiti on walls.

4) Harness the power of the Internet. It's cheaper and has more reach, if used properly. Build advocacy-based websites or blogs. Join e-groups and post regularly. Link up with like-minded communities. Not only does the Internet provide you with a global presence, it also allows you to reach out to a potent and politically active force: the OFW community. They exert significant influence over their families back home.

5) Play politics like the politicians do. If we are to succeed in securing enough seats in Congress to impeach Arroyo, we first need to understand how to play and win the game. We have to adapt our ways to the system, without sacrificing our principles. For example, we believe voter education is important, but it has never been proven to influence the outcome of an election. At the same time, we know that the masa — who actually determine the winner — vote based on personalities, not issues. So we have to temper our idealism with a healthy dose of pragmatism.

We must remind ourselves that people power has always been spontaneous. It cannot be conjured by organized groups, or even by icons of Edsa 1 and 2. But it will certainly help if we can induce an environment where people power can, at least, have a chance to blossom.

Most people erroneously think 20/20 vision is perfect vision. Actually, it refers to normal vision. It means a person is able to see at 20 feet what a normal eye would see at 20 feet. 2010 vision is better. It means a person can see even at 20 feet what a normal eye would normally see at 10 feet.

In these extraordinary times where you have an incumbent president setting her sight beyond 2010, I think that's what we, in civil society, need: a 2010 vision.

Vicente 'Enteng' Romano III is the lead convenor of the Black and White Movement, a coalition of middle forces that would like to make a stand in the current political crisis brought about by the legitimacy issue on President Arroyo. He was also the founder and moderator of eLagda.com, one of the first Internet-based petition sites for political advocacies that gained a significant following among Filipino communities for its Erap-resign petition.

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