An “EDSA Evolution” Can Curtail Many Socioeconomic Problems

| Photo by Paul Hearing on Unsplash

Part X of the “ReVOTElution of H.O.P.E.” Series

This columnist proposed an “Economic Development and Social Advancement (EDSA) Evolution” in a formal proposal submitted to H.E. Fidel V. Ramos during his first visit as Philippine president to Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 21, 1993. I submitted a 3-ring binder containing the proposal and attachments through the channel via the Philippine Consulate General, which handed it to the President’s Press Secretary during a Filipino-American Media Conference. President Ramos was the keynote speaker. The Office of the President (OP) never sent an acknowledgment of, nor a courtesy of a reply to, the proponent. But Mr. Ramos, when he was no longer the president, replied in March 2009 in his own handwriting — after Ms. Amina Rasul urged him to do so. She is the chairperson of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy.

I also submitted the same “EDSA Evolution” proposal to the administrations of Presidents Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but no reply from the OP was ever received. Perhaps they rated the proposal as too ambitious, and the three Filipino presidents thought that the evolutionary concept was an impossibility.

“Perhaps they rated the proposal as too ambitious, and the three Filipino presidents thought that the evolutionary concept was an impossibility.”

And so, my friends and I decided to tailor it to the provincial level in the hope that smaller projects could most probably have more chances of success. This was the reason that I went back to Sorsogon City, which is my legal residence in the Philippines, and ran for governor in the May 9, 2016, election. I raised the proposals — on a piecemeal basis — in the “EDSA Evolution” concept, as applicable to Sorsogon Province. While I lost (came out 5th out of eight candidates), my candidacy did raise the awareness of Sorsoganons to the socioeconomic potential of the province. For the past five years, this columnist has continued discussing on websites and social media the said socioeconomic-development proposals.

You can read more about it in the pinned article (the very-top thread) in my Facebook Timeline https://www.facebook.com/bobby.m.reyes.

It carries the link to an article that summarized the many articles about how the “Suggested Ways of Ending Corruption in the Philippines” can drastically cut down or even eliminate many social ills in the Philippines. But now suggested being done one province at a time. A province like Sorsogon (the 19th-poorest in the country) can be the model or template for “economic development and social advancement.” The thread in my Facebook Timeline also shows the links to the Parts I to IX of the ReVOTElution of H.O.P.E. series, as published on this website.

“A province like Sorsogon (the 19th-poorest in the country) can be the model or template for “economic development and social advancement.”

The plan is to expand the online coverage to hundreds of Filipino Facebook sites by the fourth quarter of 2021. Right now, we are posting more information about the ReVOTElution of H.O.P.E. in approximately 70 Facebook groups and pages and two websites. Because the 2022 elections will be done mainly via social media, the pandemic will still be infecting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of patients for years to come. Yes, “lockdowns” will continue, as well as the ban of public gatherings like in political rallies.

We will discuss here in The Straphanger column — as posted via links in Facebook — the revised socioeconomic plans for certain strategic provinces. Also, many politicians promised prestige projects previously to the people, but they failed even to start the ground-breaking ceremony for the said particular project.

Finally, as worked out with the MabuhayRadio website, it will publish a compilation of articles that it still carries about the socio-economic targets. As updated, improved, and discussed in this column, data will provide more information to the readers of the Philippine Daily Mirror and vice versa.