| Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
Part XXV of the “ReVOTElution of H.O.P.E.” Series
There are whispers and rumors that opponents of the new Administration want not only mass-based protests and demonstrations but also armed confrontation. This column now presents one of the many voices of reason that call for calm, composure, and civil litigation. Yes, resort to and exhaust the first judicial processes to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On August 4, 2021, this column discussed “The ‘EDSA Evolution’ (‘ReVOTElution’) Is Not a French Revolution’s Filipino Version.”
Let this columnist rewrite for this sixth Sunday of 2025, the fourth paragraph of the August 2021 article, and change the location to the United States. Thus, for this Sunday’s column, the paragraph may now read: “Proactive Democrats and Lincoln Republicans, plus Independent Thinkers should study the evolutionary, not the revolutionary, means of achieving changes for the better for the American homeland. This was why the ReVOTElution was coined (by this columnist in 2007). It is a term for creating positive changes through the peaceful exercise of suffrage. Even if most Americans want to emulate how the Filipino people staged an almost-bloodless EDSA Revolution in February 1986, this column still urges that the EDSA be turned into an evolution of pushing Economic Development and Social Advancement.”
Why? Because “… there are no winners in an armed conflict like in a civil war; that ultimately many of the protagonists would perish, as more often than not, a bloody revolution turns many of the rebels — even if the rebellion succeeds — into victims themselves.” Yes, just like the infamous French Revolution that lasted from 1789 until 1799. The French Revolution resulted in a bigger series of European wars. It forced the young United States to adopt a clear policy of neutrality to avoid being embroiled in the said European conflicts.
Secondly, it is conceivable that a Second Civil War will again divide the U.S. Military into two factions. Thus, it weakens alliances like NATO and makes geopolitics unpredictable. A civil war in the United States may result likewise in more prominent, and possibly deadlier, military conflicts simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Thus, Armageddon — in the form of “Nuclear Winter” — may come in less than a decade. Because the U.S., as the “Police of the Free World,” may need peacekeepers from the United Nations if the world body is not rendered useless by then.
Nine years ago, this columnist organized a Facebook Group called “ReVOTElution of H.O.P.E.” “H.O.P.E.” can mean “Helping Other (Online) People Everywhere.” But the movement for positive reforms was meant for the Philippines—even if the prime movers were overseas Filipino workers (OFW) like this columnist, who likes to call himself an “OFWriter.” Perhaps the Facebook group may now also turn its attention to North America.
As a final reminder, some of the numerous civil cases that can be filed in U.S. federal courts may be overtaken by the 2025 midterm elections. If the Present Dispensation opponents win the 2026 electoral contests, they can move for more reforms and administrative changes in the civil service. Besides, the judicial decisions may be rendered moot and academic if the Present Dispensation is impeached.
