Reading the comments and general reactions for One Voice, in the news and in Web logs, I thought that point number five will be the toughest goal to reach. The biggest hurdle to reach that goal is the cynicism of the common Pinoy. Have you heard/read the following comments:

• Different name, same banana
• ‘civil society’ crowd rehash
• Nothing new here. The same people with the same old talk.
• same people, different packaging, another form of regrouping

Goal number five, “A collective effort to rebuild the trustworthiness of our democratic institutions”, calls for every individual to trust the system again. The key word is collective. But look again at the responses, and you can see that seeking a collective effort is an uphill climb. The people won’t even trust groups who espouse ideas, old and new. They are so cynical that they are willing to just shirk off their responsibilities and adopt an “I-don’t-care” attitude.

This cynicism plays to Gloria Arroyo’s advantage. The cynical Pinoy has unwittingly played Arroyo’s game. Their refusal to exercise their civic responsibilities fuels the impasse that we are in now. And they don’t even know they are being used.

One Voice must push on. It should begin listening to grassroots, start a dialogue with the common folk, inform them of what they can do. And I think One Voice should target the middle class as well; it had its chance, lost it, and now shirks from its responsibility. It has brought us EDSA II, and wounds, and they won’t even acknowledge their sins. The middle class is not the only majority. It’s time that the true majority of the people take the initiative and heal those wounds. One Voice should serve as catalyst, the nurse to the doctor. It is time for cynicism to end; it is time for trusting each other to begin. Otherwise, this archipelago will remain fragmented.