Photo source: Rob Rances
SAVE THE PHILIPPINES
A Call to Conscience, Courage, and Collective Action
by Rob Rances
Today, we stand together not because we are from the same party, not because we wear the same color, but because we love the same country.
And because we feel, deep in our bones, that something is very wrong.
The administration can lie in speeches—but indicators never lie.
Everything we heard from Atty. Vic Rodriguez earlier…
Those are not just facts and numbers.
Those are the lives of our people.
Those are the signs of a nation in danger.
Those are barometers of collapse.
I. GOVERNANCE FAILURE
Bakit ito nangyari?
Because our leadership is failing.
Under BBM’s leadership, there are no clear reforms, no clear vision, and “solutions” that amount to press conferences instead of policy.
Global democracy rankings now call us a “flawed democracy.”
Congress is a supermajority that rarely says “No” to Malacañang.
Media has become cautious, captured, or controlled.
Commissions and investigations appear to cover up or control the narrative.
And then came the biggest scandal of our generation: The flood-control scam and the ₱100-billion budget insertion. Now Malacañang talks about an “anti-corruption drive,” an Infrastructure Commission, Senate hearings.
But the world—and the Filipino people—are asking:
If the masterminds sit at the top, can the system really clean itself?
We are not just facing corruption.
We are facing state capture—a system where those who design the budget also benefit from the budget, and also investigate the budget.
That is not governance.
That is a system that operates as if it were run like a syndicate.
II. THE WORLD IS WATCHING—AND IT IS NOT IMPRESSED
In my recent trip abroad for a think tank, I met businessmen and diplomats…
I assure you, ASEAN governments, investors, and partners are watching us.
ASEAN is among the regions with the strictest laws against illicit drugs.
So when Sen. Imee Marcos publicly alleges that the President is a longtime drug user, and that this addiction has led to wrong decisions and floods of corruption—that does not stay within the Philippines. It goes to:
• ASEAN drug-control forums
• Intelligence reports
• Country risk assessments
• Quiet diplomatic conversations
Hindi nila sasabihin outright publicly, but they will act by quietly downgrading intelligence cooperation—because they cannot risk sharing information with a country whose leadership is drug-compromised. That affects bilateral cooperation.
Foreign investors? They don’t look at Palace claims. They look at:
• falling markets
• collapsing FDI
• weakening currency
• rising political instability
• allegations of a drug-using President
Unless we save the Philippines,
we are bound for collapse.
And yet, amid all this… instead of walking away, the world is seeing something else…
They see the massive rallies.
The millions praying, marching.
They see the people’s courage—standing in the rain for truth and accountability.
And do you know what diplomats are whispering now?—
“The Filipino people may be more stable than their government.”
This is both painful and powerful.
It means: We are the last line of defense. We are the remaining institution that still works.
And foreign investors are reading our moves.
III. THE DANGER OF SHORTCUTS
Some groups are now floating an idea:
A transition council.
A caretaker government.
A “revolutionary” setup to bypass succession and stop VP Sara Duterte from assuming office if Marcos steps down.
Pero ano ang katotohanan?
A transition council is a power grab disguised as reform.
A coup in slow motion.
A shortcut that will break this Republic far worse than corruption already has.
It is an unconstitutional power grab that benefits only its architects.
And the most alarming part?
There hasn’t been a noticeable pushback from the DILG or PNP.
The same institutions that overprepared for Nov. 16–17 are suddenly quiet.
The Palace isn’t condemning it.
That silence speaks volumes.
TRANSITION COUNCILS DON’T SAVE COUNTRIES—THEY BREAK THEM.
Look at:
Myanmar – 2021
“Temporary council” — civil war and economic implosion.
Thailand – 2006, 2014
“Reform councils” — military dominance and suspended rights.
Egypt – 2011–2013
Elite-captured transition — authoritarian collapse.
Sudan – 2019
Civilian–military council — coups, famine, fragmentation.
The pattern?
The people suffer.
The economy collapses.
Power consolidates among a few.
Legitimate succession dies.
Trust never returns.
Transition councils only work for those who sit on the council, never for the nation.
Every country that bypassed its constitution in crisis paid the price.
Why?
Because once you throw away the rules,
every future leader can throw them away too.
We must never allow political factions—Pink, Makabayan, or LBM—to rewrite the Constitution simply because they fear the rightful successor.
If Marcos goes, let the Constitution speak.
We must not choose extra-constitutional shortcuts.
The PNP may be silent.
Institutions may be timid.
Political blocs may be scheming.
But the Filipino majority still holds the final say—
tayo ’yon!
Rise. Stand. Speak.
Defend the Constitution.
Because if the majority stays quiet now,
others will decide the future for all of us.
IV. WHY THE MAJORITY MUST RISE NOW
Here is the truth they don’t want us to realize:
We are still the CONSTITUTIONAL MAJORITY.
They may be winning the propaganda war, but we are the majority.
• The majority is awake.
• The majority is angry.
• The majority wants accountability.
• The majority rejects corruption.
But…
• Media tries to drown our voice.
• Surveys try to manipulate perception.
• The administration and its allies try to divide unity.
• Propaganda tries to make us feel outnumbered.
But we are not outnumbered.
We are just out-shouted.
Friends, remember:
Numbers unused become numbers unseen.
Thank God for this coalition.
NCR must rise even more.
Luzon must rise.
Visayas must rise.
Mindanao must rise.
One voice.
One pressure.
One stand.
One Republic.
Because no investor, no institution will save us—if we, the people, do not rise first.
Remember:
A nation collapses when people wait for permission to act.
A nation rises when people move even without permission.
IV. THE CALL
Mga kababayan…
This is a battle not just of politics,
but of moral obligation,
civic duty,
love for country,
and loyalty to God and future generations.
There comes a moment in every nation’s story
when neutrality becomes betrayal,
when silence becomes surrender,
when comfort becomes complicity.
And when that moment comes, we must decide:
• Will we kneel to corruption or stand for the Republic?
• Hide in fear or rise in courage?
• Pass this crisis to our children or confront it now?
History is calling us.
The world is watching us.
And our children—and those yet unborn—will judge us.
We cannot fail them.
Not now.
Not today.
Not in this moment of trial.
Let me say this clearly:
We are not standing here alone.
We are not fighting only with numbers,
we are fighting with truth.
And where there is truth,
God stands with the people.
All throughout our history—from liberation, to EDSA, to every moment when darkness tried to rule this land—God has always sided with Filipinos who chose courage over fear, justice over silence, and country over self.
When a nation cries out for justice,
God hears.
God moves.
God aligns the people.
God corrects what corrupt power tries to destroy.
That is why we say today with conviction:
If we stand for what is right, God is for us.
If we fight for the nation He entrusted to us, God is for us.
If we move to SAVE THE PHILIPPINES, God Himself goes ahead of us.
This is not just political work.
This is moral work.
This is nation-healing work.
This is God’s work through the Filipino people.
VI. AND IF TATAY WERE HERE…
Let me end with this.
If Tatay Digong were standing here today…
nakatingin sa nangyari sa bansa—
watching this government crumble under corruption,
watching institutions manipulated,
watching the people suffer,
watching the Philippines dragged to the brink—
you know exactly how he would react.
The man never minced words.
He never hid from the truth.
He never sugarcoated anything.
He would look at this crowd today
and with that voice we all know, he would say:
“Alam ko pagod na kayo. Pero huwag kayong matakot. Huwag kayong umatras. Ang Pilipinas, hindi pag-aari ng mga magnanakaw.”
“Ito ang bansa ninyo. Ito ang tahanan ninyo. Ito ang dugo at kinabukasan ng mga anak ninyo. Huwag n’yong hayaan sirain ng mga gahaman at traydor.”
And then, pointing at us, piercing our conscience, he would say:
“Kung mahal ninyo ang bansa, ipaglaban ninyo. Lumaban kayo para sa Pilipinas, katulad ng paglaban ko noon. Walang atrasan. Walang iwanan. Walang takot.”
“May Diyos. May bayan. May katotohanan.
Pag nagsama yan—walang makakapigil sa inyo.”
“Kung hindi kayo kikilos, sino pa?
Kung hindi ngayon, kailan?”
At sasabihin niya ang pinakamabigat pero pinaka-totoo:
“Pag lumuhod kayo ngayon, luluhod ang mga anak ninyo bukas. Pero pag tumayo kayo ngayon—tatayo ang buong Pilipinas.”
Mga kababayan—
the answer is here.
The answer is us.
The answer is now.
This is the moment.
Not for chaos.
Not for violence.
But for courage.
God is watching.
History is watching.
The world is watching.
And our children are waiting.
And if Tatay were here, he would end with this:
“Mahal ko ang Pilipinas… mahalin ninyo rin.
At kung mahal ninyo—IPAGLABAN NINYO.”
GOD SAVE THE PHILIPPINES.
Pinoy Edmonton News 