Anti-government rally calling on President Arroyo to step down. Photo:Tribune.net.ph It was on a rainy fourth of July, in 1946 when the Stars and Stripes came down from atop its Luneta flagpole for the last time and the Philippine flag was hoisted in its place.Philippine Independence day July 4th, 1946 That day, we became the masters of our national destiny. At long last, the colonial powers were leaving our shores and we were finally in control. And all through the two decades that followed, we took our nation-building tasks seriously. Only the best and the brightest made it to public office. And although Uncle Sam still managed to retain a bit of a say over our country's governance, we Filipinos held the reigns of power and the country operated smoothly. The Philippines was headed towards a bright future with nothing but sunshine and blue skies ahead. Now, fast-forward to today and what do we see: a nightmare no one from that earlier era could ever have imagined possible. No longer do we have the cream of the crop in government; today we have for the most part entertainers whose only qualification seems to be their ability to laugh and cry on cue.Anti-government rally in Manila Gone are the great statesmen and women who lived simple unassuming lives; now we have media personalities who flaunt their wealth and material possessions in compensation for their more scholarly shortcomings. Today, cunning opportunists from discredited administrations that were thrown out of power have absorbed the bitter lessons of EDSA 1 and 2 and are now trying to use a similar strategy to topple the Arroyo government. And from the perspective of many overseas Filipinos, the curious events now taking shape in the Philippines, seem suspiciously like orchestrated hysteria! At the same time we also have to give it to a many of our kabayans... they have a flair for the dramatic; they give credence to rumors and gossip; they believe in all kinds of superstitious nonsense;Anti Arroyo legislators call for her ouster they are clannish and loyal to a fault; and they really don't seem to take things very seriously. And this is exactly what the anti-government forces are capitalizing on in their current effort at mass destabilization. They are hoping that beyond a certain point, reason and logic will no longer prevail, and a herd mentality will take over--and give them their opening for a grab at power. In the end, however, it is unlikely that the Arroyo administration will be toppled. The Filipino people will never let it get to that point. The "masa" may have a field day downloading silly "Hello Garci" ringtones or soaking-up all the latest intrigues and rumors, but at the end of the day they know when they're being used. Thus Filipinos will willingly accept the President's apology for her lapse of judgment and will move on, knowing that much of what has been leveled against her was orchestrated by an opposition whose leaders have been accused of far more nefarious deeds than anything they could ever pin on GMA. Published 2005