Becoming president
In Brazil, debates are raging as to who will become its next president. In the last media covered debate, presidential contenders Jose Serra and Dilma Rousseff traded issues raging from legalizing abortion to negative impact of privatization to its economy.
Undeniably, Brazil and the Philippines share similarities on the issues being debated. There is an ongoing debate in the country on the pending passage into law of the Reproductive Health Bill. Brazil is a pre-dominantly Catholic nation which explains why Jose Serra is capitalizing on the issue of legalizing abortion against Roussef in his aim to take a foothold on the Catholic vote.
Roussef, who represents the Worker’s Party, vehemently denied the allegations of Serra and dismantling it as “lies, slander and defamation.” Yet the issue on privatization which she counters against Serra is one that is close to the heart of Filipinos. The impact of privatization has established a permanent impression in Philippine society – a simple look of our power industry – one could draw instant conclusion.
Rousseff, however, is leading in the surveys and many are inclined to believe that she will soon take the seat as Brazil’s next president. Datafolha, Brazil’s opinion group, revealed that Rousseff is “winning 48 percent support compared to 41 percent for Serra.”
Now 63 years old, one could only imagine her idealism and assertiveness as a young woman activist. Her 1970 police mugshot where she was arrested for leading a revolutionary group against the US-backed military dictatorship illustrates that this woman could be forceful and determined in fighting neo-liberal globalization.
Hugh O’Shaughnessy, in an article in Britain’s The Independent, said that “as head of state, president Dilma Rousseff would outrank Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.” The reason behind Brazil’s power is its new oil wealth which heavily contributes to its growth rate that could only rival China. For O’Shaughnessy, this could only “put to envy Europe and Washington.”
Described as a caring mother, grandmother, and wife, Rousseff was brought to political life as a prime minister of Brazil’s most popular president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former union leader of the Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Workers’ Party.
Rousseff could not have been in politics for she aspired of becoming a ballerina, a trapeze artist, or a firefighter. These aspirations however begun to take a different shape after she became a revolutionary joining radical group at a young age to fight military dictatorship and later as an urban guerilla fighter. In the hands of her military captors, she underwent torture and was a political prisoner in Tiradentes prison in Sao Paulo for subversion.
She served as finance chief of Porto Alegre and later as energy secretary. Her rise to presidency is believed to be a “celebration of political decency and feminism.”
The story of the likes of Rouseff will continue to provide inspiration to men and women who are for change. Unlike Brazil, the Philippines expresses pride in having two women presidents in a span of 14 years. Yet the administration of the late Corazon Aquino and the recently concluded term of Gloria Arroyo only established the common interest of the class in our society which they both represent.
For this reason, it is a continuing desire of the Filipino people to have a president in the future who truly embodies the revolutionary hopes of the majority who aspire to be heard and be uplifted from poverty and slavery.*
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