Today marks the birth of Andres Bonifacio, revolutionary leader and founder of the Katipunan which led the Filipino movement against Spanish colonialism in waning years of the 19th Century.

Bonifacio envisioned a Philippine society free from the yolk of Spanish colonial rule. A hundred years hence, the demands raised by the late plebeian supremo against repression and inequality continues to be relevant.

In spite of the semblance of democratic trappings, the country remains in a seemingly insoluble and permanent crisis.

No where is this more pronounced than in the Trillanes standoff at Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati yesterday - an event which came after a series of corruption scandals that rocked the Arroyo administration, the subsequent Makati and Batasan bombings, and the release of a United Nations final report pointing to the armed forces as the culprits behind the killings of leftwing civil society leaders.

But where were we before the recent quagmire?

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