The stunning images of the Burmese peoples’ popular uprising flowing to the rest of the world through the internet (before the military regime started blocking information) brings to mind the passages of a book I read earlier this month.

When I started reading Seeing, I commented that Jose Saramago’s plot, where disillusioned voters from the fictional nation’s capital voted but left the ballots blank, is not applicable in the Philippines. Blank ballot results would only make electoral fraud operators Comelec and their traditional politician principals very happy.

The book, however, does not only attack the the traditional politicians and parties role in degrading the state institution’s credibility and fomenting disillusionment among the greater populace. In 300 witty pages, Saramago described, like the recent events in Myanmar have clearly shown us, how the State reacts when threatened by the people.

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