Even as we write this editorial, the motorcade of Manny Pacquiao should be wending its way around the city of Manila — hopefully to cheers of crowds. Working against that happy prospect are the flat layout of the old city and the reluctance of Filipinos to put themselves out to demonstrate anything but outrage at yet another enormity perpetrated by the politicians.
The best thing really would have been the local version of a Wall Street ticker-tape parade: a shower of confetti from minced Yellow Pages. A couple of guys on the roofs of a couple of Ayala Avenue buildings can turn it into a thrilling blizzard of paper by the strategic deployment of industrial strength fans and the advent of a moderately strong wind in the tight and narrow canyon of the avenue. This has been well studied for civil society demonstrations that can be made to look far bigger then they really are.
