THE Council of State was created by President Aquino in 1987 to provide the President with reliable information and competent advice on pressing issues and problems of national interest.
It’s a much more exclusive group than the National Security Council. It counts former presidents as members.
Gloria Arroyo expanded the membership three years ago to include the whole circus: aside from former presidents, other members are the vice president, the Senate president, the Speaker of the House, the Senate president pro tempore, the deputy speakers of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the Senate majority floor leader, House majority floor leader, the Senate minority floor leader, House minority floor leader, the Executive Secretary and members of the Cabinet as designated by the President, other members of the Congress designated by the President, the presidents of the League of Provinces, the League of Cities and the League of Municipalities, representatives from the private sector to be appointed by the President, and such other persons as the President may appoint from time to time.
Arroyo has called for a Council of State meeting on Jan. 24 in Malacañang. Aquino has declined, citing the issue of trust, rather the lack of trust, for Gloria Arroyo.
Joseph Estrada has not been invited. Even if invited, Estrada’s son, Sen.Jinggoy Estrada said, his father is not going because he has never recognized Arroyo as president.
Fidel Ramos has confirmed attendance.
Ramos will be going to Malacañang on Tuesday, a week after a humiliating rebuff by his Lakas partymates of his proposal for Arroyo to step down, if not this year, next year to save the country from plunging into chaos.
People love winners. Since last Saturday’s Lakas decision to rally behind Arroyo was seen as a defeat for Ramos, he has been an object of ridicule. “Laos” (has-been), one political commentator said.
We have more respect for Ramos to dismiss him as a political non-entity. We are quoting here a part from former Sen. Francisco Tatad’s book “A Nation on Fire” on FVR.
Tatad said:
“Cold and calculating, Ramos mastered the power game by allowing himself to be underestimated by his adversaries. He never showed his hand until it was time to strike. In this, he had few peers.
“For reasons which he never made public Marcos, his own kin, refused to make him Armed Forces chief of staff, despite pressures from various sources, not excluding the US official establishment.
” In 1986 Ramos waited until all the forces were in before he moved against Marcos, and afterward claimed the trophy. In quick succession, he became Corazon Aquino’s AFP chief of staff, defense secretary and successor, while his senior partner Enrile promptly became Aquino’s enemy.
“The first Protestant president of a predominantly Catholic country, Ramos also succeeded in persuading the political clergy to support his policies, while allowing a systematic attack on the teachings of the Church on the family.
“Toward the end of his single term, he tried to have the Constitution amended to allow him to run again. When that failed, he supported De Venecia who lost to Estrada. Displaced from power, he became the first ex-president to compete actively for media space with the sitting President.
“At home and abroad, he said his new role was to help plug the holes being punched on the leaking ship of state by the captain himself. While Sin, Aquino, Mrs. Arroyo and several senators had all called for Estrada’s resignation. Ramos alone gave him a deadline for doing so – which some interpreted as an ultimatum for a coup.”
Tatad was relating the National Security Council meeting of Nov. 8, 2000 where Ramos told the beleaguered Estrada to his face to reform or resign.
Will Ramos make a repeat of that performance on Tuesday?
Ramos has met his match in Arroyo. It’s a dance of deception by the masters. This should be fascinating.
The presence of Lakas Party co-founder former president Fidel V. Ramos in the Council of State is insignificant. FVR has no influence among Lakas party members and can be considered a spent force. He can now dance with Gloria Arroyo’s patented “steps and evil moves“. Fidel V. Ramos will be parroting JDV’s French style parliament and GMA will stay in power beyond 2010. The Council of State is not credible without the presence of the opposition group. Lakas congressmen and allies will say YES to GMA agenda.
ellen, just some info. the council of state was established in 1918, was retained in 1935, actually increased in importance in 1943, and was a fixture of every administration until marcos. fm dropped it during martial law. what cca did was restore it in 1987.
Thanks a lot, manolo. Oh, that’s why GMA talked about her father valuing Council of State.
ellen
let me share with you the statement of CCA on the Council of State meeting:
CORAZON C. AQUINO
I regret that I cannot attend the Council of State meeting on January 24 for reasons of principle. By that action, I do not mean to be disrespectful of the Council nor to renege on one of my duties as a former president. Nevertheless, I apologize to the Filipino people, particularly those whose sense of propriety I might be offending.
While I value the Council of State highly as an institution, I believe that it can only function effectively as a top-level advisory body in an atmosphere of trust. And there lies the problem. At the heart of the crisis besetting the current administration is the fundamental issue of trust.
The very legitimacy of the President’s mandate remains under a cloud of doubt despite the administration’s self-serving statements to the contrary. Rather than resolve the issue in a transparent and forthright manner, the President has opted to muddle it further by insisting that any allusion to the legitimacy issue is part of a grand conspiracy to unseat her.
This is most unfortunate. This posture does nothing to restore the people’s trust in the presidency and in the government. Worse, my presence in the meeting may create more confusion as to where I really stand with regard to my July 8, 2005 statement seeking her voluntary resignation. The absence of trust on both sides gives me great discomfort to even contemplate participation in the forthcoming meeting of the Council of State.
I believe that I would be serving the interests of the Filipino people better at this time by sustaining my efforts to help strengthen our fragile democracy.
Over the short term, this entails working to restore confidence in democratic governance by advocating constitutional avenues out of the present political crisis. To this day, I maintain that the least painful path for the nation is for the President to make the supreme sacrifice of relinquishing her office. Short of that, I believe our nation would be due for protracted political turmoil.
Over the long term, my dream is to create an empowered citizenry as the foundation upon which our democracy can endure and flourish. Toward this end, I have reached out to various sectors to undertake major initiatives to improve the lives of the poor, who stand to suffer the most from the persistent crisis. By systematically lifting millions of Filipinos from poverty, we can help them regain their human dignity and make better choices as part of mainstream society.
Let me also ask the Filipino people to join me in praying for our nation at this critical time. For it is my belief that the most pressing problem impinging on the national interest is neither political nor economic in nature. It is a moral issue that cannot be resolved by structural or legal interventions and by government programs endorsed by the Council of State. It can only be addressed by the President herself.
The Council of State is inutile, all are vested interest, which includes religious leader like Roman Catholic,El Saddai (an extension of Roman Catholic)INK and others.. are hypocrites. These religious groups receive million-millions pesos donation galing sa masama..jueteng and corruption
The council meeting is a meeting of LIARS, CHEATERS AND THIEVES. The Devil/Satan-Gloria will continue to deceive. Her deception is contagious . It goes down to Lakas members and other political parties that support her scandalous regime.
http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20060118-63295.xml.html
conrad de quiros on joker arroyo
para sa akin, handa na akong hintayin yung 2015 and beyond, na nakaupo pa rin ang matanda ng si gloria na gusto ng bumaba pero di na magawa, uugod ugod ng si ramos at hukluban ng si de venecia,(reminds me of mayor pablo cuneta). pasasaan ba’t matatapos din ang maliligayang araw nila. life is fleeting… Diyos na ang bahala sa kanila. samantala, magsikap na lang muna tayo, tumulong sa kapwa natin kahit konti at hikayatin natin magtulong tulong tayong mga pilipinong mapagmahal sa bayan at sangkatauhan. mabuhay po tayong lahat.
Our Country’s history is replete with treachery and hypocrisy. Andres Bonifacio and other heroes who died for noble cause were betrayed by fellow Filipinos. One of them, Lazaro Macapagal, ancestor of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was executioner of a Great Plebeian Andres Bonifacio, not because of love of country but because of personal motives and ambitions. Same with LAKAS CMD, party of thieves and traitors. FVR, JDV and Gloria are birds of the same feather. They flock together.
Flash!!.. US Pres. Bush agrees to hearing and investigation on wiretapping. Bush said: Congressional action on domestic spying is good for democracy. While in Philippines, Malacanang- fake president Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts are preventing congressional hearings on wiretapping. Waste of time and destabilizing. Very Stupid. Let us unite- oust the present occupant of Malacanang. CHANGE THE FAKE PRESIDENT..NOT THE CHARTER.
Ellen,
The Council of State is being used as a carrot by GMA. It is too large and unwieldy and does not have regular meetings. It convenes at the pleasure of the President. If it meets at all, its purpose will be to ratify the official line. Otherwise, it will not be convened at all if it will
take a position against the official line. So its output will be predictable. It will follow closely the recommendations of the ConCom, which is the official line now.
All these posturings are putting in the backburner the real
problems besetting our country. It also relates to your
earlier question : Why don’t we just get rid of GMA and hope somebody steps into her shoes? Let me try to answer
these points.
I believe it was Professor Samuel Huntington, the authority
on political development and political change, who pointed out that the two great revolutions of contemporary history, the French Revolution in 1789 and the Russian Revolution in 1917, were actually “revolutions in search of leaders.” Nobody to this day has indentified the leaders who plotted and led the attack on the Bastille in Paris and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
There was revolutionary ferment in France and in Russia at that time, but there were no leaders to actually lead the revolution. So finally the unsettled conditions led to
a spontaneous uprising in both countries that toppled the French Royal family and the Russian Tsar.
Our country is now in a similar stage. We have widespread
disatisfaction and unrest in our country, 65% of the people
want the President out. We have a revolutionary situation.
Our revolution to be, is still in search of leaders.
Every revolution creates a counter revolution. We may note that after the fall of the Tsar, the White Armies of General Deniken tried to restor Tsarist Rule. That is the
danger – false leaders appearing who would want to take charge of the incipient revolution. We have these two people now in FVR and Erap. Both of them meets the definition of counter revolutionaries. Both of them are actually seeking a restoration of the status quo ante GMA regime. That will not solve our country’s problems.
I believe we are under estimating the political maturity of our people. I believe that many of our fellow citizens had seen through the facade of FVR and Erap. They know that both will not lead our country into the promised land, that is why they are not rallying to their leadership. While our people wants GMA out, they are not amenable to seeing an FVR or Erap restoration.
There is really a revolutionary ferment now in our country.
Again to borrow the terms of Prof. Huntington, our political
institutions can no longer meet the political demands of
our people. Our people want honest and efficient government
and leaders who are clothed with legitimacy. Our political
system in place now can not respond adequately to that demand. That is why we are at a loss on finding a replacement for GMA.
The extreme danger when political institutions fail is that
some group in the lunatic fringe of society may end up
seizing power. We have three recent historial examples of this. We have Lenin and the Bosheviks seizing power in
Russia after the fall of the Tsars. We have Mussolini and his Fascists seizing power in Italy following WW I. And
of course we have Hitler and his Nazis seizing power in
Germany in 1933. All three leaders eventually led their
country to disrepute and ruin instead of the Utopia they
promised their people.
We are really living through perilous times. Let us just hope that out of this chaos in our country some group
in the lunatic fringe of society does not manage to seize power I am signing off at this stage, as you see we have a very complex problem besetting our country.
yes, that’s also my fear that with institutions in danger of collapsing (thanks to Arroyo’s destructive efforts), some adventurists would grab power.
I really hope and pray, she and noli de castro would see the light and resign so we can hold an election under a reformed Comelec.
Ellen,
It is a vicious downward spiral. Even assuming both GMA
and Noli steps down, we go back to Prof. Huntington’s thesis. Can the Comelec supply the demand of our people for
clean and honest elections? Is Garci the lone wolf in the
forest, or is the Comelec a pack of wolves who will make
a mockery of a snap elections ? The same question could be
ask, assuming that the cha cha goes thru in some form,
with the no-el proposal, you will have all the elective
officials national and local, working for the cha cha.
How honest will be the plebescite with the Comelec presiding? We are all being distracted.
At this stage there should be initiatives now to reconstruct
the Comelec acting on the assumption that as presently
constituted, it cannot conduct an honest election or plebiscite. It will be too late to take this step once
the cha-cha proposals are already finalized.
The cleansing and reforming of Comelec can only start once Gloria Arroyo is ousted. Under her, she wants the present corrupt comelec because that suits her selfish interest.
Gloria Arroyo’s legacy is the destruction of institutions: Comelec, Supreme Court, Congress, military, Ombudsman. All for her to survive.
The restructuring can’t be done in in a single sweep. It has to be done one step at a time. The important thing is the desire and the sincerity to reform, to serve the people.
Ellen,
What will the people do if a cha cha is presented for a plebiscite? I think that is in the works. As you can intuitively guess, the conditions are right for massive cheating. Every elected official, from the President,
the Provincial Governors, the Town Mayors down to the last
elected Town Councilor, will have a stake in the no-el
scenario of the GMA regime. The 2004 cheating will be miniscule in comparison.
Revolutions can come in waves. The 1917 Russian Revolution was preceded by the 1905 uprising. So there was a hiatus of 12 years before the final blow toppled the Tsar. If
the Hyatt 10 episode is the initial shock against the GMA regime, a massive fraud defeating the popular will as
expressed in a plebiscite, could be the final straw to push our country into the brink. Let us just hope that some
group in the lunatic fringe of our society does not take over in the resulting chaos.
I think a plebiscite is too far off. I seriously doubt if chacha would becarried out under arroyo. The present senate won’t allow it (thanks to the unicameral proposal). People’s Intiative is unconstitutional.
If they ram it down the people’s throat, I think that would really be the tipping point that everybody is waiting to break the stalemate.
Either way, it’s no win for Arroyo. Actually, she is just delaying her end.
Ellen,
If the Senate has the final say on the cha-cha, there will be no plebiscite. They want a ConCon first which I also feel is the correct approach as I had stated earlier.
However, there is an ambiguity in the Constitution so that
the final say may be done by the Supreme Court. Which brings up another relevant question : Is the SC an impartial body as the final arbiter of all societal disputes?
My view is even if there is a cha cha the people should
participate and give ” A last chance for democracy.” Because that is what a plebiscite will be. If done dishonestly it could be the final straw that could topple the GMA regime. On the other hand our fellow citizens have been forwarned by the anomalies in the 2004 elections. Most of our fellow citizens now know those places where the fraudulent voting and counting took place. Perhaps, hopefully, an aroused citizenry may be able to oversee an honest plebiscite.
I joined your blog since I am residing abroad. I want to get the pulse of our countrymen. The responses of some of the bloggers reveal a sense of frustration and desperation that they are willing to grab any offer of change. They no longer are evaluating the risks of just grabbing any promise of change. The Magdalo and Oakwood groups have not even come up with a program of government other than to eradicate corruption in the AFP.
If the opinions of these bloggers are widely shared, the conditions are ripe in our country for a well-organized
disciplined group in the lunatic fringe of society, to
seize power. We can only pray and hope for the best for our country in these perilous times.
GMA can put an end to this agony if she resigns. But that
will not happen. It may take a Bastille or a Winter Palace
uprising to topple her. That could happen if she manipulates the plebiscite to prolong her stay in power.
Naglolokohan lang sila.