It is understandable for the Catholic bishops to eschew violent means to solve the current political crisis. Their role is to minister to our spirit and not to encourage bloody confrontation.
In their latest pastoral letter, the CBCP reiterated its standard line: “… (W)e do not condone resort to violence or counter-constitutional means in resolving our present crisis. These measures would only bring about new forms of injustice, more hardships, and greater harm in the future.”
Last year’s statement was more specific: “We reject calls for juntas or revolutionary councils.”
It is obvious that the bishops are directing this statement to opposition groups who believe that after the impeachment was killed by Arroyo and her allies, the only remaining option for the Filipino people to get justice is a coup d‘etat. These groups (there are a number of them) are of the opinion that Arroyo cannot claim protection of the Constitution and laws that she has blatantly violated.
Supposing a coup against Gloria Arroyo really takes place and succeeds? Supposing the coup leaders will assure the people that they have no intention to hold on to power and first in their agenda is the holding of a presidential election? It goes without saying that before the election, the Commission on Elections would have to be revamped. Under a revolutionary government, Benjamin Abalos and company do not have the option not to resign. What’s the Catholic Church going to do?
It is worth recalling what the church did on February 22, 1986 when the group of then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile joined by AFP Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos staged a coup against Ferdinand Marcos.
Manila Archbishop Jaime Sin called on the Filipino people to protect the coup plotters. Thus, EDSA One happened.
In January 2001, we didn’t hear the Catholic Church complain when the military led by then AFP chief of staff Angelo Reyes joined many of their priests and nuns and students from Catholic schools than assembled at Edsa to oust President Joseph Estrada.
We have been talking with some members of the clergy and they said what the Church is vehemently against is violence. If it would be a bloodless coup like what happened in ’86 and 2001, they said, the Church could come to terms with it.
So, we said, the CBCP should direct the call to Arroyo. It is she who is causing all the violence with her Calibrated Pre-emptive Response.
It is Arroyo who is going to make a military undertaking against her dubious presidency violent by having officials like Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, AFP Northern Luzon Command chief, issue shoot-to-kill orders. Imagine turning a professionally military into a killing machine.
Does Tolentino really believe that an officer would kill a fellow officer just because he was asked to join in ousting an illegitimate president? The guy must be panicking.
The CBCP could help avoid a bloody confrontation by calling for Arroyo’s resignation. Her resignation would be a first step to ending the political crisis without bloodshed.
The members of clergy we talked with also said the Church would get its cue from the people. How would the people react to a coup against Arroyo?
This is our guess: the people will not go out in massive numbers voluntarily to protect Arroyo. Majority, even those who don’t like Arroyo, will sit it out to see which way the wind would blow.
Amb. Cruz and Anna suggested that the vibrant discussion on coups/snap election in the “Tuloy ang Laban ni Faeldon” post be transferred to another post “Forgetting the basic issue” . Since today’s post continues the same topic, I decided to copy parts of it and post here to jumpstart the discussion.
Ellen,
You may wish to transfer further my comments on the importance of the Biazon Committee Report and its importance to the position of the CBCP.
A fellow blogger(cvj) have given me this link, you can take a look at it http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2004/07/how_do_politica.html.
Even if we’re just talking here, we are actually getting to a “common knowledge”, which to me means that we are forming our opinions and political stand. But the question I often ask myself (and others) is, “Am I going to support my stand with action, when the right time comes?”.
Ellen,
As Ambassador Cruz said, a revolution can only done by DOERS and not by TALKERS.
To push the country into a sanp election, there are more ways than one to do it:
1. Consistent mass actions from various sectors of the civilian community – disobedience, sit-down strike, mass strike, etc.
2. Continued political demonstrations against Gloria in every town and city.
3. Sabotage all on-going talks between CBCP and Malacanang
4. Boycott of government, i.e., application for drivers’ licenses, marriage licenses, court summons, etc., LRTs, etc.
5. Not buckle down during confrontations between demonstrations and police forces everywhere in the country.
6. Storm the seat of power regularly through hit and run methods!
7. Work with the Muslims against the VFA or “Yanks Go Home” and demonstrate with them…
In 1968, a massive student revolt in France virtually drove powerful and French hero General Charles de Gaulle out of the Elysee Palace; And the aftermath of that student revolt? De Gaulle was so weakened politically that a year later, he was forced to resign the presidency and a snap election was held!
The Filipino must be audacious for his own good!
the military and the police should protect us from arroyo’s CPR instead of protecting this illegitimate admin.
Or perhaps the civilian population should protect the military and the police from being corrupted by gloria arroyo herself!
I find the Church’s exhortation against going out of the Constitution to remove Arroyo confusing, if not hypocritical.
Weren’t they part of EDSA I and II. Those were extraconstitutional exercises.
They don’t want bloodshed yet they did not ask Arroyo to resign. The longer Gloria Arroyo clings to her illegal presidency, the higher the possibility of violent change.
The CBCP could help avoid that by asking for her resignation now.
Well for as for me, i agree with Herman Tiu Laurel that, the reinstallation or rather, ‘reporting back to duty after the leave of absence’ of President Joseph Estrada is the most logical and acceptable solution after GMA is ousted. But i want that Pres. Estrada will only be the head of the ‘Transtition Government’ until we have chosen a new acceptable leader by election, and in the process, clean the rotten government of GMA. The priorities that he must do are (1) to clean and overhaul the Comelec office, (2)abolish the EPIRA or the Power Bill, (3)abolish also the EVAT and RVat that makes our people suffer too much, (4)we should go out of the WTO agreement but should only deal with countries with oil and products that we need, (5)make appeals for our Debt restructuring or condonement if possible. It is time that we should have a government that will make us self reliant.
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Besides, i believe that President Estrada will be judged ‘Not Guilty’ in the plunder case because there is no strong evidence against him. The ‘second envelope’ has been opened and it belongs to Mr. Dichaves. Aside from the several documents, an officer of the bank has also testified that he have witnessed Mr. Dichaves signed withdrawal slips ‘several times’ which proves that the ‘Jose Velarde’ account belongs to Dichaves. That will contradict the ‘verbal testimony’ of a prosecution witness Clarissa Ocampo. Therefore, President Estrada was illegally ousted by connivance of the ‘Mafia Government’ of GMA and the Injustice of Supreme Court. Pres. JOSEPH ESTRADA IS THE ONLY SOLUTION !!!
Once Erap is acquitted , he could call a press conference announcing he is now assuming the “executive leadership”.
He could form a “COUNCIL” from broad spectrum of the masses representing various sectors of our society.
Taking the argument of “Civilian supremacy over the military” , the ‘New AFP’ will just standby and observe the situation – meaning “preserve the status quo”
Ibig sabihin, balik pa rin sa dati! Returning to the old glory days of ‘culture of corruption’. “SAME SYSTEM, NEW FACES” scenario!
On the issue of “DOERS and not by TALKERS”:
Anybody here could equate a “LITTLE RED BOOK” to ‘HOLY BIBLE’?
I guess most of the Filipino youths today is more aware of latest cellphone ringtone than writings of Mao and Henry David Thoreau.
The sad part is every Filipino wants to go and work abroad!
Kailangan ba natin na umusbong pa ang maraming “organic intellectuals” para maisakatuparan ang pambansang pagbabago?
Filipinos are fond of French and British style revolution. Socio-political upheaval usually comes in a natural manner.
Pugak,
the ‘culture of corruption’ will only come back if we, the Filipinos will allow it. Now that we have learned a lot from the evils of GMA, we should all be on our guard always. We should not just be spectators and ‘bulag-pipi-at bingi’. We should be aware of how our taxes are spent by our officials. Erap submitted himself to impeachment to find out the truth, and he is suffering until now even though he has to be proven guilty. During Erap’s leadership, he has done what is best for the majority which is the poor. Unlike GMA who have blocked all means to ferret out the truth, because she knows that she is guilty, unlike GMA who has sucked the Filipinos meager income just to meet her spending-spree. NEVER IN OUT LIVES THAT WE FILIPINOS HAVE EVER SO WORRIED ABOUT NOT JUST OUR FUTURE, BUT SOOOOOOOO WORRIED ABOUT WHERE TO GET OUR NEXT MEAL!!!
Political change and revolutions could be a matter of correct timing.At the time of the Hyatt 10 incident, the
CBCP could have taken a common stand with the other groups
and asked GMA to step down.Its input at that crucial time could have avoided our present crisis.
The CBCP now wants to get to the bottom of the Garci tapes.
It sounds like a veiled threat. If the Biazon Committee in the Senate declares that GMA did cheat in the elections and that GMA knows about the wiretaps on Honasan et al, will that mean that the CBCP will finally take a stand and ask
GMA to step down?
The CBCP like all church groups talks a lot about moral values. If a President has lost the MORAL AUTHORITY TO GOVERN just like GMA, isn’t it only logical that the church
and the CBCP should ask her to step down? Even in small organizations moral authority is what makes leadership effective. Without moral authority leadership is bankrupt.
GMA’s leadership now is based on a flawed election process.
Its constitutional basis is also, therefore, flawed. It would be interesting for the CBCP or any clergy reading this blog to answer the question I posed in this blog. Should the church not also require that our leaders must have the moral authority to govern?
ps For the record. I am a Roman Catholic. I am a regular
church goer. I got elected to the UP Junior and then the
UP Senior Student Councils as an UPSCA member in the fifties. I am making this of record to emphasize that there is no religious bias involved in the points I raised.
I have said this many times (again), the Filipino people can start again through the installation(again) of Estrada as President of the Philippines. Let’s go back to where he was illegally ousted. It must be the turning point. Regaining the dignity of the people and the democracy to our country must start from correcting every mistakes the coup plotters of 2001 done. I wish Hilarion Davide would speak now and clarify his statement….the he installed Gloria in an acting capacity only. Period. I guess we should act now, end Garci tape scandal by surfacing the truth that Gloria cheated in 2004. Oust Gloria NOW!!ENOUGH of whitewashing (by the congress). We are tired of Fertilizer fund scam….KILOS NA!
Ellen
What happened in ULTRA this morning could
be given a thousand meanings. It is a
tragedy waiting to happen for the real
Filipinos, kapit sa patalim, suntok sa
swerte magkapera lang para may pambili ng
pagkain. Kung nangyari ito sa Japan tiyak
ilan ang magha- hara kiri upang maiwasto
lang ang trahedia.
Yung mga Pinoy na nakita ninyo sa TV,
yan ang mga tunay na Pinoy na matagal
na biktima ng katakawan, kasakiman
ka estupidohan ng mga lider ng bayan.
They have all the money but not the brains
to act beyond their self interest.
God acts in myterious ways. Our leaders
should listen and discern the acts of
God that happens not only in the Philippines
but also in many parts of the world.
IT IS VERY SAD THAT ALL AROUND US WE
HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE KIND TO THE POOR,
WHO HAVE MONEY AND COMPASSION BUT
NOT THE BRAINS NOT TO BE STUPID.
SABI NGA NI MARK ANTHONY
My heart is in the coffins
there with the ultra victims
and I must pause till
it come back to me.
These people who really are Pinas
have been dead for five years now
and they are still being murdered.
Re Erap re-installation:
Mangyayari lamang yan kung may “parallel leadersip” sa kasalukuyang sistema ng bansa natin.
On Amb. H.C.Cruz: “Political change and revolutions could be a matter of correct timing”
Are you referring to ala “Cap-Haïtien(Cap-Haitien) and Gonaïves(Gonaives) in Haiti” of year 2004 as a tipping point for a major socio-political upheaval for GMA’s downfall?
Are we expecting a NEW “Guy Philippe” to emerge in the near future?
The 2004 events in Haiti started when the political opposition disputed the year 2000 election.
Haiti is totally different with ‘Manila’. It took four years for them to trash Aristide.
Ellen
Those who died in Ultra
are the true heroes.
They have suffered enough that
God took them all in His bosom.
Who are these heroes?
They are wives and grandmothers
Weak and sickly for lack of food
Who despite their age and hunger
Waited for days and hours
for a chance to win money they
can give to their children and
grandchildren. For them it is the
only remaining honest way to
earn a few pesos and with luck
so much money to forget their travails.
Who are these dead Filipinos?
Believe me I am not angry with anybody
Because I know God will make those
responsible pay with equal measure.
The buck begins and must stop on
those responsible.
Sino ba silang namatay ng walang laban?
Mga Nanay at Lola na gustong may maiuwi
sa mga anak at apo. Mga nanay at lolang
sumasala sa pagkain, na wala nang pagasa
magka trabaho at kumita sa tulo ng
kanilang pawis. Ito bang mga Filipinong
ito ang dapat magbuwis ng buhay para
mapanuto lang ang ating bansa?
What happened this morning in ULTRA Pasig(04February2005) is a “SCENE OF FEBRUARY 2006”
🙁
I got this idea from ‘Scene of July 1830’:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lar7_cogniet_001z.jpg
🙁
It is a clear manifestation the socio-economic viewpoint of ‘EDSA’ is a FAILURE
The Ultimate Solution to the problems we have today, and to prevent them from recurring is to implement the ff:
1. Geniocracy along with Full Automation on the Next Election. Right Leaders could only come from the right voters from the right system. Download a pdf file at http://www.rael.org/download.php?view.6
2. Reorrient the Filipino Psyche. Enterpreneurship, engineering calculus, chemistry, mathematics, etc. shall dominate the airwaves NOT Chinovelas. Soaps and Dramas have their place in movie cinemas.
3. Science over Myth. There are so many religions in the world, but there’s only one Science. There can only be one Truth! There’s no god – only people playing gods! The Elite, FreeMasons, Financial Oligarchs, NeoCons have the power [economic, political, military, church] to control the destiny of mankind. Religion is all about control – where the only thing needed is RESPECT. Bahala na [Bathala na] or “It’s up to God!” syndrome is so destructive that it made our people more passive while the Devils in the Malacanang are very proactive! Try http://www.evilbible.com/ , http://www.larouchepac.org/
4. Return to Bretton Woods Agreement of Fixed Exchange Rate and Treaty of Wesphalia of “nation-states working to the advantage of the other”. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_Agreement , http://www.larouchepac.org/pages/interviews_files/2006/060110_stockwell_interview.htm
5. Government-initiated Massive Infrastructure Projects [mass housing, schools, hospitals, roads & bridges, nuclear power, research and development, etc.], that would create massive employment. We can do these by not paying our already paid foreign debts, and by printing more money. Yes, printing more money is not inflationary if it is invested on basic infrastructures – which are investments for the future that would enable us to become truly self-reliant. And as a bonus would surely attract investors and tourists.
6. Revolution where leaders understand the preceding principles.
If the above is realized, everything will fall into its rightful place. Call it Heaven, a place here on Earth, not in the afterlife [there’s no such thing!], but NOW!
But this won’t happen because, not only that you refuse to believe in it, you started it by saying “It will never be”.
Ellen,
The most approriate title for Ultra tragedy: EDSA, 20 years after
Ellen
I wish you and those PCIJ guys can devote
some time and effort to write about the
79 (Yahoo reported 88) martyrs of poverty and
victimization. Let’s name some streets after
them.
Who are they? Why do they need to go to
ULTRA? Who are their survivors? What kind
of life do they have before they perished?
These martyrs have the face of the Filipino
under GMA administration. I will bet the
victims were better off before Cory, Tabako,
Erap and Gloria. The victims and their families I will guess, have lived frugally
not having touched or eaten fruits of dirty
money. Although another guess that more than
50% of the almost a trillion-peso govt budget becomes dirty money even before the allotments are released by the Department of Budget Management. It is easy to know the families
that wallow in dirty money.
So who’s going to write about the ULTRA MARTYRS, who’s going to set aside erudition
and peroration about parliamentary and election bulshits and write to portray
the now Filipino?
Willie Revilame should not be blamed for
what happened. He is the star of the show
like David Lettermen, He just need to show
up on time and do his charismatic thing.
Somebody or a lot of people goofed? Pinoy
kasi?
ako naranasan ko ang mawalan ng trabaho..ang hirap lalo na ‘pag may pamilya.. lalo na kapag may edad ka na di mo alam kung saan ka papasok ng trabaho..TITINGIN AKO SA TINDAHAN NG KAPITBAHAY KUNG PWEDENG MAGPAUTANG. kung lunes hindi pwedeng magpautang.. mabuti na lang nakaka extra minsan sa KONSTRUKSYON bilang “piyon”. taga abot ng hollow blocks,halo ng semento, kailangan kasi para may makain PARA SA MAGHAPON.. isang kahig, isang tuka.. sa 250 isang araw may pagkain na at pambaon ng 3 bata.. ‘pag natapos ang trabaho, wala na naman.
MAHIRAP WALANG MAKAIN SA MAGHAPON.. PWEDE DE LATA,, O KAYA NOODLES PARA MAY KONTING SABAW AT MAGKASYA SA MAGHAPON…
PERO MAS MARAMI PANG PILIPINO ANG MAS MASAHOL PA ANG KALAGAYAN SA AKIN… UMAASA MINSAN MABIGYAN NG PAGKAKATAON NA GAYA NG NAKIKITA SA TV.. MALAY MO MAKA-TSAMBA..
ANG PANGYAYARI SA ULTRA AY PAGBABAKASAKALI NA BAKA NAMAN MATAPOS KAHIT SANDALI ANG SIKLO NG KAHIRAPAN NA NARARANASAN SA ARAW-ARAW… KAYO NAKARANAS NA NG GANITO? mapalad kayo …
NEVER IN OUT LIVES THAT WE FILIPINOS HAVE EVER SO WORRIED ABOUT NOT JUST OUR FUTURE, BUT SOOOOOOOO WORRIED ABOUT WHERE TO GET OUR NEXT MEAL!!! ….
sa mga pulitiko hindi totoo ito.. sa kongreso ang tataba ng mga tong-gresista, nagmamantika ang mga katawan! hinay*pak kayo! mamamatay din kayo! sobra na ang pagpapatagas nyo sa taumbayan.
Truth which is a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue has never been in the vocabulary of this illigitimate, immoral and incompetent woman who shamelessly calls herself president of the Philippines.
Gloria Arroyo and her consort Mike Arroyo have kept
themselves in power after illegally grabbing the presidency from Joseph Estrada and stealing the presidency from Fernando Poe by cheating in the last election with the aid of the root of all evil, MONEY.
Sadly, while the congressmen, generals and high ranking government officials are enjoying the fruits of their loyalty to this greedy couple, the great majority of the Filipino people have been neglected where even the basic necessities of life are just but a dream.
Such a siuation is a road to revolution which could possibly be bloody and violent. However, such scenario can be avoided if the Supreme Court will declare the ouster of Pres. Joseph Estrada as unConstitutional and to reinstate him as president of the Philippines with the backing of the AFP and PNP.
Narciso Ner Jr.
Los Angeles, California
Yes Juan, Nakakaiyak ang nangyari sa Ultra. What happened there showed the ‘REAL IMAGE’ of most Filipinos…POVERTY. Yes, POVERTY is what drives them to line up there at Ultra to try thier luck to earn money, in the ‘legal way’. Because not anyone of their family CANNOT FIND A DECENT JOB. As I have said, NEVER IN OUR LIVES THAT WE HAVE EVER SO WORRIED ABOUT JUST OUR FUTURE, BUT SO WORRIED WHERE TO GET OUR NEXT MEAL!!! The survey that MORE Filipinos are GETTING HUNGRY IS SOOOOO TRUE!!!!!!
GOD, HAVE MERCY ON US PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEE!!!!
Ambassador,
Like you I am a staunch Catholic. With all due respect, unlike you however, I believe our Catholic bishops should leave national politics alone to the politicians.
The need not sow more confusion and confuse the already terribly confused population.
Time to focus on things to do be done – the clergy have a job to do and that is to talk to God but not to media or to journalists.
His political turbulence Cardinal J Sin is dead – may he rest buried for all eternity.
Some commenters in this weblog and others have argued that some sort of bloodshed as part of a ‘national catharsis’. Would the dead bodies we’ve seen on TV today lined up near ULTRA contribute to this ‘national cleansing’ or do you need to witness more?
You didn’t mean that did you, CVJ – that those dead bodies near ULTRA contribute to this ‘national cleansing’?
It is in this time of national tragedy and misery is when the bishops’ hot line to God is required.
Let God come in and intervene for us, let our prayers go past beyond the ceiling of our bedroom and be heard.
Deuteronomy 5:8-9
[8] Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
[9] Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God
Off the topic ito, pero ito ang ugat ng mga nangyayaring hindi maganda sa ating bayan at sa mga latin countries na namulat sa turo ng mga kastila.
a de brux, sorry if i’m giving you (or anyone else) the wrong impression, but i already explained my stand on this matter sometime back:
http://www.quezon.ph/blog/?p=813#comment-9322
and
http://www.quezon.ph/blog/?p=761#comment-7316
I’m asking those who call for bloody revolution (or coup) to fix our nation’s problems if they are willing to stomach more scenes like this? this is where theory becomes reality.
A de Brux
I agree with you that the sound principle is for the church to remain in the convent, the military in the barracks, but only during normal times. As I had stated in another blog, the responsibility for running the country should be entrusted to politicians who can be voted in and out of office if they betray the public trust. This is the reason why in all advanced societies like Western Europe, the USA, Canada etc. the military and the church are excluded from politics.
We had that condition before Martial Law was declared. An
apolitical church and military was among the institutions
destroyed by FM. But as you will note even from the inputs of our fellow bloggers, our problem is our politicians are
not accountable to the public.In fact our political institutions have totally collapsed.
The constitutional remedy to remove an erring President is impeachment. We borrowed this from the US.However, for impeachment to work the politicians must become statesmen and if necessary, cross party lines to push thru an impeachment.In the Nixon case, that is what happened.The Republicans crossed party lines to impeach him.Nixon had to resign.
In our country, in both the Erap and now GMA cases, our politicians remained politicians and voted along party lines. Thus impeachment will not work in our culture.
So I believe that until all our political institutions
are restored, the church may have to come in briefly.I
don’t see anything wrong if the church help force the
resignation of GMA and then the priests return to the convent afterwards.Our problem at this point is how to
effect peaceful change and avoid a bloody civil war.
As I pointed out earlier in another site, based on experience in other countries, when institutions had
collapsed, there is a danger that some groups in the
lunatic fringe of society may end up taking advantage of the
chaos and seize power just like what Mussolini, Lenin and
Hitler did. All three ruined their countries.
We are in effect selecting the best alternative out of the
bad choices we are faced with at the moment. We actually have no good choices. Maintaining the current stalemate with GMA in power is I think a worse alternative for us.
Pugak,
You mentioned Haiti and Aristide. Please note that the US
withdrew its support from the military group which ousted
Aristide. This made possible the return of Aristide to power.
This is the same reason I indicated withdrawal of US support as a possible way to force GMA to resign. Most of
our nationalists will not like the US to intervene in our
affairs. Nonetheless, this is a reality. GMA cannot
remain in office without US support. FM was ousted as you
may note when Reagan stopped supporting him.
The question you should try to answer is What will make the US withdraw its support from GMA? If Sen. Biazon finds out
that GMA and Garci did manipulate the elections? There could be other causes. You can contribute your ideas.
Ellen,
I’m afraid that Ambassador Cruz is correct. US of A holds the aces. If the Americans thumb down a proposed withdrawal of support, the AFP will not even sneeze.
In late June 2000, a former US Asst Sec. of Defence had boasted to his colleagues in Europe that the US would be back in the Philippines alongside Northrop Grumann (and their vessels) when Erap is impeached (this was long before the famous Joker Arroyo-Davide ‘impeachment’ circus act of January 2001). When the US defence official’s startled collegues corrected him and said, ‘You mean, IF he is impeached…’, the US Defence official boasted, ‘…WHEN he is impeached!’
By then all of Europe knew that poor Erap only had few months ‘to live’ his term. By November of the same year 2000, many European companies that had signed MOUs with RP companies (even those during the time of Ramos) started packing up to leave because America was gonna be back – they didn’t pack not because they didn’t believe they could do business with Americans but they knew that it was going to be messy in the Philippines and a messy political sector is bad for ROI so off they went.
I reported US official’s boast to a friend that same month of 2000; this friend dutifully published it in his column a couple of times but nothing doing – the die was cast!
In other words, Gloria’s AFP won’t even blink unless the JUSMAG Chief says so.
The only way to get the AFP to budge is to convince America that Gloria is bad for business… there are many ways to do it, i.e., convince America that Gloria is not worth their farthing time.
With GMA and USA, it is ‘You scratch my back and I scratch yours’ policy. The ‘interests’ of USA is in the proposed Charter Change of GMA in exchange of US support for GMA. GMA is willing to surrender our sovereignty ( in business and land ownerships) just to keep Bush’s thumb’s up for her. KAMPON TALAGA NG KADILIMAN ITONG SI GLORIA?-MACAPAL-ARROYO!!!! WHO WILL SAVE THE PHILIPPINES FROM THIS EVIL ONE?
LORD, PLEASE SAVE US, PLEEEAAAAAASSSSE!!!
Yes, Ambassador, indeed, desperate times call for desperate measures and I agree, it is so tempting to ask members of the clergy or God’s advocates to lend a little helping hand to oust Gloria and her government of thieves and liars.
I don’t know… but if we keep asking these men in white or scarlett robes (whew…after the people in black justice robes let the people down, one finds it difficult to believe robe-donning men can do still do anything right – heh!), when can the Philippines ever break the politically meddlesome members of the Philippine Catholic clergy and respect the sacrosanct constitutional separation church and state?
I thought we’d gotten rid of Cardinal Sin but here we go again letting the clergy think and espouse a political creed on behalf of the citizens of the republic.
Anyway, Gloria is so much smarter than a donkey’s ass – I won’t put it past her turn 180° towards other religious groups like the INC, JIL or even the Jihad Islamic Movement for religious bloc support should the CBCP fail to toe the/her line.
In spite of her “conversations with God”, to me Gloria is so morally depraved that she is capable of doing anything to keep her in power.
But ok, I’ll give the clerics in Pinas a chance…500 years ago, Franco-Anglo clerics allowed a poor, little but honest warrior girl to be burned in the stake, well, mebbe history may just very well repeat itself but in Pinas but this time it would be all about a little horrid girl called Gloria.
If that happens, I will be, oh well… I will be just damned! (If my son sees this last remark, he will bellow “O yea of little faith!”)
A de Brux, Ellen,
We have been talking about there being no Napoleon or
Ataturk in our military to take over from GMA and lead the nation. The best confirmation of this is the US have not
been building up any of our military officers a la
Magsaysay. The US CIA had a lot of talent scouts in their
client states like the Philippines. If there is a promosing
officer among the military they would have started building
him up.
It is for this reason that the US will not approve of an
outright military coup in our country. They feel there is
nobody competent in our military to take over from GMA.
A de Brux,
To refer back to your concern that the US will not back
a military coup and over throw a democratic government:
The US foreign policy is a two faced Janus.They have
an openly stated goal of supporting democratization. However, they have a hidden agenda which is to support
governments which will advance US national interest in the
traditional big power diplomacy rule.
As an exammple, the Hamas is a popularly elected government,
but if there is a group in Palestine now which can overthrow the Hamas, the CIA will support it. In 1972
the CIA helped Pinochet overthrow the democratically elected leftist government of Salvador Allende in Chile. Also during this year, they allowed FM to destroy our democracy and impose Martial Law. FM somehow convinced the Americans that he is the only one who can stop the NPA growth. The US at that time was still in Vietnam and was concerned about communist expansion.
The US withdrew support from FM only when it became evident
that the NPA was expanding rather than decreasing under
his regime. I remember the late RSM and his fellow exiles
stating by the early eighties that FM is the best recruiter
of the NPAs.
The primordial goal now of the US is the War on Terror. It
has been in all the States of the Union Address of George
Bush since 2002. So extrapolating from the FM experience, I think Washington is asking this question : Is GMA an asset in the US War on Terror? Or has she become a liability? Specifically has the Abu Sayyaf, JI, NPA, MILF and MNLF expanded under GMA, or has she checked them? I hope our fellow bloggers can answer this question. On this issue may hinge Uncle Sam’s continuing support of GMA.
The Asian Center in UP I believe has academicians monitoring
this issue.
True, Ambassador, although they (the US) got carried away by their distrust and dislike of un-educated, womanizing, drunken Erap enough to give their thumbs up for the AFP to support Arroyo’s power grab (Pity that Gen Defesor’s ‘snap election’ challenge didn’t prevail during his ‘altercation’ with Gen Angie Reyes – very terse moments that day between 19th and 20th of January 2001).
The US of A may distrust our military (heck, I don’t blame them; by the way, do you remember when Gen. Ilagan was carried piggy back during a Balikatan exercise right in front of a US Marines captain – hah!) but most of these star-ranking generals had been-re-trained by them in good ol’ USA itself. If we follow your line of thought that the US doesn’t trust our military, one wonders if the Americans are any good at all at re-training or at continuing education.
Also, what the Americans has so far failed miserably to exploit is the Filipino’s innate sense of undying gratitutde towards their ‘creator’, ‘maker’ ‘donor’, etc., etc. a list which which is topped by the US of A, i.e., America could ‘guide’ ONE U.S. trained RP military guy to do its bidding in the direction it wants. (This is where the Aussies are gonna beat Uncle Sam’s CIA guys – those Aussies are spending a fortune on re-training, re-educating, etc. of our military men and are quiet about it; one day they will have one of their guys doing their bidding in RP, but of course, that would be a boon to US interests too.)
We need to have a strong lobby in the US to get those American folks to see what really is happening in RP. Somebody’s got to simplify the message to not so very clever President Bush.
Like it or not and so very unfortunately, the Americans are a force to reckon with when it comes to Philippine politics. When they tell the Philippines to blink, the country blinks – that’s how it is. It would take a stellar performance and sterling courage for one single Pinoy to enforce RP independence, good enough to be believed by the Americans.
Frankly, Ambassador, I had hoped until a couple of months ago that there was one military-turned politico who could fill the slot. So, far, the guy had proved to be a disappointment (or perhaps just unlucky).
Ambassador,
Here’s an anecdote on AFP modernization:
During the deliberations in the Senate chaired by another perpetual drunk, Sen Orly Mercado over the AFP Modernization Bill (this was way back in the 90s), major service commanders and their errand boy officers (captains, majors and colonels then but are generals today) were asked what the Philippine Army needed to modernize… The silent service chief of naval staff, er Philippine Navy CNS chief I mean, whispered to his (full of air) Air Force counterpart: “Electric rice cookers would be enough to modernize ’em Army guys”.
This logistic requirement for modernizing hasn’t changed today. The US of A knows that until our RP Army boys get their electric rice cookers, there’s nothing doing – the guys will refuse to be modernized. And they say to themselves, how could you trust an army that wants an electric rice cooker in paddy fields?
Ok, I was just trying to be funny but the anecdote is true.
The US finds GMA an untrustworthy ally after the Angelo de la Cruz incident but since there is no clear credible alternative (that they are sure will serve their interest), they are just watching and observing.
I’d like to bring you back to the NSC’s Sept. 05 security briefing. A handwritten note states: US Factor is critical, deterrence role in the crisis. Poor accessibility of GMA in Bush administration,high risk for US… PGMA, incompatibility of interest between GMA boys and US business, declining public popularity not conducive to US, indifference of international community to GMA leadership (Japan, China,Germany, EU and Muslim countries), high profile graft.
Yes, Ellen and that’s how Gloria’s pervasive tactic of divide and rule comes in very handy that even the US doesn’t know on which foot to dance.
We just have to keep trying till she runs out of guys to pay or till the money well dries up.
The 2007 elections could spell the difference and if members of the opposition (not just the Opposition parties) but everyone oppose to Gloria keeps on hitting Malacanang, there’s a chance that we might not even have to wait for the elections to throw her out of Malacanang.
Ellen and A de Brux,
I used the term “no credible alternative to GMA” also and some of the bloggers objected to it.But it is the truth.
There is nobody in the opposition now who can unite the
disparate groups.Let us hope somebody manage to do it.
Where we are now as a continuing client state of the US
is our own fault.We never developed.We are like children
who never matured.If the US cuts off all aid to us, our
government whichever is in power at that time, will collapse. That is why to end our dependency in the US requires national development. The Latin American academes
have written volumes of Dependencia Literature to show how
Latin America while nominally independent, has been in
actuality virtual colonies of the US. We will be in this
rut unless we can develop.
One can only note two countries, S. Korea and Taiwan. They
were also US client states in the sixties.But nobody labels
them as such now because they have developed and are in
position to stand on their own. So we have to develop to
get out of our present status as a client state of Uncle
Sam. GMA and her advisers must be spending sleepless nights after the de la Cruz incident on how to please the
Big Brother in Wash. DC.
Ellen,
It is not only the US which does not trust GMA.A lot of other world leaders do.This is the reason why nobody wants to meet one-on-one with her in international conferences.
You don’t want to talk to a leader and discuss long range
plans when there is always a chance that she will be out of
power next day. A leader who cheated her way through an
election to gain power is a marked person in international
forum. GMA is being regarded now in a similar vein as
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. He won an election but everybody
knows it was a manipulated election.
The sum total of all these negative developments and not just one event, may yet undo GMA.
Ambassador,
As usual, you are right. Your insights are wonderfully straight to the point with no word being wasted to drive the point.
After re-reading all your postings, I’ve come to the conclusion that you have summed up and concretised in a few strokes the kind of person we are up against in the person of Gloria Macapagal without an iota of hysteria.
Your last entry should put all of us back in focus.
I wish all of us her could now outline in the same manner the hows and the wherefores, i.e., concretise a plan of action, to oust Gloria most ungloriously.
Anna,
Thanks.You can sum up the problem of our country in one word: leadership.
Most textbooks in management states that a leader who
depends only on his formal authority as spelled out in the
laws and regulations, will not be effective. A leader must also have the intangible attributes of being able to unite, to motivate and to uplift the morale of the organization.
GMA is relying only on her formal authority to govern as spelled out by the law. She can no longer be an inspirational leader. The unfortunate part, however, is
the same thing is happening in the other key institutions of our society.
Nobody in the military has a stirling combat record to be
a potential Napoleon. The church leadership now seem to be split. Archbishop Lagameo did not turn out to be a Cardinal
Sin. For all his faults, the Cardinal united the church behind him especially during the Martial Law years.
The students are strangely quiet, they must also be awaiting
their own leader to emerge. The leftist organizations like the NPA and the militant groups also appear to be split. They have not also produced one leader who can be proposed
as an alternative to the trapos. GMA has been extremely lucky.
Let us hope that this leadership void is not filled up by
a Mussolini, a Hitler or a Lenin. That will be a tragedy
for our country.
Ambassador,
You are absolutely right.
Leadership is key.
Although the working and the middle class in the UK helped saved the UK from total, utter economic collapse, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher steered the course of the sinking HMS UK. Did you know that in the early 70s, a typical UK member of the middle class was forced to pay up to 87% in taxes (I know because my husband did!) and pensions were slashed radically?
Thatcher had to be dictatorial during those critical years – not only was she fighting powerful, violent union bosses, she also had to fight various Irish terrorist groups too – and there was no escaping from responsibility by the rich, the middle class, the poor but Thatcher was able to do it because she was MORAL.
Thatcher did not cheat or steal, did not manipulate election returns and did not pay lip service to MORAL RESPONSIBILITY. She was a leader as few politicians would ever be!
We must admit that there’s so much a government could do for a bankrupt nation – it is up to the people and ideally by the middle class to force the country out of an economic and moral rut it finds itself in even if it means throwing Gloria out of Malacanang violently.
And Dennis Thatcher also acted with utmost propriety unlike the Fatman in Malacañang.
Heheheh! Fatman!
Koštunica-Đukanović type of leadership