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President
Gloria M. Arroyo, like the "scorpion" she has at
times been compared with, will fight back with venom and vile
till she steps down in 2010.
It
is indeed hard to fight someone who sometime in 2003 thought
she (GMA) heard God asking her to run for "re-election"
in 2004, after vowing not to run because she was the source
of "national division" one year earlier.
GMA,
the longest staying president after the Dictator Ferdinand
Marcos, has tasted power the longest and all who have had
power will swear its taste is not only delicious, but is also
addictive.
And
no matter how many bombshells have tattered the flag of the
Palace - from Garci to ZTE - GMA has said "A president
can be as strong as she wants to be…" "Let
their ambitions wait till 2010…" and "I am
the president of this country - and no other." (Just
yesterday). Brave words.
This
new image of a fighting president - was designed by her spin
masters - after the Filipino people were unmoved by her sad
Mater Dolorosa look in saying "I am sorry" over
the Garcillano phone conversations.
But
the hidden truth is that GMA is deathly scared, paranoid even,
over the many shadows seemingly haunting her four walls surrounding
the Palace that she will not do another Erap who "contractually
resigned from office" by waving goodbye to the Palace
across the Pasig River. She has to display granite strength
is public - almost taunting the public with quotes like "I
sleep seven hours a night" to show emotional stability
amid the raging fire that is burning down the nation is not
affecting her much.
Resigning,
per GMA, would only mean a host of legal cases - from corruption
to human rights violations - under the aegis of a new regime
that will take over the Palace - and she might get the unfortunate
conviction that his predecessor Erap did.
For
as senator Juan Ponce Enrile (who definitely knows what power
means, having been Marcos' Martial Law lieutenant) had said:
"Give up power and you're a dead (wo)man."
There
are insinuations GMA will defend the Palace to her last dying
breath till 2010 and then carry out an impending exile or
migration to a European country (allegedly) Portugal where
there is no extradition treaty with the Philippines. Thus,
in that country, she and her family will allegedly be beyond
the clutches of the law after her term expires.
The
seemingly new over-confidence of the president also emanates
from two vantage points.
First,
GMA has huge control of the House of Representatives, the
institution wherefrom all impeachment proceedings would have
to be initiated from. The House needs 80 signatories to initiate
an impeachment bid for relaying to an anti-GMA senate and
that number may not be there yet today.
Deftly,
she and her allies had deposed a potential trouble-maker in
former speaker Jose De Venecia whose son Joey had spoken vehemently
against "corruption in high places" where a P6.5-billion
bribe is allegedly involved. By perks and envelopmental or
bag-full of money persuasion, administration solons will chorus
in blended voices (still) every time the Baton Woman in the
Palace even but slightly moves her hand in her desired musical
direction.
With
Congress under lock and key, only the Military remains to
be the other component left that can effect changes simply
by withdrawing allegiance to the established military chain
of command where the president is the commander-in-chief.
The
problem is that the Military exemplified by the "Unity
Walk" at EDA yesterday had vowed to stand by the Constitution
and protect the democratic institutions in the country.
Easily,
the Military can take over the government and the institutions
we hold dear with just the use of four battalions. It has
more than that number inside Manila today. With a mere nodding
of heads, Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon and (PMA
classmate) PNP Chief Sonny Razon can do a blitzkrieg take
over of the Congress, the Palace, the Supreme Court and media.
But the Military is not about to do that either.
The
Military believes, sincerely or not, that a forced takeover
of Government by the Military will further weaken the democratic
institutions which they hope should instead be functioning
- not become dysfunctional entities.
That
is the second other anchor (military support) of GMA's strident
- event arrogant - confidence in telling her "noise critics"
to shut up while she, the Economist focuses her "laser
beam on the economy" which staged a 7% GDP growth, the
highest in many years. This time, unlike EDSA I and II, GMA
thinks that the Military will not intervene in this political
imbroglio.
On
the other hand, there is a significant portion of the Philippine
populace, religious as we all are, that remain to be petrified
into inaction unless there is a directive from a church hierarchy
or a charismatic Church leader like a Cardinal Sin or the
CBCP.
Even
that may no longer be necessary today, it seems.
We
are all gifted with a sense of right and wrong and we have
direct access to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints
to solicit grace for divine discernment as to what action
to do in the face of the obvious dishonesty, cover-up and
power-plays going on in the country today.
The
Filipinos may not need to wait for the Military and the Church
leaders to speak for their behalf in matters of grave national
importance and are pivotal for their children's future.
And
perhaps this can be drawn quietly from the message of whistle-blower
Engr. Jun Lozada in his speech at the "Mass for Truth"
at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran last Monday in celebration
of the EDSA People Power I in 1986.
An
acknowledged fan of national hero Dr Jose Rizal, Lozada said
in so many words that there are already seeds of heroism existing
in each of our hearts that we can draw from. We can be the
heroes we are looking from; we can be the change that we want.
The
national debate raging today is known nationally - from the
manicured socialites and Armani-clad executives to the lowly
tricycle drivers and even house-helps and standbys in barbershops.
This
is one opportunity to behave like a true-blue Filipino citizen
- to listen and understand the issues and having done so,
act according to one's conscience and bring about changes
in his life.
Nobody
can dictate what action you will take: educate oneself, draw
comic caricatures of the national malady, join protest, investigate
anomalies in your localities, call and write to media, pray
for the nation, demand pork barrel listing from your congressman,
scrutinize budgets of your governments and protect the environment,
etc. The important thing is to act.
As
they say: Dissent without action is indeed consent.
Take
it from Barrack Obama, the leading Democrat presidential candidate
in American, the first African-American Negro to potentially
become the first black president of the USA who said: "Change
will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait
for some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting
for. We are the change that we seek."
Are
you ready? Shalom.
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For
Comments: email to
bingo_dejaresco@boholchronicle.com Or editor@boholchronicle.com
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