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maven
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| Joined: | Fri Jun 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Philippines |
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Posted: Mon Feb 25th, 2008 09:23 pm |
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The Philippines was highly admired for its bloodless revolution in 1986. Today, with a lot of furor being raised with regards to the ZTE-NBN scandal, people are hinting towards another People Power revolt vs. the Arroyo administration.
I like what Economist Winnie Monsod has to say:
People Power IV? No, thank you!
By Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:59:00 02/23/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- “When the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the process is reduced to a quest for power.” Novelist Michael Crichton used this quote in one of his books, borrowing it from author Alston Chase. Unfortunately, this appears to be happening in the Philippines today.
Here we were, outraged at the revelations about the magnitude, scale and brazenness of the corruption accompanying the ZTE national broadband network (NBN) project, with the Lozada testimony reinforcing the testimonies of Jose de Venecia III and Romulo Neri, former director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority. And rightly so. These testimonies are all the more credible because they are not self-serving (and in fact may be dangerous to the well-being of the witnesses and their families), and because they cannot be broken under all kinds of examination.
What was also quite clear during the hearings was that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband, popularly known as FG, played a role in the project. But at no time was the President herself brought directly into the picture, except when Neri testified that he reported to her the P200-million “bribe offer” of Benjamin Abalos.
So based on the results of the hearings, one would think that the expressions of outrage, through rallies, demonstrations, prayer services, should focus on support for the whistle-blowers and the demand to bring the malefactors to justice, starting with Abalos and whoever else can be shown (not just assumed) to have helped him one way or another. This, whether the ZTE-NBN project was suspended or not, or whether all other official development assistance (ODA) projects in the pipeline are suspended or not. And that is what is happening. That’s part of the search for truth.
But they couldn’t leave well enough alone. By “they” is meant those from the Left, Right and the opposition (politics does make for strange bedfellows), who decided to insert their pet political advocacy to the mix: a Resign Gloria or Oust Gloria scenario. They can’t hack it on their own, so they ride on the clamor against corruption, hoping to start a People Power IV. The result? Where there were a people united against corruption, there are now a people divided -- including the bishops -- regarding the “extra-constitutional” removal of the President.
I heard some young students over the radio talking about how “sovereignty resides in the people,” and they want to exercise their power to remove the President. Well, the Constitution outlines the process by which the people may exercise that power (e.g., election, impeachment through their elected representatives and “servants” who are subject to checks and balances).
What seems to be forgotten by those who want to ride on People Power is that the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution took place, i.e., the “parliament of the streets” only because the constitutionally provided checks and balances were inutile against a dictator. We were in a situation where a count by the citizens’ election watchdog showed Cory Aquino to be a winner, but the puppet legislature had declared the incumbent to be the winner. We were in a situation where the judiciary and the legislature had been co-opted, where the media were not free. In other words, someone had grabbed the power from the people, and the people had to grab it back (after 14 years and an assassination). We, the people were fighting to regain the freedom and democracy that we had lost. Given similar circumstances, at present, I would be part of such a People Power movement all over again.
Using 20-20 hindsight, I cannot say the same of People Power II. What happened, from my point of view, was that we, the people, watched as the Senate majority changed the agreed-on rules in the middle of the impeachment trial, and put to a vote that which should be the province of the chief justice of the Supreme Court to rule on -- all in order to prevent opening an envelope containing supposedly vital information. We were outraged. But let’s face it, it wasn’t we the people who removed a sitting President, it was the military “withdrawing support” from him, which did the trick. That the sitting President meekly left Malacañang instead of taking a stand for due process or the rule of law may be an indication that he himself wasn’t a staunch defender of either. But it made it easier for the Supreme Court to rule that he had constructively resigned. At least, there was an orderly constitutional succession.
People Power III was a travesty.
And if a “People Power IV” takes place, so will it be. Because it will not be People Power, but a Quest for Power by some people who would otherwise not attain it in the constitutionally approved manner: through elections. If anybody thinks that overthrowing Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will solve the corruption in government, remember that People Power I (which was already the best of circumstances) didn’t make that much of a dent, and People Power II put in a government which arguably may be even more corrupt.
The most important argument against a People Power IV is that it can happen only with another military intervention because Ms Arroyo is not likely to go meekly, and it will result not in more freedom and a stronger democracy but in less freedom and a weaker democracy. Did we fight and win against Charter change with its prospect of parliamentary authoritarianism only to end up with military authoritarianism?
No, thank you.
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