Friday, February 22, 2008

THE ARGUMENTS FOR INACTION

This is a column from former UP College of Law Dean Raul Pangalangan (PDI, 22/02/08) citing his (I share mine) arguments of inaction re: the current clout for GMA's removal. Indeed Dean Pangalangan did a bull's eye of the common inference people have on the present situation of hopelessness and tiredness from previous mass revolutions. Yet at the hindsight, this entry captured a transcendental logic (moral, legal,practical, philosophical grounds) to arrest apprehentions and reservations of people pertaining to the issue of a new people power uprising and ousting a morally and legally corrupted government. This warrants understanding and heed for conscience, if we believe in one. Kudos!

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By Raul Pangalangan
Philippine Daily Inquirer


You’ve heard the sensible argument: “‘Hanggang 2010 na lang naman.’ [It’s only until 2010.] Why the rush?” My answer: If Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stays in power until 2010, she will remain in power after 2010. She and her cabal have transgressed the law so often now while they are in the saddle. There is simply too much at stake at too high a risk for them to dismount and freely relinquish power to a new president. Imagine her thinking: Why will I allow myself to be in Joseph Estrada’s shoes? Surely she dreads the full wallop of karmic revenge.

Even if we go through the ritual of a presidential election in 2010, at the very least, she will ensure that a brand-new ombudsman will be in place to immunize her and her family from culpability for the next seven years. In other words, she will continue the prostitution of our republican institutions.

Just look at our law enforcement agencies. Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. testified under oath about a $130 million commission and Neri about a P200 million bribe (who reported it to the President, who in turn did nothing), about his kidnapping by the very police sworn to protect us, and now about the half-million pesos given to him by a Malacañang lawyer -- and what do they do? They talk about charging Lozada’s wife with perjury! Susmaryosep. By the time Ms Arroyo goes, she will have debased the Republic, and made a total wreck of our constitutional order.

The second argument is: “Away ng mga fixer lamang ’yan.” [“It’s just a brawl among fixers.”] Why indeed should we involve ourselves in a brawl over illicit commissions? My answer: Precisely because it takes a thief to catch a thief, and we must embrace this long-awaited fissure within the ruling elites. In fact, I’d like to see Rep. Jose de Venecia explain why the conspirators in the national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp. kept on insisting on “the NorthRail template,” the exact same swindle that ZTE wished to emulate, except that NorthRail was De Venecia’s baby and ZTE wasn’t. So the fixers are raring for a fight? That’s good news for all us victims. We must celebrate, we must fuel, we must spark the outrage.

The third argument is a sequel to the second: “Let us settle for the lesser evil.” I’ve actually found this argument most enticing, especially since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is by far the most highly educated of our presidents, and she wonderfully looks the part. The only problem is, going by what Romulo Neri allegedly said, she is “evil.” The law says Cabinet members are the alter ego of the president, and when the alternate ego brands the original ego as “evil,” he should know whereof he speaks. At the rate she’s going, just about every other option is the more “moderate” evil.

The fourth argument is: “Respect the rule of law lest you open a Pandora’s Box of power gone berserk.” My response: You mean, any more berserk than Arroyo’s Mafia sense of power? Whose Strong Republic is forceful in hounding its enemies, but weak in punishing its friends?

We must not lose sight of fundamentals. We value the legal document called the Constitution because we need neutral standards and mechanisms by which to settle the naked clash of power and interests. There are many ways to decide these contests. People can choose by voting. People can bargain and negotiate in the open market. Or people can ask a neutral judge to decide according to the Constitution. But our Constitution has been cheapened over and over again by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, its letter turned and twisted to betray its spirit, perverted to suit her agenda. She has depleted the Constitution’s power to legitimize. Justice Jose Vitug, in the EDSA People Power II decision, asked: “Should [we] choose a literal and narrow view of the Constitution [and] invoke the rule of strict law …?” Or, he continued, should we stretch it a bit to respond to the call of the times? His conclusion: “Paradoxically, the first option would almost certainly imperil the Constitution, the second could save it.”

To those who say, “Let us preserve the rule of law,” I ask: Why, what’s left of it to preserve? I have written about the heartless evictions of vendors; I conceded the need for order in the streets but lamented that, by confiscating their goods -- the plastic trinkets, the “garapon” [jar] of sago, their makeshift tents -- we rob them of the tools of their honest toil and kill their entrepreneurial, almost divine, optimism. Why, what evil have these vendors committed that we can be so ruthless against them, yet be so excusing of those who steal us blind, in the range of $132 million and counting?

I agree that ousting Ms Arroyo won’t solve all our problems. Our ills are systemic. We must rebuild broken institutions. We must confront our shared flaws as a people, our lack of civic spirit, of communal discipline. (God sakes, in the La Salle Mass last Sunday, a matron overtook everyone during Communion! We had formed two queues before the priest, and Doña Buding simply decided to form her own “counter-flow”! Now I understand why the guillotine was invented. Such unholy thoughts.)

But the need for systemic change should not postpone the call for immediate measures. Now we face the 21st century equivalent of millenarianism -- like those revolutionaries of old, who said that we can postpone land reform, we can delay gender equality, because anyway after the crimson triumph, life will be beautiful.

For this, let me take refuge in the ringing oratory of John F. Kennedy: “All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”

Resign. It’s not just an option; it is an imperative. That is the minimum, because to demand anything less is a cop-out and because in the end, it’s for us to decide, not hers.

A Sunny Reminder




Romancing the Sun
(From Top: Sun set in PCARRD, another angle (PCARRD), sunset in Anilao)

Bente-Dos at Humahangos

Bente-dos na ako nung nakaraan. Parang kelan lang,ako’y twenty-one. Officially,nasa linya na daw ako ng mga eligible bachelors-- professional; promising na mga nilalang ng lipunan. Oo nga’t heto ako’t sumasagwan sa agos ng buhay. Naglayag ako noong nakaraang anim na buwan sa unang trabaho. Pero,simbilis ng pag-tiktak ng orasan, panahon na’t humakbang sa panibagong hamon ng palalayag sa ibang dako. Sa ngayon, maaring babagsak ako sa parehong trabaho, pero mas pa dun ang kagustuhan at pagtutulak na sumagwan sa tangos paroon. Di ko matantya ang kalooban ko pero nasusukat ko na ang kayang mapanindigan.

Tulad ng mga kakilala ko, marami sila at tulad ko, promising at propesyonal, mas ninais nilang lumihis sa linyada ng normalidad. Pinili nila ang lubak-lubak ngunit makabuluhang landas ng kasaysayan at kasalukuyan sa paniniwalang ang pagtatalik na ito ng panahon ay nagbabadya ng magandang bukas. Ideal na isipin ito,pero nasusukat ang lahat sa mismong pagtupad sa mga ideyang ito. Kung mararapatin ng panahon, maaring hindi na malayo yun. Samakatuwid, mangyari na ang mangyari. Subalit habang ang mga pag-aalinlangan ay namamayani sa sistema ng aking kaisipan at kalooban, mas pa sa kabutihan ang di pagsadya, sa halip ay pagsabay sa tawag ng panahon.

Patuloy ang pananariwa sa likod ng aking isip nang mga litanya ng mga kaluluwang minsan at patuloy na lumulundo sa biyahe sa kung saan. Kasalatan at kasimplehan ng buhay ang katumbas ng paghihirap at pagsusunog ng kilay sa minsa’y dayuhang silid-aralan. Anupa’t nauso ang utang na loob at responsibilidad kung di lang din susundin. Siya nga, ngunit tulad ng kulturang kinamulatan, sa biglang irap at kurap, nabago na ang kalakhan.

Ako’y nangangapa. Ngunit di nabubulagan sa kung saan ako tutungo. Kasabay noon ang pangako ng aking mga pangarap. Abo’t kamay kung tutuusin. Sa bilis ng inog ng mundo, bukas, bente-tres na ako. Ganoon din, maaring sa panahong yun, nakatakda na akong sumuong sa minsa’y isang matamis na bangungot.

Sa puntong ito ng kasalukuyan, lumalarga ako sa ngalan ng pag-ibig. Tunay ngang makapangyarihan ito. Ramdam ko sa bawat tibok ng aking puso ang hinagpis ng bawat kaluluwang nakakasalubong. Gayundin ang lugod at tuwa ng iilang lumalangoy sa kasaganaan. Nawa’y manatili ang inspirasyon, ang tulak ng pag-ibig sa bawat araw at gabi ng pakikipagsapalaran sa sariling kaisipan at hangos ng sangkalooban.

*talim ng araw: unang serye, ika-31 ng Enero

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Liars,Inc. and the Pitfalls of GMA's Men

Hearing live over the radio in the recent ZTE Scandal Senate hearing, I can't help but swear and unleash bits of pieces of indignations againsts GMA's lapdogs from start 'til the end. For those who had the opportunity to watch the proceedings, it was worth the time spent and the rising of our personal emotions. For simply, even the dull could create a story out of their half baked to raw narratives. Well there's no much new of them as expected since PNP personnel led by no less Mamang Pulis' Razon and Mascarinas are just following a brazen chain of command which we know has no sense of responsiblity whatsoever under the Arroyo regime. It stops there.

I am all the more sorry for their children, who maybe in their innocence could suffer and bear the brunt of their elders' mischiefs. Razon in his arrogance admitted to have ordered Lozada's abduction (regardless of the correct description under RPC) in NAIA and maintain that it was not kidnapping.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Fall of "JDV, The Omnipotent"

Malacanang and its cohorts in the KAMPI (GMA's party) recently affirmed in a precedented breakthrough in the Lower House what I called and even public opinion suggested, 'controlled eventualities' under the current regime. In the limelight is no less than the Lakas kingpin and self-confessed statesman, ex-Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. JDV who used to be an alter ego and a definite close ally of Mrs Arroyo, finally has secured a seat in the political purgatory, a place for the abandoned and rejected politicians. Worst, JDV suffered the brunt of politics in the hands of his former comrades and good to be friends, now bitter enemies. But the circus and downplayings all boil down to the issue of the ZTE scandal late last year.

Following the Senate inquiry into the multi-million dollar NBN Contract where JDV's son served as the whistle blower and then key witness, rumors of JDV's fate being at risk heightened, at least his speakership post. It was only late January where strong indications suggestive of an eventual deposition in the House leadership was apparent after GMA's ''spoiled brats"* (Reps. Mikey and Dato Arroyo) took a leave of absence from Lakas and later resgined for obvious reasons. Less than a week later, the definitive moment of a 'collateral damage' has, materialized in the floors/halls of Congress. JDV was unseated by and before his partymates and coalition allies.

An internal purge in the ruling administration coalition was initiated by the KAMPI led by DILG's Puno* and 'Burlesque King'* Rep. Nograles to grab the 4th highest post in the land with Nograles as the ideal and potent man. With so much of brouhaha before the Monday session, Nograles was eventually sworn in as the new speaker of the House. Malacanang who previously is dumb on the issue now sided the change of leadership, and consistent to Nograles statements, it vowed to remain independent. Really, the deathly shyness of Palace personalities is in play.

A bitter lesson: JDV deserves this fate. He would never have believed that it would really happen, until it happened. Wisdomful as he is, yet he's old enought to remember the story of the sacrificial lamb and the tower of Babel (would later fall) in the Bible. The House was filled with bitterness such that in his privelege cum valedictory and redundant speech, all regrets, misgivings and tirades on the GMA reverberated the August chamber. But the rest they say is history.

Truly it was a historic moment, not for anyone else but for JDV. That may suggest his graceful but bitter exit from the hands of a greater evil and master in the Palace. But his actuations at present is also indicative of a continued chapter of politics, the JDV way. But this time maybe, his on the other side of the fence under the allegory of 'moral revolution'. Good to hear from a repentant sin, but until it is reflected in his actions, no amount of trust and confidence could he get from the people. But with hopes that until the ZTE, Garci Issue and all the scandals that hound this government are resolved, JDV is there to stay. After all, he may not be God, he is all knowing.

Good luck, Philippines!


*Puno is groomed to take the post as Executive Secretary this year
*Burlesque King was coined by a Davao mediaman (now jailed (5 years) for libel) refering to Nograles, for his series of expose regarding the latter's involvement in a sex scandal in Manila Hotel
*Spoiled Brats, as described by Gina de Venecia (their Ninang) after JDV's fall