Can someone fill me in if Gloria has done anything stupid recently? I mean I know about the whole Garci thing, but I’m confused as why there are still so many rallies popping up? Did I miss something? Because if it’s still about that issue, then the way our society is handling it is pretty embarrassing.
I admit it’s a very complicated situation, how the public trust was betrayed – but this is speaking from an idealist perspective. This isn’t counting the whole reality of things.
I asked my Mom just now “Has Gloria done anything stupid recently” – and I mean something with the same gravity of that whole Garci charade. She said not to her knowledge. So if anyone reading this can enlighten me, please tell me what all the ruckus is all about.
Having said that, I will assume that indeed nothing else has happened and will discuss stuff with that assumption.
Just to get it out of the way, I too don’t like Gloria Arroyo for a leader simply on the basis of integrity. So don’t go saying that I support the bitch ok? What she did was wrong and it undermined everything our nation holds dear (if there is such a thing)
I would gladly prefer another person to be in office in place of her, but the big question is who else is capable? As it is, I honestly don’t see anyone else. Roco is dead, and I don’t think the other “decent” people in authority are qualified. It’s easy to find a “decent” person… the question is if that person is up to the task of leading the nation in times of crisis. Some people, no matter how good they are more suited as followers (or support characters) than leaders – sad as it may be, it’s the truth. What use is putting a “decent person” up there if they can’t handle pressure, they’d just be as useless as any other Tom, Dick and Harry.
Now going back, I already mention that given the state of our country and economy, while certainly being a damned-if-you-do,-damned-if-you-don’t take on the matter, I honestly think that Gloria staying in power was the right decision.
And it’s not like she’s holding the government hostage. When things get as complicated as this, if undermining the constitution was a real issue, then obviously we should address it constitutionally just to prove the point right? And I believe that’s exactly what the government did. They decided not to go through with the impeachment trial though protocol (correct me if I’m wrong since I really lost interest in this issue at this point)?
It’s simply like going to a court. You have your two sides, and both are claiming opposite views with no chance of reconciliation. So what do you do, who will be accepted as right? Leave it to the courts to decide – and I believe that’s exactly what has been done. They decided not to go through with it – simple as that. Wether that’s unfortunate or not is irrelevant at this point.
So what’s up with these fucking rallies?
For one thing, do you honestly think these rallies have a decent platform to address our issues if they win? I mean lets assume that kicking Gloria out needs to be done… and was in fact carried out. Then what? Have any of these groups presented legitimate solutions other than simply kicking her out?
A simple dialog usually springs to mind that I think encapsulates all those people who love to rally:
PEOPLE: I/We don’t like it… get rid of it! (this applies to anything we don’t want) QUESTION: Ok, so how do you propose to solve it once you do get rid of it? PEOPLE: I/We don’t know, and we don’t care, just get rid of it. We’re better of without it either way.
It’s so stupid! It reminds me of the naivety of our nation when we demanded the Americans to leave… now look at us. Are we truly better off? Sure we got rid of them, but it was just for the sake of being free. Those nationalistic pricks never thought about how to actually care for the nation once they were “freed.”
That’s one reason why I think these rallies are pointless.
Second is that they’re becoming too easy to do. The solution to anything nowadays is to rally. Rally here, rally there. The power of the “Rally” has lost it’s effectiveness, it has become too trivial a thing.
Before, rallying was a big thing. When there was a rally, you knew something big was up… something that really needed attention. Now it has become too common to take seriously. Instead of making me think “Hey somethings up, there’s a rally” I now think “Oh, another rally? What is it this time?”
That’s another reason why I think these rallies are pointless.
Then there’s the whole “intention.” I must admit this only really hit me when my cousin mentioned it to me. He’s in the Army, and he’s a pretty idealistic person, but even he was appalled by Susan Roces’ party. He thinks that everything that party stands for is an embarrassment because they aren’t thinking of the people but themselves. They’ve made this a personal vendetta against GMA and are bent to bring her down for their own gain.
Plus the whole wierdness of it all. Cory Aquino is said to be part of it? And who will she be with? The Marcoses! What the hell is this world coming to!?
My cousin explained that if you’re as powerful as the people involved those parties, and you were truly and genuinely concerned about the people, you’d just quit whining and help the people regardless of the person in power.
I’m under the impression that they’re saying something like “Kick GMA out, and put us (or our people) in power so we can help you.” What the fuck right? Being as rich as you are, you’re telling me that you can’t help people unless you’re in power? If your heart was so pure, then you’d do what you can if you can do it. For me, their efforts and money are totally misdirected. If they had used their money and influence to actually help people, instead of paying them to add more chaos to our political system, then maybe there would be more meaning to what they’re doing.
And considering that the whole Garci thing should’ve been finished a long time ago, don’t these people think it would be better to move on and start doing something useful to help the people instead of slowing down the government by all this shit?
Bottom line is that there is a time to rant, but there’s also a time to move on, because the more you drag this on, you start becoming the problem yourself… more than the original issue to boot. How long has the Garci issue been? All has already been said and done, GMA apologized, people already rallied, the government took the time to go through the process of deciding to impeach or not – everything that could be done has already been done, and all this whining is just noise at this point.
I’ve always believed that dwelling on a problem for too long is pointless: you’ll end up getting angrier as time goes by, and will have nothing productive to show for at the end of the day. This applied to the government… moreso the President, is detremental for progress for the obvious reason that rather than having GMA atone for her mistake by doing some good for the country, you’re distracting her and the whole political system (which she needs full support from to make things happen) with your whining.
That’s yet another reason why I think these rallies are pointless.
Lastly, is that I’ve always thought that GMA getting caught was a blessing in disguise. Because let’s face it – corruption is everywhere. I dare say that Ninoy, and Roco (God bless their souls) were probably corrupt to some extent. You simply can’t be “pure” in the government because you’ll end up being crucified like Jesus.
Having said that, it’s good that she was caught in one of her bad deeds (I’m sure there were/are/will be more). If that were me, getting caught like that would definitely motivate me to prove myself to the public especially if I was stubborn enough to not resign. I mean honestly, you already know that the people don’t trust you – in fact they’ve explicitly made that clear. So why even bother staying in power right? As a corrupt politician, what is there to gain when everyone doesn’t trust you anymore?
The motivation I can come up with to still go on is to redeem yourself, and with everyone watching you closer than ever now, I sure that you’re be less inclined to pull another one of your illegal stunts right? A criminal on parole usually doesn’t fuck around.
So GMA of today should be better than ever (I hope that’s the case) – because all that she’s doing now has to be more than satisfactory if she want’s to gain the public’s trust back.
If there are other questionable things popping up, just try to think if you honestly believe that GMA is trying to pull another fast one on us? I think it’s unlikely.
That whole motorsport ban thing (is this true BTW?), if it’s true, it would truly be a disappointment, but I hope the people don’t immediately assume GMA’s incapacity to lead because of trivial things like that – they also have to realize that the reason they’re bummed out is purely for recreational reasons. The motorsport ban is a very lame thing to take against our leader if you’re thinking about the greater good of the country.
I CAN no longer count on the gout-ravaged fingers of my hands how many times I’ve heard the phrase “rule of law” over the past weeks. It’s been used, of course, by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s allies who demand that the country hew to the smallest letter, and not the largest spirit, of the law, and not move to oust Ms Arroyo until she can be proven guilty beyond the palest shadow of doubt.
At the very least, what makes this breathtaking is that it’s being used by the very people who moved to oust Joseph Estrada when he hadn’t been proven guilty beyond the darkest shadow of doubt. Lest we forget, the impeachment trial stopped before that could happen, when his allies in the Senate-turned-court refused to open the second envelope of evidence against him. It’s “rule of law” to oust a duly elected president — no, make that a hugely elected one — for robbing the public of their trust but not so ousting a spurious president — no, make that a usurper — for robbing the voters of their votes? In the first, we had only the word of a self-confessed thief in the person of Chavit Singson; in the second, we have no less than the word of Ms Arroyo herself.
Well, same word. I don’t know why President Arroyo’s allies do not go on to argue that we cannot take her confession seriously because we have only the word of a liar and a cheat. They have pretty much argued everything else.
That isn’t being entirely facetious. The levels of imbecility we are hearing today are mind-boggling. One would imagine that the rule of law would manifest itself first and foremost in the rule of reason. What we are reeling under today is the rule of insanity.
Consider the argument that it’s the most dangerous thing in the world to oust Ms Arroyo because we will only produce someone exactly like her or worse. Strangely, that is being suggested by her allies themselves: It was all right to have taken the extra-constitutional route twice before because we didn’t know any better. But now that we know that people power only makes things worse, not better, we should stop at Ms Arroyo. Let her rule, even if she was never elected president. The alternative is so much worse.
Isn’t that pure imbecility? Isn’t that rewarding wrongdoing rather than punishing it? Isn’t that saying that the more evil Ms Arroyo does, the more we should balk at the thought of replacing her because think of what it means to have a bigger evil? It’s not unlike the police asking for more budget because crime riots. The more they are unable to curb crime, the more they are justified in asking for more money. Isn’t that making evil its own excuse for being?
Or consider where Ms Arroyo’s confession has gone. You can’t oust Ms Arroyo on the basis of it, say her allies, many of whom are lawyers, because she never admitted to talking to Virgilio Gacillano during last year’s elections when he was a member of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), she admitted only to talking to “a Comelec official.” Garcillano himself is nowhere to be found. He could not be prevented from leaving the country, the Bureau of Immigration says, because he hasn’t been charged with anything, he is a free man. And now the pilot that flew him out of the country says he may have hidden in the cargo bay.
One would imagine that the rule of law also means the rule of common sense. This isn’t law, this is lokohan. Can there be any shadow of doubt the person Ms Arroyo called up and was referring to in her confession is Garcillano? Can there be any shadow of doubt the unctuous and scratchy voice that said, “Hello Garci,” can belong only, thank God, to Ms Arroyo? The fact that Garci hasn’t been charged with anything does not justify his disappearance, it only indicts the entire justice department. Why hasn’t he been charged? Why hasn’t he been arrested? There is more than enough evidence to show he plotted with the President to defraud the voters. As to Garci hiding in the cargo bay to escape to the Bahamas, or wherever he went to enjoy his spoils, I leave that to the residents of the famous institution in Mandaluyong City to dwell on.
In this country, it’s become almost axiomatic that when you hear someone shout rule of law, law is the last thing he wants to reign. In this country, patriotism is not the last refuge of scoundrels, law is. You look at the way the impeachment process is being mugged by the creatures that are pleased to call themselves representatives (representatives of what?) and ask yourself if that can remotely conjure the idea of rule of law. One is tempted to say that is the law of the jungle, but even wild beasts are known to comport themselves with more dignity and grace. As it is, an impeachment is already a compromise, presuming as it does that Ms Arroyo is the President, albeit one who betrayed the public trust. Elsewhere, the rule of law defines president as someone who won in the elections, not as someone who tampered with the elections. In Japan, officials who apologize for having committed an impropriety, however small, commit hara-kiri. Here presidents who apologize for having committed an impropriety, however criminal, become Ate Glue.
We’ve gone full circle, back to martial law when at no time was the law invoked more ardently yet at no time was lawlessness more rife. It is law that has nothing to do with justice. No, more than that, it is law that thwarts justice. Marcos was the most law-abiding Filipino president of all time, except that he wrote the law. Ms Arroyo is the second most law-abiding Filipino president of all time, except that Villaraza et al., aka The Firm, writes the law. In fact, the rule of law is as incompatible to the rule of Ms Arroyo as oil and water, angels and demons, Caesar’s wife and Mike Arroyo’s wife. What Ms Arroyo’s allies want is not the rule of law, it is mob rule.
The rule of reason is clear: No Ms Arroyo, no crisis. The rule of democracy is clear: No mandate, no rule.
The rule of law is clear: Oust her.
-CDQ
oK mR.Conyo, IMHO I would tell anyone who would listen that what this country needs is a dictatorship. I mean, look at us. Were a bunch of undisciplined fuckers who cant even drive without giving somebody else a heart attack. What we need is a vision of what this country should be, and maybe some secret police to make us realize this and whip us all back into shape. But then I realized that ever since the People Power Revolution of 1986, people take to the streets at the smallest sign of corruption and injustice, as though a collective demonstration would solve all of these problems. Come to think of it, were not really a democracywere an ochlocracy (government by mob or a disorganized mass of people). But going back to dictatorship, there isnt anyone I trust to assume complete rule of the country. Name somebody in the government who wont do what Marcos did. So there goes the whole dictatorship idea. And short of genocide, I cant really think of any drastic action or form of government that can make things right for this country. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyos response to our call for the truth has been to suppress evidence, hide her accomplices, engage in a grand cover-up, sow fear, foment distrust and use every instrument at her disposal to encourage division among our people.
I support the rally and I believe that with one voice, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must go. For the good of the country, she must go. For the sake of our nations future, she must go. For the preservation of hope as a motive force in our national life, she must go.
We are united by the belief that this crisis must be resolved in a manner that is peaceful and democratic. Without the truth, there cannot be peace; without the truth, there is no genuine democracy. The truth must set our nation free.
Kindly take a reflection of this one every citizen of our country want the truth to come out. And yet every means for seeking the truth has been frustrated; every avenue for arriving at the truth has been blocked; and every opportunity to find the truth is being closed.
I suggest that you may read the blog of http://www.quezon.ph/blog/ or visit http://www.pcij.org/ AND every Sunday try to read Philippine Daily Inquirer so somehow you will demand the truth. Defend the truth
In response to your argument that there are no alternatives or solutions being offered or that you believe the alternatives to be worse:
What is to be done now?
Ive always thought the answer to that question was fairly simple. The problem is that we do not have a president that was voted by the voters. The solution is to have a president that has been voted by the voters.
If Ms Arroyo has no legal claim to being the president — and she voided that claim the moment she said Hello Garci — then she has to be made to step down. That is a not just a moral imperative, it is a legal one. It is not a conditional demand, it is a categorical one. The task of ousting someone who has not been voted by the voters is not premised on finding a suitable replacement, it is its own compulsion. No mandate, no rule. I dont know what methods others have in mind for ungluing Ate Glue from Malacañang. Like I said, mine is civil disobedience. I refuse to be a dutiful citizen to a dutiless ruler. A threatened country has the right to self-defense.
To this day, of course, I still keep hearing people say, But who do you want in her place? Vice President Noli de Castro? Estrada? Senator Panfilo Lacson? A transitional revolutionary government? A council of elders? Well, the answer is not who I want in her place. The answer is not who you want in her place. The answer is not who the opposition and the various groups fighting Ms Arroyo want in her place. The answer is who the people want, period. Its not her place, to begin with. Who the people want we can know only in and through elections. If the problem is that we do not have an elected president, then by all means let us elect one. Let us have snap elections for president.
I may not like it if Estrada or De Castro wins the elections, but I must respect it. That is the peoples will; that is what we have elections for. No individual or group may presume to know whats best for the people, only the people may presume to know whats best for them. The question is not who or what, it is how. It is the people themselves answering the question of who and what, through their vote. Snap elections are the only thing that can guarantee a new government that the citizens can at least uphold, if not admire. Snap elections are the only thing that can unite rather than divide all those who want an end to the current travesty. All other solutions will always suffer from questions of legitimacy and self-interest. The various groups and individuals fighting Ms Arroyo cannot grasp this, they wont just lose the battle, theyll lose the war.
As will the rest of the country.
-CDQ
i didn’t get to read your whole post but as regards to all the rallies…it’s about Congress junking the impeachment cases against GMA. Three cases were filed and the Congress voted to trash all three…the pro-impeachement congressmen weren’t able to muster the required number of votes to force the Congress to elevate/transmit the at least one case to the Senate.
actually, you’ll see that the people are also tired of the whole bit…according to the reports only around 6000-20000 people show up at the reallies…a handful compared to people power (PP) 1 and/or 2. I think they’re waiting for something major to happen before they take to the streets. it’s really pathetic how some people keep on trying to ‘trigger’ PP…claiming that they’re really just concerned for the well being of the country. And it show’s a certain level of maturity on the part of the Filipino people that they don’t easily get roused by these people…shutting up now…:D
CDQ?! as in COnrado De Quiros?!
CDQ,
Your points are well taken. I particularly like your argument on the whole simplicity of a leader being appointed by the people. I for one would want to agree with that assuming that our nation’s “people” are educated enough to elect someone capable, which obviously isn’t the case.
But let’s not go there since that’s another debate altogether.
I do understand your point about her not being elected by the people. This is true because she cheated elections, so her leadership is invalid as you so put it.
But what keeps on nagging me at the back of my mind is you’re assuming that everyone else has been playing fairly. We do not have proof of course so this debate may also be pointless, but I firmly believe that any other candidate is just as guilty with regards to cheating during elections… but it just so happens that GMA was caught red handed, but that doesn’t make her MORE of a cheater than the rest of them 😉
But having said all that, I myself don’t know what should be done, it makes sense to simply oust her because of your arguments, but equally reasonable to keep her in power.