A caretaker National Assembly

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
8/8/2005



While the forces of external and internal colonialism, i.e. the Purisima and Gloria Arroyo factions of the ruling regime, collaborate by distract the people from the real issues the real movement for national and economic emancipation must continue to crystallize and polarize around the issue of total clean-up of the system and re-directing it towards the people’s welfare. The task of the genuine opposition and emerging imperative is the promotion and elaboration of its concept of the Caretaker Transition Government and its Program of Government for a new Filipino nation.

Exemplifying and embodying the idea of external colonialism is the Purisima’s of this land pushing for impositions of the IMF-WB such as the EVAT, and the oppressive joint ventures such as the IPPs, NLex and other raw deals of the Economic Hit Teams with local oligarchs. The internal colonialists are the corrupt politicos like Gloria and politico-mafiosi like the Chavit Singsons and Bong Pinedas, corrupt generals like Carlos Garcia and jueteng cops like PNP chief Lomibao; actually they are more like aristocrats of corruption who are apparently striking out for themselves momentarily to survive.

All the talk about the Cha-cha and the parliamentary-federal reforms for the Constitution are mere distractions from the real task of eliminating these two colonialisms. They will use all sort of gimmicks to lend credibility to these “reforms” which will actually deform the mentality of the people into thinking the hope lies in just “political reforms” or “economic reforms” when the need is to change the national leadership with patriotic, nationalist and populist-oriented leaders. One of the oft used stunts is to recruit a spokesman from the academe to lend respectability to their scam.

Sporting the pedantic title of “professor”, Jose Abueva of the U.P. is now touted as the advocate for the Federal/Parliamentary constitutional system. As we should all know after an expose of Vic Agustin of the foreign funds going into the PCIJ’s federalism reportage, it is the foreign powers that want the federalization here. The purpose is to weaken central authority and the hope of a nationally-directed change when patriotic leadership assumes power. Federalization will increase foreign powers’ influence over the decentralized states and the prospect of secessions.

Claims that shifting to a parliamentary-federal system will lead to improvement is absolutely baseless as we have seen in the past three decades, so long as the nation’s political leadership remains in the same corrupt hands. Worst with federalization, as warlordism will be reinforced in the already warlord dominated provinces. The Cha-cha, especially through the Con-Ass, will also be perfect opportunity to smuggle in provisions opening patrimony to foreign ownership as well as removal of the anti-foreign bases principles.

Genuine reforms can only be attained by the establishment of the popularly supported Caretaker Transition Government, to clean up the Comelec and other vital institutions, and for new elections to be called to set-up a new government the whole nation will respect and follow. The selection of the caretaker leaders is of utmost importance, since they will be entrusted that task of cleaning up the system. It is expected that insidious efforts will be made to insert Trojan Horses into the project, saboteurs such as Fortunato Abat of which we have more proof.

When Michaelangelo Zuce came out with the latest Gloria-Comelec bribery exposé, former Malacañang executive Datu Ahmad Bayam yesterday tried to shoot down his testimony and support Gloria’s electoral fraud. This Bayam turns out to be the chairman of the Philippine Muslim Solidarity Council who was brought to the Unity for Truth meet at Quezon City Sports by the Abat group, and brought a Muslim “hakot” crowd to vote Abat into the caretaker council. Abat is also used by Gloria’s propagandists to scare people away from the idea of the caretaker government.

Detractors will yap that my anti-Abat tirade shows the opposition is hopelessly disunited, but history demonstrates that a political alternative is powerful only when it is undiluted. The opposition entanglements with fraudulent opposition figures like Angara and Lacson obfuscated issues and aborted political polarization in the 2004 elections, and gave Gloria the smokescreen for cheating and illegal proclamation. In the end, true leadership for Filipinos will be from outstanding popular leaders who truly care for the Filipino - only President Joseph Estrada and FPJ’s widow Susan Roces fit that mold today.

The reply to the question “After Gloria, who?” is crystallized in the names of Estrada and Roces. The next question is, “Then what?” That will be answered today by a plan for governance that Estrada said in his SONA address that he would adopt: the Blueprint for a Viable Philippines to be unveiled at the U.P. Faculty Center, Recto Hall at 8:00 to 11a.m. This is a work independent intellectuals led by former U.P. President Dodong Nemenzo, producing an impressive synthesis of lessons and prescriptions accumulated over the decades by genuinely concerned and competent Filipinos.

We need to add one thing: the Caretaker Council needs a Caretaker National Assembly, of let’s say 300 deputies, to allow a broader base of participation and support from the different vital sectors of society. The Philippine Congress for Authentic Democracy, of Bishop Labayen and company, raised this concept in its mass rally against lingering colonialism last June 12. More in our next column.

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