GMA biggest 1017 loser

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
3/3/2006



It is now clear that Gloria has been forced to blink on 1017 declaration of a state of emergency. This is unlike Marcos’ martial rule which lasted for years, specifically seven years. As we hypothesized months before, Gloria can not impose martial rule because she does not possess the popular and military support that Marcos enjoyed at the time of Marcos’ martial law proclamation 1081. While Marcos enjoyed at least a year of honeymoon with the population for his martial law declaration, Gloria has added more ire and enemies among the people the past seven days.

If Gloria thought she was gaining ground with her actions the past days she would no doubt extend the “powers” she has exercised, but as her blinking reveals she has been weakened even more. The temporary outcomes of the Gen. Danny Lim, Gen. Marcelino Franco and Col. Ariel Querubin crises in the AFP have not resolved anything. The episode showed how unacceptable Gloria and her reputation for cheating are to a vast number of soldiers and officers. It is an encouraging situation because it also reflects the high expectations soldiers have of national leaders – idealism in the AFP is not dead.

So long a Gloria hangs on illegally to what she covets in Malacañang the turmoil will worsen; what used to just simmer is now boiling and will soon heat over scalding the entire nation. Gloria simply keeps pushing the country from bad to worse despite five years for her to try to make things better, and five years of deterioration has really pushed the country to the limit. I don’t think the other military officers are blind to this, only the concern for AFP unity and integrity keeps the others from the faster paced cadence set by the most idealistic of the officer corps – but they are catching up.

One of the happiest things that have evolved from the deepened national crisis is the deeper reflections it compels all of us to do. I have become more flexible about my attitude to the Edsa Uno and Dos stalwarts, while some of the staunchest Edsa Dos leaders are opening up to the issues we have long been arguing. Trixie Sison, for example, during our hours staking out in front of Gate 8 of the Philippine Marine HQ responding to Col. Ariel Querubin’s call made an insightful comment at one point as she gave me water to wash out painful debris kicked into my right eye.

I couldn’t make out the entire comment clearly as the chants around was disturbing my hearing, but in essence she complained that some elite elements still don’t see the worse that Gloria is and still consider with some trepidation President Estrada’s aura in Philippine politics. “It’s because they don’t understand”, I think I heard her say as she used the only available water to help cleanse out my right eye, from a squeeze bottle of Holy Water used for the Holy Mass. “Mabuhay ka”, Kabansang (countryman) Trixie, this is how a nation comes together through crisis and common struggle.

Another good development is the “politicalization” of the AFP, as Alejandro “Ding” Licahuco wrote so clearly about yesterday. Yes, the AFP is clearly growing in political awareness and conscience. This is not the same a “partisanship” in politics, which many professional soldiers are confused about. When the Bagong Katipuneros and the conscientious generals and colonels raised moral questions such as corruption and election cheating, they are using their minds and consciences. They are siding with no one, just with the principles that make their mission as soldiers meaningful.

No soldier is exempt from thinking; their obedience to the “chain of command” is just a convenient excuse to refrain from the risk of thinking and using their consciences. Many military organizations in the world already allow conscientious objectors to express themselves, like the German and Israeli armies. Soldiers are trained “not to question why, but to do and die”; but when the soldier’s society and family is troubled by what they are doing then they are forced to ask questions too. Filipino officers and soldiers are not the only one who doubt, even U.S. soldiers in Iraq are now uneasy.

74% of U.S. soldiers in Iraq want themselves and the U.S. our of Iraq as soon as possible, according to the first U.S. survey ever made of their soldiers. They harbor these thoughts in silence because it for them “to do and die”, but sooner or later the internal sentiments will express itself in rage as in Vietnam when soldiers started “fragging” their officers. What is the Filipino soldier and officer’s corps thinking? We saw how much the elite forces of the AFP and the PNP think of the situation with Gloria, and they did not come to such a conclusion lightly so its not about to change just because of 1017,

The press and media is also consolidated against Gloria, now having seen the Medusa behind the plastic smiles of Gloria to the Fourth Estate. I have been very frustrated with many of my media colleagues the past five years especially after quite a number accepted directorships, but the community should be congratulated for standing shoulder-to-shoulder now in defense of freedom of expression and information. The studentry is also in flames against the suppression of rights and freedoms. Philippine society has gained a lot from 1017.

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