Lessons from November 29

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
12/7/2007



There is a misleading notion that, because a mass of people did not appear around the Manila Pen that November 29 afternoon that there was no “people power” in support of the protest stand led by Gen. Danilo Lim and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. The technology of mass crowd preclusion, which we also saw recently employed by President Musharraf in Pakistan to prevent the massing of Benazir Bhutto’s supporters for a mammoth rally, by breaking up streams of marches before they form a main body and intercepting demonstrator carrying transportation tens of miles away from the meeting points - this is a relatively new strategy of suppression after the lessons of Edsa Tres and other rallies.

Marcos never employed such strategy, but even Marcos never practiced the kind of suppression this country has seen under the post-Edsa Dos Gloria regime with its fascist character hardly disguised by its lip service to democratic processes. It is a farce sustained by the Western powers behind their feigned concern over “extra-judicial killings” and “respect for constitutional processes” for they have never protested the undemocratic ouster of a president elected in 1998 by an unprecedented margin of victory nor denounced the wholesale cheating in elections under their puppet Gloria - so long as the privatization of national treasures such as the hydro-power assets and now, the Transco continues.

The erroneous notion that “people power” failed has been used by some trapos to crow that their absence made the difference, and the Gloria regime claimed that Lim-Trillanes had no popular support. However, Gloria and her minions cracked down as early as they could knowing that popular support would swell if the stand off went into the late afternoon and workers started streaming out of the offices and factories to join. The trapos should actually be thankful Gloria’s forces did employ force as early as they did lest their significance finally proven to be nil. The fact is, all along the route of the Lim-Trillanes Makati Avenue protest march people cheered, and gave victory or thumbs up hand signs.

Was there a military plan behind the protest? We can take it from government coup panel investigator, former Commodore Rex Robles himself who said on radio that there was a bigger force prepared for November 30. Maybe he’s correct; others forces continue to plan for a move to save this country from this hell GMA and her foreign backers have created for Filipinos. GMA generals’ move to block the Camp Aguinaldo gates from the outside with heavy tractors obviously were intended to keep soldiers from exiting the camps during the November 29 incident. Now there’s an AFP loyalty check– but can they check on five thousand young officers and thousands of impoverished soldiers’ loyalties?

This is an e-mail we received from a very reliable retired officer turned astrologer, he was very accurate about “turmoil” this December: “Hi Mentong, Your latest e-mail is very encouraging. November 29 is just the beginning. I'm trying to figure out the signs for 2008 which seem to indicate turmoil. Regards. GOD bless all your days.” That more turmoil is in store for the country in 2008 should not be a surprise, and not only from an astrological perspective. The Philippine political-economic conditions are worse than ever – massive corruption unchecked, the grandest of all Transco $ 3-B swindle to be consummated, poverty grows and governing powers continue to be illegitimate.

In our last column we cited the poverty index where the Philippines lags even behind Cambodia, now let’s review a sampling from the IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) hunger index: Malaysia 40, Thailand 58, Indonesia 59, Mongolia 67, Myanmar 68, Namibia 71, Philippines 72 – worse than the much maligned Myanmar or Africa’s Namibia! Meanwhile, Gloria spend P 40-M on a junket to see the queen of England and the king of Spain to give an image boost to her crumbling image that was always undersized anyway. The photo ops are rewards for her shameless “atsay” role (no Hugo Chavez, she) to these royal families in the privatization plunder of our power, natural gas and other sectors here.

All the dramatic and historical popular protest actions that have led to the Manila Pen stand off have had one important, tangible effect – the political education or conscientization of the nation. Last Wednesday at the Ciudad Fernandina kapihan, ex-Comm. Rex Robles elaborated on the injustice of the Transco privatization. Two Filipino-American balikbayan surgeons were in the panel. averred that the Philippine, the most progressive Asean country in the 50s, had lagged because of the looting by foreign colonial powers. One of the balikbayans later came to me to express his total agreement. More now understand the conspiracy of foreign powers with Gloria to in the continuing plunder.

I have met some of the most intelligent young officers in my stay with them in detention. I am sure there are thousands of them who do not fail to understand the crisis that afflict the country. Rex Robles, our astrologer-retired colonel and the e-mail from Davao sums it up: “Surely, something good is going to happen from all this. In the end, good always triumphs over evil.” After the lessons learned, the Last Revolution comes. So far, they’ve been peaceful – and no thanks to Gloria. Venceremos!

(Tune to 1098AM, M-W-F, 6-7pm)