The only option

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
10/24/2005



Cory Aquino’s regret over supporting Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo in 2001 was headlined yesterday, Sunday. As Mayor Toby Tiangco of Navotas said in a call to us, if Cory Aquino had followed the rule of law that fateful year there would be no need to express personal regret. The law would have been responsible for everything that had happened since then; that is, if Estrada was legally impeached and convicted. What Toby Tiangco is pointing out is that Cory and the rest of Edsa Dos usurped the task of deciding what’s best for the land – now they should be personally redress the nation.

Is Cory Aquino’s admission enough to make personal amends? That should not be for her to decide but for the law. I wonder if Cory Aquino can understand that, being steeped in haciendera and cacique attitudes for all her life. People, however, can change even in old age; provided they have intellectual honesty and integrity. Let’s hope she can, because if she does have that righteousness of character then she would look at the Law again and now recommend what is correct and according to the Cosntitution – turn back the hands of time and restore the duly elected President of the land, Joseph E. Estrada.

Why is the restoration of the Estrada important? It is not the restoration of the person that is the vital issue, as many people think; it is the restoration of the principles of our democracy: Law and the people’s mandate. Those two, in any order you want, are the foundations of our social contract and our system. My fear is that Cory Aquino, after denouncing Gloria and saying her mea culpa will again exercise cacique prerogatives in demanding her choice for the replacement of Gloria – Noli de Castro, who by no stretch of the imagination can be considered legally elected under the circumstances that prevail.

The test of the authenticity of Cory Aquino’s regret is to see if repentance will be complete, which should include redress. Almost eleven million votes, 10,956,610 votes to be exact, were wronged by the events of Edsa Dos. Over and above that the eight-four million Filipinos also suffered under Gloria’s lying, stealing and cheating in the four years of lawless rule that followed. Will the lying, stealing and cheating stop when Noli de Castro steps in? Obviously, not. In the North Rail project Noli de Castro is already embroiled in a squatter relocation and housing scandal.

Why would Noli de Castro be the same? Because we will remain under the rule of force for a few and not of the law for the many, as Noli de Castro was elected under the same corrupt Comelec and a milieu dominated by the same vested interests such as the Lopezes who carry mediocrities to power by their financial and media force. The people make their own leaders, and in 1998 the Filipino nation elected the first post-Marcos leader with an undisputable 120% lead over the next candidate Joe de Venecia’s 4,390,853 votes. Estrada should have had six years, Edsa Dos stole three and a half years.

In six years Estrada could have legalized jueteng already, increased Pagcor’s revenues twice over; the IPP’s may have never been allowed their sovereign guaranteed PPA (IMPSA wouldn’t have been signed, Nani Perez may never have been tempted nor be haunted by Mark Jimenez). It wouldn’t have been a perfect regime, I would have continued to be a critique of Erap as that is what the press general should be (to discomfit the comfortable), and we wouldn’t have a banana republic controlled by rogue generals Mendoza, Ebdane and Berroya to be deposed sooner or later by other aspiring generals.

My apologies to others in the military whom we know are principled but haven’t found to courage to act solely on those principles. The factions seeking money are more active, but never really consummate their promises. Some principled officers come out into the open stay but on the level of TV talk shows, not even joining the sacrifice of streets protestors. Alejandro “Ding” Lichauco has given up on them and returned to call for the duly elected president’s return, because it is only the people’s mandate and the Rule of Law that will give anyone the courage for action based on principle.

President Estrada has assiduously stuck to the Rule of Law in dealing with the injustice done to him. Once upon a time he rejected all courts under Gloria because there can indeed be no justice in courts all appointed by the corrupt Gloria. His lawyers have persuaded Estrada to play along with the Sandigangbayan, in the process demonstrate the paucity of the prosecution. "Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.", Henry David Thoreau said. So Estrada is in prison waiting for society to become just once again.

Nothing Cory Aquino and Edsa Dos can say or do can redress Gloria’s damage until they help the rest of us restore the just society –freeing and restoring the elected Erap in the process. Last Saturday there was a meeting of the Black and White, an apologetic Edsa Dos group now seeking an alternative to Gloria. One report said Noli did not get the endorsement, and a Drilon-led transition council endorsed to call a snap election; do they want us to forget the 120% win and almost eleven million votes of Estrada? Or do they want to cheat the voters again, and also have elections with Estrada’s hands and feet tied?

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