People vs. corpo-RATS-ocracy

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
6/17/2005



If anyone thinks the GMA-Garci tapes is just a fight against the prevarications of GMA, he or she will be wrong. The moral depravity in the Garci-gate affair extends much, much farther than that – into the corporatocracy and various elements of the Catholic Church. While the nation’s eyes are fixed on the Sammy Ong drama the corporatocracy and vile Church elements are very active in formulating damage control to ensure GMA stays on. A few days ago International Finance Corporation agent Christian Monsod and Jesuit Joaquin Bernas says GMA’s lying is not impeachable.

Christian Monsod was, of course, Comelec chief under Cory Aquino who’s administration was installed by the international corporatocracy led by George Schultz and the Carlyle group which has FVR among its hatchet men. Before the Comelec Monsod has always been involved with multi-lateral financial institutions like the World Bank, today he sits in the Meralco board among others representing these multi-lateral interests. Joaquin Bernas is a so-called constitutional expert who legitimized the Edsa Dos violation of the Constitution because it “succeeded”, and the Jesuit order is now the recipient of largess from the corporatocracy.

The mainstream newspaper that carried the comments of Monsod and Bernas was the Inquirer, identifying them as “experts”. Although I am a layman I can see that the two “experts” are laying the predicates for exonerating GMA from a “culpable violation of the Constitution” and hoping that any impeachment proceeding will give only a rap on the knuckles. Only fools will swallow these two “experts” line because any high school student taught the Constitution knows that the Right to Suffrage is the foundation of our electoral democracy and it insulates the Comelec from political interference especially by an incumbent who can use the powers of the office.

We called up ex-congressman Digs Dilangalen said that these “experts” are obviously going to cover-up for the violations of GMA. Clearly, he said, there is “betrayal of public” trust in what GMA did talking to a sitting commissioner of the Comelec and the conversation of which clearly indicate the intention and actions to affect the outcome of elections in which GMA is a candidate. Monsod and Bernas says its just a question of “impropriety” and the former noted that Garcillano “was not even the commissioner in charge of Muslim Mindanao”, lame arguments to cover up such a huge crime.

While the nation is in turmoil over the election cheating that the GMA-Garci tapes now prove beyond doubt, profits of listed firms soar 51% with PLDT, Ayala, Globe leading in the first quarter. This increase in profit is obscene in these times when the country is in the throes of economic crisis. Please not that the companies “leading” in the obscene profits associated with Edsa Dos, and GMA exempted their telecom companies from VAT taxes on their windfall profits. VAT was instead imposed on power and fuel consumption and passed on to consumers. The corporatocracy gets away with murder of the people!

The direct involvement and financing of Edsa Dos by the corporatocracy is finally admitted by a major leader in that destabilization move against the administration of Joseph E. Estrada. Conrado de Quiros in his most recent column wrote:

“FIVE years ago, the country was crying out in pain and rage. The leaders of civil society were meeting right and left, culminating in the huge gathering on the Ateneo the Manila University campus on Oct. 29, 2000, dubbed Kompil II. It was organized by Code-NGO and Konsyensyang Pilipino [Filipino Conscience… In one rare occurrence, business actually put its money where its mouth was. It turned out its pockets to oppose Estrada. An activist would later tell me the money that went their way was enough to fund three rallies a week. But you could see it patently in the men and women wearing white T-shirts that proclaimed their outrage over Estrada and sporting hands that had not known a day's sweaty work distributing packed lunches to the "descamisados" [literally, unclothed] that had descended on Ayala Avenue in the Makati business district. I know because I was there.”

For this honest admission, I doff my cap to Conrad and can finally say that my respect for him has been restored. I was told that Randy David also recently showed over the ANC indignation over GMA’s election transgressions and made apparent “mea culpas”, if so I promise not to call him “hypocrito” anymore. If the intelligentsia that have sway over the middle class’s mind can now rise to the occasion then the day of national reconciliation based on truth and justice for the “masa” will not be faraway anymore. Then that’ll be the people united, versus the corporatocracy, the “corporate terrorists” as the CAP and PPI victims call them.

We are not against business, so long as they are real entrepreneurial efforts and not the gigantic “sweetheart deals” and financial speculations imposed by the multi-lateral financial institutions and international corporatocracy. For example, this year they boast of almost $ 2-B in hot money flows but Foreign Direct Investments plunged by 75%. They claim high GDP growth but unemployment is the highest in Asia at 12.8% (using the correct definition and not the new NEDA distortion intended to hide unemployment). Let’s revive real business and kick out the corpo-RATS-tocracy.

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