The PMP must now lead

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
9/21/2005



The day this issue comes out will be the umpteenth anniversary of Marcos’ Martial Law, and a rally at Makati of a kaleidoscope of anti-GMA forces. The dominant message will be GMA’s undeclared martial law, and various anti-Marcos groups will associate this with what they call the “dark days” of Marcos. The truth is there is, no comparison; Marcos’ martial law tried to reorganize society against the models of the rightists and leftists; Gloria has embraced the rightists completely. The country needs to return to the popular center, and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino is poised to achieve this.

Marcos attempted to establish food, industrial and energy supply and production programs for a self-reliant and self-sustaining independent nation. The validity of Marcos’ propositions are vindicated in light of the bitter historical experience from Cory Aquino’s reversal of policies that have resulted in the devastation of the national economy, drastically diminished our food, industrial and energy independence. In other words, Marcos looks good now after Cory showed how bad for the people her governance was. If not for the anti-Gloria message riding on the rally there might not be much enthusiasm for it.

Cory will be marching in harmony with the angry tone of the Left, i.e. the NDF, about martial law day; but there will be contradictions between the two, too, like the Luisita murders attributed to the Aquino-Cojuangco family. These tactical alliances are difficult to rationalize, but they are deemed necessary for those participating. I am not in total agreement with the wisdom of such alliances, they can confuse instead of help sharpen the issues against Gloria; but am able to appreciate the temporary and propaganda value of such alliances. Cory Aquino’s leap into the anti-Gloria bandwagon enhanced the anti-Gloria sentiment.

Is Cory really anti-GMA? Or she’s helping obfuscate the situation. Some says ambitious Drilon and Hyatt 10’s, seeing how fatally wounded Gloria is already; prodded her; another is that she and her cabal feared the genuine political opposition symbolized by Estrada and Susan Roces may monopolize the groundswell of anti-GMA sentiment after the jueteng and “Hello, Garci” scandals. I believe it was a mix of both.

Susan Roces is also at the forefront of the groups that’s leading the rally on September 21, and with her the Estrada and Edsa Tres forces. I am with these forces and, honestly, it is not a comfortable fit for many of us in this flank to be joining a September 21 rally that smacks of anti-Marcos undercurrents and elbow-brushing with the “civil society”. I have grown to accept Marcos as a good, if not perfect leader; there are, however, recruits to be gained from among the “civil society” who may have learned the truth through the revelations of the past four years.

Cory, Ramos and GMA who are all children of the Edsa I “revolution” reversed policies of Marcos with grievous effects. The most notable among many is the reurn of Meralco to the Lopezes who have posthaste used it to rebuild an empire of public plunder through BOT projects using sovereign guarantees. Today, the Lopezes are wreaking havoc on our daily lives: Meralco is incessantly increasing rates using devious trickery and corruption, likewise at the NLEX andMaynilad, ad nausea. I am using here the Lopezes as archetype of the oligarchs, for the Ayalas, Aboitizes, Sobrepenas, and Gloria’s foreign Board of Economic Advisers who’re plundering the country today.

There are countless comparisons: Marcos’ LRT was owned and run by government; Cory, Ramos and GMA privatized things – like the MRT 3 which FVR provided sovereign guarantees and now GMA wants to shell out $ 600-M to return to government to the immense profit of Sobrepeñas and company. I do not recall Marcos as taxing the people to death, and there were a lot of public services and roads anyway. From Cory down to GMA VAT taxes have been doubling, but services and roads are dwindling. Are we better off? - Marcos topped the “best president” survey of Pulse Asia, and Gloria the worse of all.

This year’s September 21 celebration focal point should be GMA, what the nation now thinks of as the worse and most evil. Seems that almost everyone now agrees about this, although for four years only the Edsa Tres and Estrada people knew this and kept pointing it out. The plain truth is that Gloria’s corruption and depravity was exposed single-handedly by the Estrada and Edsa Tres forces. Now everybody wants to hog center stage. Let them, for it signals the total victory of the Estrada forces’ truth which it steadfastly maintained through the dark night.

Now it’s time for Edsa Tres forces to move one step forward, prepare to restore government back to the people and the nation to recovery and progress. Its leader has set the direction and adopted a plan, the Blueprint for a Viable Philippines. The concept of a “care taker” government to clean up has also been laid down. What is necessary now is a vehicle to get this political program implemented, just as PAP and the UMNO in Singapore and Malaysia are respectively. The PMP, Partido ng Masang Pilipino, signaled its re-invigoration with its September 20, 2005 conference with 200 leaders attending. Watch it rise and the singular opposition leader in the next few months.

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