Shall we now learn?

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/4/2007



I went along with the 2007 senatorial elections because there was no choice; many still hang on to the hope that elections as it is today can bring real change to Filipino society. I expected from the majority of the opposition senators what we are seeing now: horsetrading instead of immediate action to alleviate the growing hardships of the country, and “balimbingan blues” to set the tune of the most popular dance in the Congress. Despite this I still hope it was not a mistake to let it happen, for as intellectual John Powell said: “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”

We see Villar taking the helms of the Senate with mixed bi-partisan support but clinched with votes of Glroia’s senators. What will Villar do with his Senate presidency? Will he do anything for the public good? Even before the Senate presidential gavel hits it first call to session Villar is already maneuvering to ensure that the least effective moves for unearthing truth in the venalities of the Gloria administration is instituted – by assigning the Blue Ribbon Committee to the political fraudster Mr. Noted. A most valuable chance to expose Gloria, Joker Arroyo and company will be lost.

Villar as Senate president is history’s mistake repeated. The Senate presidency could be a powerful force for change and betterment of the country, but under Villar we cannot expect a performance different from what he did when he was House speaker. Remember his fast break of Erap’s impeachment that hurled the country inexorably into chaos and institutional breakdown? That plunged the Philippines into the seven-year (so far) Gloria gloom and brought out the ogres of political killings, monumental corruption scandals – all because of Villar’s selfish and poor judgment in Estrada’s case.

The basis of all of Villar’s political actions is selfishness and poor judgment –it has never been the principle of the popular good. Of course, it will e said that President Estrada himself had forgiven Villar and taken him into his confidence, supported Villar’s candidacy with his endorsement that for sure added the loyal Estrada voters to Villar total number of votes. That only proves that Estrada has a big heart for those who sinned against him; it doesn’t prove that Villar is a sensible leadership choice for the country. Villar’s history is the best proof of his perfidy to the general good.

Villar is getting the vote of Alan Cayetano and Chiz Escudero who’ve struck up the deal with Villar to get the finest committee chairmanships and/or gotten the marching orders from their real boss Danding Cojuangco who’s Gloria’s behind-the-scenes partner the past seven years of mayhem in the country while his corporate interest grew and grew with Gloria’s concessions. I have praised a few aspects of Danding entrepreneurship, but all that is wiped out by his collaboration with the most corrupt Philippine regime ever – which he now chooses to defend with his nephew at the helms of Gloria’s DND.

If Villar has started his campaign for the 2010 presidential elections, I start my anti-Villar campaign too. In the coming months we will revisit allegations of Villar’s fiddling with the government’s housing financing and the SPAV (of debt-buyback at gargantuan discounts) that cost billions of the people’s money. He should have stayed a big businessman and not pretended to aspire to public service because he is morally unfit to the latter. We are classifying Villar with another 2010 office seeker we will campaign against early – Mar Roxas; both fund sharks and not servants to the nation that we need.

This column has never hedged, always un-vascillating and un-equivocating – so the public can have political analysis based on clear study and firm conviction, to separate it from the chaff. It is often quite advanced in processing of events that it is often misunderstood, like our position against Edsa Dos in 2001 and predictions of doom stemming from it that estranged friends who thought us queer or treacherous – but now they are on our side. What’s the point here? It’s all about studying and learning, and stating the lessons clearly before mistakes are repeated.

Our faith in Trillanes is a case in point, and we see far more achievements from this straight-shooting senator and his Magdalo group. It isn’t that we foresaw his victory, nobody could have predicted that (although several people came up to us and predicted it based on Feng Shui readings coming all the way from Taiwan); it is the recognition of a truly deserving individual and group who have all the right qualities of integrity, intellectual perspicacity and commitment to the welfare of the nation that demands our whole-hearted support and sacrifice.

Trillanes became the fruit of the people’s hard earned wisdom. A young, honest man, with a track record of service and ultimate sacrifice, elected to office without money, without mobility and with only the people’s support. That’s the ideal national leader, and fortunately he is not of age for the 2010 so his actions today cannot be colored with political ambition. Unfortunately, there is no one like him for 2010. If there’s a lesson from our past it is with the present presidentiables on the scene, the 2010 elections will be meaningless again. Aside from lessons, we need surprises.

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