Vision and Action vs. Defeatism

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
12/12/2007



The significance of the Manila Peninsula stand off is summed up by General Danilo Lim: “Dissent without action is consent.” Senator Trillanes provided the action, i.e. the imagination, the men and the popular support which made it possible even if not culminating in what many people thought it could or should have become. A week after the incident it is clear the whole event was a success in favor of the effort of Senator Trillanes and Gen. Lim – it delivered the message about the crisis that beset the nation and the need for action, it established them as the men with the courage and will to act and these messages were delivered all across the nation and the world.

It does not matter that some claim the early suppression of the action had made the Gloria regimes appear strong, because in the days that have passed the conclusion of any analyst worth his salt will be: the entire security apparatus of the regime was caught unawares, it achieved the element of surprise – Esperon and Yano were out there in Mindanao, defense secretary Teodoro was in the boondocks of Zambales. As former military man now congressman, Roilo Golez opined in the Monday UNO meeting, “If they had any inkling they would never leave town, that’s SOP for the security forces.”

That is the final word on the question that settles many other speculations.

One of the speculations is that Esperon and company had allowed the Lim-Trillanes protest march and “last stand” to use as an excuse for a Palace coup, but their absence from the center of action now belies this. Not wanting to appear stupid Esperon claimed he had Lim and Trillanes under custody all throughout the march, but that creates a legal dilemma now for the prosecution against Lim and Trillanes since they did not violate anything then if this logic is to be followed. As the days pass and in the latest post-Manila Pen court hearing of Senator Trillanes, all the coverage is giving Trillanes the platform to express the many issues that otherwise would not be heard this loudly today.

The call of Lim and Trillanes, the overall message of the Manila Pen saga is change in the Philippines. There may have not been much detail in that general call by the two idealist leaders of the Philippine military institutions, but the details can be gleaned from the ideologues, intellectuals and academics they have sought to associate with and contained in the document Puno has been brandishing as “threatening”. As we described in our column, as gleaned from what Puno says that document is or is based on the “Program for a Viable Philippines” written at least two years ago and providing for a national economic and democratic political program of governance.

Senator Trillanes and General Lim must take this opportunity in their hands to project the message of social and political change, in light of the nation’s awakening to the failure of globalist “free trade” and “corporatist economics” of the past decades. I have incessantly provided the statistics showing the decline of the Philippines in comparison with countries even as lowly regarded in the past as Sir Lanka, Vietnam and Indonesia. Here’s more from Dennis Estopace from Business Mirror:

“… a recently released Asian Development Bank (ADB) study … showed the Philippines is still below the regional average of HK$20,432 per capita real gross domestic product (GDP).… Of 23 economies, the richest people are in Brunei ; Singapore; Macao ; Hong Kong ; and Taipei. Below the regional average are 11 economies that include the Philippines, with a per capita real GDP of HK$16,675… lower than Indonesia, HK$18,396 and Sri Lanka (HK$19,798)… ranked according to household living standards—measured by actual final consumption expenditure (AFCE) … the sum of individual consumption expenditures both by households and by government (principally education and health)… Sri Lanka has real AFCE of HK$17,464 while Indonesia has HK$14,970…. the Philippines was at HK$14,049 —Sri Lanka and Indonesia also left out the Philippines…

“… gross fixed-capital formation (GFCF) as another measurement, the ADB study noted that Sri Lanka spends more for its citizens at HK$3,352 each. … investment in residential and other buildings; roads, bridges, railways, electricity networks and the like; and purchases of machinery and equipment, the ADB said…. The Philippines lags behind Indonesia at a GFCF of HK$1,934 (P13,692.72 at HK$1=P7.08), investing only HK$546 in machinery and equipment and HK$1,431 in construction. Indonesia’s GFCF is at HK$3,161 while Sri Lanka’s is at HK$3,342. Sri Lanka’s investment in machinery and equipment is also higher than the Philippines at HK$872 and construction at HK$2,954…”

Gloria promised the Queen of England and King of Spain more “globalization”, dumping the welfare of the country. Do we consent to this? Shall we be defeated by this "atsay" of global royalty? Trillanes, Lim and the November 29 Movement, spinning off by force of public clamor from the November 29 “Family”, must raise the flag of vision for a new Philippines, lay out and declare its program for radical change and promise that with these the nation can and Shall Be Great Again! The people, the media, the entire country must help rekindle imagination, hope, courage and dynamism for change – otherwise this nation is doomed. Mabuhay Lim-Trillanes! Action Now!

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