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The live Senate investigation of the anomalous
broadband deal continues to grab national attention. Last Tuesday
afternoon I didn’t want to miss the testimony of a witness so I
brought a pocket radio to school.
It so happened we were discussing
Oedipus Rex and the students readily saw parallels between the
doomed king’s quest for the truth behind the plague and the
Senate’s relentless search to ferret out details of corruption and
plunder in the cancelled ZTE deal. No similarities were drawn about
dramatis personae. No one would grant tragic stature to the
beleaguered president who is not keen on bringing truth to light. As
one student said, she was more of a pathetic character in a play.
As expected the Palace continues
to stonewall and deny any wrongdoing even as calls for her ouster
have escalated in the face of more damaging testimony and by now
universal public perception of the First Couple’s involvement in
the corrupt deal. “Communal action” as called for by the
Catholic bishops has taken new forms of “people power” besides
street demonstrations and mammoth rallies like the one this Friday.
For now the Catholic bishops conference would rather that the
incumbent withdraw EO 464 and enable government witnesses to attend
Senate hearings, and institute honest-to-goodness reforms. By way of
“rehabilitating” the presidency until 2010—a possible graceful
exit.
At least two retired generals
acknowledge widespread unrest in the ranks of the military who are
said to be just waiting for a tipping point or a critical mass for
them to withdraw support for the commander-in-chief or intervene
politically with the help of a civilian group. When that happens,
with a divided armed forces, the country shall have entered a
volatile stage where anything can happen, including a civil
war.
Hence, the incumbent who no
longer has the moral authority and support of the people has the
option provided by the CBCP, or will consider relinquishing her post
and give way to her constitutional successor who must institute
electoral reforms for honest elections in 2010. By no means
should snap elections be held unless there is a credible
Comelec. Otherwise we are back to the “evil” ways.
If traditional or patronage
politics prevail under the caretaker government, with electoral and
institutional reforms blocked at every turn, then the prospects for
social change beyond 2010 are dim indeed.
Here is where a
reinvigorated “People Power” can play a role, by ensuring that
elected officials are held to account, that government and
institutions serve the interests of the masses, that basic freedoms
and civil liberties are preserved, and that social justice and
national sovereignty are paramount. Idealistic military officers who
have become part of People Power should uphold professionalism in
the armed forces and keep the military subordinate to duly
constituted civilian authority.
On the other hand, the task
of changing the feudal and oligarchic social relations in what one
disaffected group calls a dysfunctional society is long-term.
It will require among others genuine land reform, nationalist
industrialization and entrepreneurship along with mass-oriented
education and political reforms like enabling full grassroots
participation in the political and economic life of the nation.
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