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Despite the series of protest rallies against
President Arroyo, there is no evident sign that she is caving in to
the calls for her resignation.
She is confident, if a little
imprudent, about retaining her post till her term expires in June
2010. “I am the president and no one else,” she declared after
hearing Mass at Malacañang last Feb. 25.
True, the interfaith rally last
Friday in Makati was the biggest since the ZTE national broadband
network scandal came to light. Former presidents Cory Aquino and
Joseph Estrada were there and spoke briefly.
But the rally lacked the critical
mass to make it truly representative of the Filipino people. Being
essentially a prayer rally, it lacked the presence of political
firebrands who could have whipped the multitude into a frenzy of
hate against Gloria and her regime. Its being relatively tame has
given comfort to PNP chief Avelino Razon.
There was great public
expectation that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) would come out with a strongly-worded statement when it met a
day before the Makati rally. Instead, it issued a mealy-mouthed
manifesto, studiously avoiding a call for the President to resign.
This has caused a feeling of dismay to the President’s detractors
but a sense of relief to GMA and her supporters.
The rise of student power against
the Arroyo administration was initially shocking. Students from
different major colleges and universities took to the streets,
shouting anti-GMA slogans. They embraced ZTE broadband star witness
Rodolfo Jun Lozada as their hero and hope for government change.
Other colleges and universities
in the provinces joined the students’ call for the President to
resign, but their crusade was far from being spirited and strident.
In due time, students could be
the new power even more effective and intimidating to bring about
change in government if only their leaders play their role to the
hilt. Their collective voice could be decisive and powerful. The
growth of student activism to its peak is worth watching.
The manifestations of outrage
against the Arroyo regime are lacking in steam and vigor to become
truly destabilizing.
The President was in worse
straits before, especially during the outbreak of the “Hello,
Garci” scandal when members of her Cabinet, called the “Hyatt
10,” resigned. At one point she was forced to say “I am sorry”
on national television. But she prevailed.
Today, her Cabinet members have
remained steadfast and loyal to her. She enjoys the solid support of
the House, local governments, the armed forces and the national
police. These have served as her moral crutches in times of
political crisis.
The truth is that the present
wave of anti-Gloria rallies lack the powerful elements that
characterized the EdSA 1 and EDSA 2 people power which resulted in
the respective fall of the strongman Ferdinand Marcos and Erap from
power.
American pressure played a part
in EDSA 1. During the crisis, Marcos received calls from American
officials to “cut and cut clean.”
In fact, he was picked up from
Malacañang by a US military helicopter with his understanding that
he was to be taken to his province of Ilocos Norte. He was instead
brought to the US where he died three years later.
The Philippine military also
contributed to the fall of Marcos when it broke loose from the chain
of command. Of course, we cannot discount the role of Jaime Cardinal
Sin in calling for the people’s support for the embattled defense
secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and vice chief of staff Fidel V. Ramos,
the key figures in the movement to oust Marcos.
What made EDSA 2 a success was
the decision of then AFP chief of staff Angelo Reyes to turn against
Erap and to support the people demanding the president to step down.
The resignation of Erap’s Cabinet officials and even PNP chief
Panfilo Lacson sealed his fate.
The present political crisis has
not yet reached a critical point to cause GMA some jitters. But the
moment she loses the support of the police and the military, she has
no recourse but to face the music.
Even then, Ms. Arroyo must be on
constant guard. We cannot really foretell the shape of future events
and underestimate the awesome potential of people power.
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