Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Snake's Gambit
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales goes to town peddling the idea that the solution to the current political crisis is through a military-backed transition government.
The transition government, according to Gonzales, will be represented by a Council of State that shall include President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, representatives from the two houses of Congress, the judiciary (namely, Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno), the Church (the CBCP or some Catholic bishops), and the military (headed by General Victor Ibrado). Gonzales also wanted to involve representatives from the civil society and the political groups in the country.
Gonzales likened this transition government to the “revolutionary government” established by former President Corazon Aquino immediately after the 1986 people’s power uprising. But my view is that Gonzales’ transition government is nowhere near what Cory established in 1986. Reading the updated edition of Criselda Yabes’ groundbreaking book The Boys from the Barracks (now available again at several bookshops), I say it could be likened to the Council for National Reconciliation, a council of state that was supposed to replace Marcos in the event of a successful coup d’etat engineered at that time by then Secretary of Defense Johnny Enrile and the RAM forces.
As envisioned, the Council for National Reconciliation would be composed of Enrile, Fidel Ramos, Cory Aquino, Salvador Laurel, Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, businessman Jaime Ongpin, and diplomat Alejandro Melchor. The Council did not materialize. Instead, Cory Aquino took power and declared a “revolutionary government” all by her lonesome.
Gonzales’ Council of State
The idea behind Gonzales’ Council of State is to bring together all the bickering political groups towards a non-violent transition of the tottering state machinery. Gonzales stresses the “revolutionary character” of the Council in so far as it will aim to do away with the constitutional impediments in the latest attempt to amend the Constitution and introduce “electoral reforms”. Gonzales’ transition government is designed to ensure Charter change through the continuation of the Con-Ass or the establishment of a handpicked constitutional commission under a cloud of emergency rule.
It was reported that Gonzales’ timetable for the imposition of the transition government would be anytime between August and September, or a few weeks before the filing of candidacy for the 2010 elections. Come November, the political climate will have to veer away from any extra-constitutional scheming and focus on the campaigns and the elections.
Gonzales raves about the transition government as the political elixir to the bickering between the two houses of Congress, to the intermittent power-grab plotting among factions of the ruling classes, and to Gloria’s desperate attempt to hold on to power at the expense of destabilizing the entire political system. With a council of state that includes almost all of the political players that matter today, Gonzales assures everyone that the transition period will be stable and smooth-sailing compared to any other initiatives pursued by various contending forces.
This is probably the “selling point” that got some Catholic bishops agreeing to the idea of a transition government. For them, it could be another form of getting rid of GMA. GMA will be in the transition government only as an “unwilling accomplice” or crudely put, a captive by all the other forces surrounding her in the so-called council of state.
Gonzales himself explained that the plot will involve several steps intended to unify the motley forces that will compose the transition council. First, an agreement with the bishops; next, with Chief Justice Reynato Puno; then, with the military; the civil society; etc.; and finally with GMA herself.
Who is Gonzales representing?
There are a number of issues that need to be clarified in the Gonzales’ proposal:
First, has this proposal got a backing from GMA? If it has, then what would that make of those people who have agreed to the council of state set-up, such as CJ Puno as reported by Newsbreak (see newsbreak.com.ph) or from what we heard, those supposedly anti-GMA bishops? Could GMA charge them later on as part of “conspirators” trying to grab power from her administration?
Second, for the transition government to be proclaimed, it will mean that the normal constitutional avenues for change have failed, so that the only recourse will be through extra-constitutional exercise. If the transition government is not a product of a people’s uprising (ala-Edsa), then it can only be imposed through emergency rule or a coup d’etat.
So what does it mean? That Gonzales is doing a double agent’s job? He’s working for the Queen, but his overture with the anti-GMA opposition looks like he is bent to checkmate the Queen. But in Gonzales’ scheme of things, the Queen will still rule. Does this mean just an attempt to flush out all probable contenders to the throne? Is it the Queen’s gambit then?
But knowing Gonzales, or how he has managed to put himself in the center of all this plotting, it is more correct to say this is a Snake’s gambit than anything else. #
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Diabolical August Moon
August 6 is the calendar day when there’s going to be a full moon. It is also the day that marks the imposition of emergency rule, according to Oplan August Moon, a plan that is rumored to be the handiwork of “hawks and ideologues” within the Arroyo government upon the order of President GMA herself.
The plan is to position military generals friendly to GMA in a self-coup that would bolster the administration’s bid to amend the Constitution before the end of the year, or before the 2010 elections. The charter change is ultimately designed to extend GMA’s stay in power either as a “transition president” or the first prime minister under a parliamentary government.
Major details of Oplan August Moon have been circulating in the Internet in the past few days. [For full disclosure of Oplan August Moon, see attached an e-mail that was passed on to my address.]
PNP Director General Jesus Versoza and other government officials have laughed off the plan as preposterous and a creation of some opposition “propagandists”.
But what makes Oplan August Moon believable to many has been the sequence of events that preceded the leaking out of the plot, and more so, the wave of bombings that are happening today which have been predicted in the plan.
‘Revolutionary’ transitory government
A week before Oplan August Moon was leaked to the media, GMA’s national security adviser Norberto Gonzales floated the idea of declaring a revolutionary “transitory government” composed of the leadership of the two houses of Congress, the judiciary, and the Church. It will be a collective leadership under the helm of GMA herself. Virtually, it is an extension of GMA’s presidency.
According to Gonzales, the transition government will amend the Constitution and put in electoral reforms before the 2010 elections. The transition government is ‘revolutionary’ in the sense that it will have to dispense with any Constitutional impediments related to Cha-cha and the prerogatives of the president.
The Gonzales’ proposal is clearly a ‘palace coup’ in line with the Oplan August Moon. The plan can be seen as the implementation of the proposal, with a clear military’s role as back up to the ‘transitory government’.
Now, the bombings
Oplan August Moon also indicates the intensification of an environment of chaos and confusion leading to the declaration of emergency rule. The scenario involves “bombings, assassinations of key government officials and members of the media”. These operations will be blamed to the Jemaah Islamiyah or the Al-Qaeda members who were reported earlier on by the media as being in the country already.
As of today, there has been a wave of bombings in Mindanao, beginning with a Sunday blast outside the Cotabato cathedral which claimed the lives of six persons. On Tuesday, three more bomb attacks occurred in various parts of Mindanao – an explosion hit Jolo and Iligan City, killing two more people and injuring scores of others. The bombings have not only hit Mindanao. A bomb was detonated near the Ombudsman building, and another one was found near the Department of Agriculture.
At first, the military pointed to the rogue elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as perpetrators under a supposed “grand plan” to sow terror in Mindanao. The MILF has quickly denied the charges. As of today, the military and police forces have declared red alert in Metro Manila. The chief of military’s NCR command, Maj. Gen. Leo Fojas, now declares that the bombings were undertaken by a “terror group” composed of three to four members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, a rogue unit in the MILF, and the Jemaah Islamiyah of the global Al-Qaeda network.
A few days after the Cotabato bombing, former ISAFP member and whistle-blower Vidal Doble declared that only the government could be behind the bombing.
Insiders’ expose
Oplan August Moon and the diabolical plan to impose emergency rule in the country have fanned deep divisions among factions of the ruling elite.
Former House speaker Jose de Venecia condemned the bombings as part of an administration plot to impose emergency rule, or martial law, as envisioned in Oplan August Moon. De Venecia even exposed that during the Manila Peninsula hotel siege in 2007, GMA had almost declared martial law. “If she nearly did it once, she could do it now,” the ousted speaker lamented.
Prior to de Venecia’s bombshells, former senate president Franklin Drilon has also linked up the bombings to GMA’s plan to impose emergency rule. If these people, who were formerly part of the inner circle of the Arroyo administration, are now warning the people of the plot to impose emergency rule, then Oplan August Moon seems to have been already put in place.
People’s vigilance
The Inquirer editorial today sums up the sinister situation developing today. While the government seems to be whipping up paranoia to justify martial rule, it is a virtue for the public to also act paranoid. Not to fall into the trap of the government’s line, but to understand that there are indeed many enemies of our democracy, starting from the snakes and vultures at the Malacanang palace itself. The Inquirer said, “They exist, and are waiting only for the people’s vigilance to weaken.”
The plan is to position military generals friendly to GMA in a self-coup that would bolster the administration’s bid to amend the Constitution before the end of the year, or before the 2010 elections. The charter change is ultimately designed to extend GMA’s stay in power either as a “transition president” or the first prime minister under a parliamentary government.
Major details of Oplan August Moon have been circulating in the Internet in the past few days. [For full disclosure of Oplan August Moon, see attached an e-mail that was passed on to my address.]
PNP Director General Jesus Versoza and other government officials have laughed off the plan as preposterous and a creation of some opposition “propagandists”.
But what makes Oplan August Moon believable to many has been the sequence of events that preceded the leaking out of the plot, and more so, the wave of bombings that are happening today which have been predicted in the plan.
‘Revolutionary’ transitory government
A week before Oplan August Moon was leaked to the media, GMA’s national security adviser Norberto Gonzales floated the idea of declaring a revolutionary “transitory government” composed of the leadership of the two houses of Congress, the judiciary, and the Church. It will be a collective leadership under the helm of GMA herself. Virtually, it is an extension of GMA’s presidency.
According to Gonzales, the transition government will amend the Constitution and put in electoral reforms before the 2010 elections. The transition government is ‘revolutionary’ in the sense that it will have to dispense with any Constitutional impediments related to Cha-cha and the prerogatives of the president.
The Gonzales’ proposal is clearly a ‘palace coup’ in line with the Oplan August Moon. The plan can be seen as the implementation of the proposal, with a clear military’s role as back up to the ‘transitory government’.
Now, the bombings
Oplan August Moon also indicates the intensification of an environment of chaos and confusion leading to the declaration of emergency rule. The scenario involves “bombings, assassinations of key government officials and members of the media”. These operations will be blamed to the Jemaah Islamiyah or the Al-Qaeda members who were reported earlier on by the media as being in the country already.
As of today, there has been a wave of bombings in Mindanao, beginning with a Sunday blast outside the Cotabato cathedral which claimed the lives of six persons. On Tuesday, three more bomb attacks occurred in various parts of Mindanao – an explosion hit Jolo and Iligan City, killing two more people and injuring scores of others. The bombings have not only hit Mindanao. A bomb was detonated near the Ombudsman building, and another one was found near the Department of Agriculture.
At first, the military pointed to the rogue elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as perpetrators under a supposed “grand plan” to sow terror in Mindanao. The MILF has quickly denied the charges. As of today, the military and police forces have declared red alert in Metro Manila. The chief of military’s NCR command, Maj. Gen. Leo Fojas, now declares that the bombings were undertaken by a “terror group” composed of three to four members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, a rogue unit in the MILF, and the Jemaah Islamiyah of the global Al-Qaeda network.
A few days after the Cotabato bombing, former ISAFP member and whistle-blower Vidal Doble declared that only the government could be behind the bombing.
Insiders’ expose
Oplan August Moon and the diabolical plan to impose emergency rule in the country have fanned deep divisions among factions of the ruling elite.
Former House speaker Jose de Venecia condemned the bombings as part of an administration plot to impose emergency rule, or martial law, as envisioned in Oplan August Moon. De Venecia even exposed that during the Manila Peninsula hotel siege in 2007, GMA had almost declared martial law. “If she nearly did it once, she could do it now,” the ousted speaker lamented.
Prior to de Venecia’s bombshells, former senate president Franklin Drilon has also linked up the bombings to GMA’s plan to impose emergency rule. If these people, who were formerly part of the inner circle of the Arroyo administration, are now warning the people of the plot to impose emergency rule, then Oplan August Moon seems to have been already put in place.
People’s vigilance
The Inquirer editorial today sums up the sinister situation developing today. While the government seems to be whipping up paranoia to justify martial rule, it is a virtue for the public to also act paranoid. Not to fall into the trap of the government’s line, but to understand that there are indeed many enemies of our democracy, starting from the snakes and vultures at the Malacanang palace itself. The Inquirer said, “They exist, and are waiting only for the people’s vigilance to weaken.”
Attachment re Oplan August Moon
“Oplan August Moon ( Hope to write some of my thoughts on this in days to come...)
Posted by Patricio Mangubat on Monday, June 29, 2009
Brace yourself my friends for a tumultuous July. Some months ago, I've wrote an entry about the plan of hawks and ideologues within the Arroyo administration to create scenarios to implement Operation August Moon. This self-coup will happen the week after the SONA, on August 6, 2009. One of the indicators, say a source who requested anonymity, is the expected failure of the poll automation bidding.
" Pat, the plan involves compromising the automated bidding altogether, " says a friend privy to the plan. " Imagine, what was the reason why they approved of Smartmatic-TIM (the company that won the COMELEC's bid for election automation in the Philippines) when they know for a fact, that the only capability of the group is face value of Cezar Quiambao and Ernest Villareal. That's all. The so-called consortium which was backed legally by one of Comelec chairman's closest relative was never in existence. They just used the group to get the bidding and eventually the plan was really to mess things up. That would surely create unrest especially to the De Villa group who is pushing for automation of the elections."
COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo said in an Inquirer interview that they don't want to negotiate with a "ghost". Well, I don't know about Melo, but I am totally surprised with Atty. Rafanan. Why did Rafanan failed to even check the credentials of Smartmatic-TIM before they even allowed them to take part in the bidding? Is it elementary for a member of the bar to do that?
This failure of the Comelec just shows that the entire thing was a setup, a design to really sabotage the bidding and compromise the elections in May 2010.
The plan also involves the heightening of tensions between rebel groups and the military in Mindanao since most generals distrust Southcom Brig. General Juancho Sabban. They want to keep Sabban busy in Mindanao so that he'll have his hands full while they orchestrate their moves in Metro Manila (a bomb exploded in the Ombudsman building and the discovery of another bomb in the Department of Agriculture building?).
Sabban is the youngest member of Class 1978 yet he reportedly does not share his mistahs' dogged allegiance to Mrs. Arroyo. He was formerly a member of RAM (Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabansa). Yet, says deeper sources in the military, he'll take extreme action once other members of his class went ahead with Arroyo's plan.
Moves were to create an environment of chaos and confusion, with reports of bombings, assasinations of key government officials and members of the media. These black operations will be blamed to so-called JI or Al-qaeda members who, a week ago, was reportedly in the country already. News about their existence were floated to the media to be used later on by the government in the blame game.
A move against Lacson accuser former police official Cezar Mancao is reportedly also in the pipeline. The source refused to say what would happen to Mancao.
This early, talks that PMA Class 1976 of which the present AFP Chief of Staff General Ibrado belongs to and PMA Class 1978 were already at logger heads. Army Chief Lt. General Delfin Bangit is reportedly filling up sensitive posts without the knowledge of Ibrado.
Bear in mind that all sensitive positions right now in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are occupied by members of Class 1978. The Air Force is headed by Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena. The entire NCRPO which has, under its disposal, the anti-coup task force, is headed by Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales while the head of the Manila Police District which provides external security of Malacanang right now is headed by Director Rodolfo Magtibay.
Members of Class 1976 occupy the Central Command (Lt. Gen.. Isagani Cachuela), the Navy (Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez) and the Marines (Major Gen. Ben Mohammad Dolorfino). The AFP leadership is also being occupied by a PMA class 1976 member (Ibrado) and the PNP (Director General Jesus Verzosa).
The critical commands (Army and Air Force) are under the command of members of PMA Class 1978 while those with minimal numbers (the Marines and the Navy) were entrusted to PMA Class 1976.
Sources say Mrs. Arroyo's group will ease Ibrado out prior to the 2010 elections. They will use as a pretext this August 6 affair. Members of Class 1978 will move decisively ten days after July 27.
The plan is expected to take place on August 6, 2009, a full ten days after the SONA (SONA is slated on July 27, the Monday of the fourth week of July).
A state of martial rule will be imposed for six months, while members of Arroyo's devilish clan tinker with the Constitution. Parliamentary elections are slated on May 2010.
Other members of Class 1978 involved in this plan:
In GHQ, Camp Aguinaldo:
J2 (Inteligence) – Rear Adm. Victor Martir (PN – Philippine Navy)
Deputy J2 – Commodore EfrenTedor (PN)
J3 (Operations) - Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza (PA – Philippine Army)
J6 (Commel) – Maj. Gen.. Jonathan Martir (PM – Philippine Marines)
J7 (Civil-Military Relations) – Maj. Gen. Sealana (PA)
DND-BAC Chairman – Brig. Gen. Gregorio Paduganan (PAF – Philippine Air Force)
Chief of Engineers – Maj. Gen. Rudyval Cabading (PA)
ISAFP – Maj. Gen. Romeo Prestoza (PAF)
Presidential Security Group – Brig. Gen. Celedonio Boquiren (PAF)
In the Army, six out of 10 infantry divisions are under the control of the Class of ’78 members, namely:
Lt. Gen.. Delfin Bangit – Commanding General of the Philippine Army
Maj. Gen. Roland Detabali – CG, Southern Luzon Command
Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustecteca – CG, 1st Infantry Division (Zamboanga del Norte)
Brig. Gen Florante Martinez – OIC, 2nd Infantry Division (Tanay, Rizal)
Maj. Gen. Vic Porto – CG, 3rd Infantry Division (Panay Island)
Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva – CG, 7th Infantry Division (Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija)
Maj. Gen. Manuel Tabaquero – CG, 8th Infantry Division (Catbalogan, Samar)
Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu – CG, 10th Infantry Division (Caraga Region)
In the Air Force, there is Maj.. Gen. Oscar Rabena as Commanding General, and Brig. Gen Jesus Fajardo – CG, 710th Special Operations Wing as well as Col. Carlix Donila – Commander, 530th Air Base Wing (Zamboanga).
And in the Navy, the chief of the Naval Staff, Commodore Feliciano Angue, as well as heading the most strategically- located naval station in Cavite is Commodore Nestor Los Banes.
So now the game of the generals are on! Who'll be check mated in the end?
Now that I already revealed their plan in public, what now? Will they proceed with zero hour or not?
The best strategy against this devilish plan is expose them in public. I already did my part. How about the thousands of Patriots out there? Will you do yours?”
Posted by Patricio Mangubat on Monday, June 29, 2009
Brace yourself my friends for a tumultuous July. Some months ago, I've wrote an entry about the plan of hawks and ideologues within the Arroyo administration to create scenarios to implement Operation August Moon. This self-coup will happen the week after the SONA, on August 6, 2009. One of the indicators, say a source who requested anonymity, is the expected failure of the poll automation bidding.
" Pat, the plan involves compromising the automated bidding altogether, " says a friend privy to the plan. " Imagine, what was the reason why they approved of Smartmatic-TIM (the company that won the COMELEC's bid for election automation in the Philippines) when they know for a fact, that the only capability of the group is face value of Cezar Quiambao and Ernest Villareal. That's all. The so-called consortium which was backed legally by one of Comelec chairman's closest relative was never in existence. They just used the group to get the bidding and eventually the plan was really to mess things up. That would surely create unrest especially to the De Villa group who is pushing for automation of the elections."
COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo said in an Inquirer interview that they don't want to negotiate with a "ghost". Well, I don't know about Melo, but I am totally surprised with Atty. Rafanan. Why did Rafanan failed to even check the credentials of Smartmatic-TIM before they even allowed them to take part in the bidding? Is it elementary for a member of the bar to do that?
This failure of the Comelec just shows that the entire thing was a setup, a design to really sabotage the bidding and compromise the elections in May 2010.
The plan also involves the heightening of tensions between rebel groups and the military in Mindanao since most generals distrust Southcom Brig. General Juancho Sabban. They want to keep Sabban busy in Mindanao so that he'll have his hands full while they orchestrate their moves in Metro Manila (a bomb exploded in the Ombudsman building and the discovery of another bomb in the Department of Agriculture building?).
Sabban is the youngest member of Class 1978 yet he reportedly does not share his mistahs' dogged allegiance to Mrs. Arroyo. He was formerly a member of RAM (Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabansa). Yet, says deeper sources in the military, he'll take extreme action once other members of his class went ahead with Arroyo's plan.
Moves were to create an environment of chaos and confusion, with reports of bombings, assasinations of key government officials and members of the media. These black operations will be blamed to so-called JI or Al-qaeda members who, a week ago, was reportedly in the country already. News about their existence were floated to the media to be used later on by the government in the blame game.
A move against Lacson accuser former police official Cezar Mancao is reportedly also in the pipeline. The source refused to say what would happen to Mancao.
This early, talks that PMA Class 1976 of which the present AFP Chief of Staff General Ibrado belongs to and PMA Class 1978 were already at logger heads. Army Chief Lt. General Delfin Bangit is reportedly filling up sensitive posts without the knowledge of Ibrado.
Bear in mind that all sensitive positions right now in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are occupied by members of Class 1978. The Air Force is headed by Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena. The entire NCRPO which has, under its disposal, the anti-coup task force, is headed by Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales while the head of the Manila Police District which provides external security of Malacanang right now is headed by Director Rodolfo Magtibay.
Members of Class 1976 occupy the Central Command (Lt. Gen.. Isagani Cachuela), the Navy (Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez) and the Marines (Major Gen. Ben Mohammad Dolorfino). The AFP leadership is also being occupied by a PMA class 1976 member (Ibrado) and the PNP (Director General Jesus Verzosa).
The critical commands (Army and Air Force) are under the command of members of PMA Class 1978 while those with minimal numbers (the Marines and the Navy) were entrusted to PMA Class 1976.
Sources say Mrs. Arroyo's group will ease Ibrado out prior to the 2010 elections. They will use as a pretext this August 6 affair. Members of Class 1978 will move decisively ten days after July 27.
The plan is expected to take place on August 6, 2009, a full ten days after the SONA (SONA is slated on July 27, the Monday of the fourth week of July).
A state of martial rule will be imposed for six months, while members of Arroyo's devilish clan tinker with the Constitution. Parliamentary elections are slated on May 2010.
Other members of Class 1978 involved in this plan:
In GHQ, Camp Aguinaldo:
J2 (Inteligence) – Rear Adm. Victor Martir (PN – Philippine Navy)
Deputy J2 – Commodore EfrenTedor (PN)
J3 (Operations) - Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza (PA – Philippine Army)
J6 (Commel) – Maj. Gen.. Jonathan Martir (PM – Philippine Marines)
J7 (Civil-Military Relations) – Maj. Gen. Sealana (PA)
DND-BAC Chairman – Brig. Gen. Gregorio Paduganan (PAF – Philippine Air Force)
Chief of Engineers – Maj. Gen. Rudyval Cabading (PA)
ISAFP – Maj. Gen. Romeo Prestoza (PAF)
Presidential Security Group – Brig. Gen. Celedonio Boquiren (PAF)
In the Army, six out of 10 infantry divisions are under the control of the Class of ’78 members, namely:
Lt. Gen.. Delfin Bangit – Commanding General of the Philippine Army
Maj. Gen. Roland Detabali – CG, Southern Luzon Command
Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustecteca – CG, 1st Infantry Division (Zamboanga del Norte)
Brig. Gen Florante Martinez – OIC, 2nd Infantry Division (Tanay, Rizal)
Maj. Gen. Vic Porto – CG, 3rd Infantry Division (Panay Island)
Maj. Gen. Ralph Villanueva – CG, 7th Infantry Division (Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija)
Maj. Gen. Manuel Tabaquero – CG, 8th Infantry Division (Catbalogan, Samar)
Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu – CG, 10th Infantry Division (Caraga Region)
In the Air Force, there is Maj.. Gen. Oscar Rabena as Commanding General, and Brig. Gen Jesus Fajardo – CG, 710th Special Operations Wing as well as Col. Carlix Donila – Commander, 530th Air Base Wing (Zamboanga).
And in the Navy, the chief of the Naval Staff, Commodore Feliciano Angue, as well as heading the most strategically- located naval station in Cavite is Commodore Nestor Los Banes.
So now the game of the generals are on! Who'll be check mated in the end?
Now that I already revealed their plan in public, what now? Will they proceed with zero hour or not?
The best strategy against this devilish plan is expose them in public. I already did my part. How about the thousands of Patriots out there? Will you do yours?”
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Soliman Scenarios
In an e-mail message circulated by former Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, she enumerated a number of distinct scenarios that could unfold after the passage of HR 1109 by the House of Representatives. The listing down of the scenarios was an attempt by various NGOs and people’s organizations to strategize and to prepare in advance for any eventuality related to President GMA’s scheme to extend her rule. The scenarios, according to Soliman, were discussed during a meeting of various NGOs and people’s organizations opposed to the Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
Scenario 1: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. It sets the rules and proceeds to amend the constitution. A case is brought to the Supreme Court against the convening of Con-Ass. The SC decides that the Con-Ass, even without Senate approval, is valid. The plebiscite affirms a yes victory and May 2010 election is held for a parliamentary form of government. GMA runs on a district in Pampanga, she wins, and eventually becomes the first prime minister of the country.
Scenario 2: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. A case is filed in the Supreme Court and the SC declares that the Con-Ass is unconstitutional. The May 2010 presidential election goes unimpeded.
Scenario 3: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. There was rebellious outrage from the masses. Malacañang organizes ‘violent incidents’ to justify clampdown. GMA imposes emergency rule.
Scenario 4: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. A case is filed in the Supreme Court. The SC could not decide on time. The May 2010 elections continue. GMA runs for Congress in Pampanga and wins. Under a new president allied to GMA, Con-Ass continues and the SC finally affirms it. The Congress is converted into a unicameral body and GMA is elected as prime minister.
In these four scenarios, only Scenario 2 (the unimpeded May 10, 2010 elections) is considered in the Soliman email as the only one favorable for the citizenry. Scenarios 1, 3 and 4 are not desirable as they all point to GMA’s usurpation of power and extended rule either as prime minister (Scenario 1, 4) or dictator (Scenario 3).
If one’s framework of analysis is based on the mere continuation of regular elections, i.e., the usual elections dominated by different factions of trapo parties and individuals vying for seats – then, I would agree that only Scenario 2 is desirable.
However, for those who are really wanting authentic and radical change in the trapo politics, all of these scenarios open up opportunities to build a movement that can get rid of GMA and her cohorts, or even the entire trapo rule, during the course of its development.
For instance, the mere convening of Con-Ass, which is palpably designed to perpetuate President Arroyo to power, signals a number of opportunities to mobilize the masa and to work for GMA’s ouster during, or even before, the 2010 elections.
There are a number of ‘flashpoints’ or critical points where mass resistance may break out in the process leading to GMA’s extended rule as prime minister or dictator. The convening of the Con-Ass during Congress resumption on July 27 and thereafter will build more outrage from the people. The Supreme Court’s probable decision to allow the Con-Ass is another occasion for the build-up of people’s wrath. The plebiscite will be a massive campaign period for those opposing the amended constitution. The election (whether under a presidential or a parliamentary system) can also be a hotbed for resistance.
In the scenario involving GMA’s declaration of emergency rule, the outbreak of mass resistance will be more massive and decisive. Any attempt to reimpose martial law will be met with powerful opposition coming from all sectors, including from the nationalist and pro-masa soldiers.
The eruption of massive resistance is not an overly optimistic assessment, especially if one takes into consideration that all the scenarios infer stages of denouement where the masses and the political movement are provided the opportunities to intervene and to have some time to gear up for combat. While the trapos have their heydays, the forces for change are still intact and, with perseverance, can be mobilized to do battle.
Scenario 1: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. It sets the rules and proceeds to amend the constitution. A case is brought to the Supreme Court against the convening of Con-Ass. The SC decides that the Con-Ass, even without Senate approval, is valid. The plebiscite affirms a yes victory and May 2010 election is held for a parliamentary form of government. GMA runs on a district in Pampanga, she wins, and eventually becomes the first prime minister of the country.
Scenario 2: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. A case is filed in the Supreme Court and the SC declares that the Con-Ass is unconstitutional. The May 2010 presidential election goes unimpeded.
Scenario 3: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. There was rebellious outrage from the masses. Malacañang organizes ‘violent incidents’ to justify clampdown. GMA imposes emergency rule.
Scenario 4: The HOR convenes as a Con-Ass. A case is filed in the Supreme Court. The SC could not decide on time. The May 2010 elections continue. GMA runs for Congress in Pampanga and wins. Under a new president allied to GMA, Con-Ass continues and the SC finally affirms it. The Congress is converted into a unicameral body and GMA is elected as prime minister.
In these four scenarios, only Scenario 2 (the unimpeded May 10, 2010 elections) is considered in the Soliman email as the only one favorable for the citizenry. Scenarios 1, 3 and 4 are not desirable as they all point to GMA’s usurpation of power and extended rule either as prime minister (Scenario 1, 4) or dictator (Scenario 3).
If one’s framework of analysis is based on the mere continuation of regular elections, i.e., the usual elections dominated by different factions of trapo parties and individuals vying for seats – then, I would agree that only Scenario 2 is desirable.
However, for those who are really wanting authentic and radical change in the trapo politics, all of these scenarios open up opportunities to build a movement that can get rid of GMA and her cohorts, or even the entire trapo rule, during the course of its development.
For instance, the mere convening of Con-Ass, which is palpably designed to perpetuate President Arroyo to power, signals a number of opportunities to mobilize the masa and to work for GMA’s ouster during, or even before, the 2010 elections.
There are a number of ‘flashpoints’ or critical points where mass resistance may break out in the process leading to GMA’s extended rule as prime minister or dictator. The convening of the Con-Ass during Congress resumption on July 27 and thereafter will build more outrage from the people. The Supreme Court’s probable decision to allow the Con-Ass is another occasion for the build-up of people’s wrath. The plebiscite will be a massive campaign period for those opposing the amended constitution. The election (whether under a presidential or a parliamentary system) can also be a hotbed for resistance.
In the scenario involving GMA’s declaration of emergency rule, the outbreak of mass resistance will be more massive and decisive. Any attempt to reimpose martial law will be met with powerful opposition coming from all sectors, including from the nationalist and pro-masa soldiers.
The eruption of massive resistance is not an overly optimistic assessment, especially if one takes into consideration that all the scenarios infer stages of denouement where the masses and the political movement are provided the opportunities to intervene and to have some time to gear up for combat. While the trapos have their heydays, the forces for change are still intact and, with perseverance, can be mobilized to do battle.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Talking ‘Bout A Revolution
Former Senate President Franklin Drilon warned the Arroyo government of massive street protests that would lead to a revolution should it continue with the Con-Ass plan.
This warning comes in the heels of a series of protests that erupted after the ignominious passage of House Resolution 1109 by the Lower House two weeks ago. With the Resolution, the House can convene itself as a constituent assembly, without the Senate, to amend the constitution and pave the way for GMA’s continued rule after 2010.
Is the revolution imminent? Drilon replied, “The Filipino people may suffer hunger and economic difficulties in stride but I don’t think they will stand idle while President Arroyo and her cronies stamp on their political rights just to be able to hold on to power. The majority of the Filipino people may be silent but Malacañang should not mistake this for complacency and submissiveness.”
I am of the opinion that there is really something in the air. And this we witness almost daily through strings of actions in the streets lambasting GMA, the House and the Con-Ass. The actions may still be small in number, but the responses from the common people are quite overwhelming.
I found out that the Shame campaign of BMP, PLM and Sanlakas against those representatives who voted for HR 1109 has been gaining support from the masa in the streets. The activists throwing rotten eggs at the LTA building in Makati last Thursday were egged on (pun intended) by onlookers to target the top floor where Mike Arroyo holds office. Last Friday’s noise barrage of Akbayan and other groups at Philcoa were greeted with wild honking by motorists passing through the site.
And the protests will go on. The convening of the Con-Ass during the Sona or after the Sona might be the final straw that will break the camel’s back. This will look like the Senate envelope inquiry during Erap’s impeachment trial, which spurred Edsa Two and led to the exit of Estrada from Malacanang.
But first, some comments about the revolution.
I think that Drilon is really wishing for a revolution, but I guess he just meant an Edsa-type ‘revolution’ once again. Which means that the people will be called to rise up to ensure an unimpeded electoral exercise that will only put new trapos in power.
I have always maintained that the two Edsas have never been a revolution in the strict sense of the word. They overthrew governments, but they only replaced the persons in charge with those belonging to the rival factions of the same ruling classes.
A revolution is an act where the ruling class is overthrown by an oppressed class which then takes power. This is not the type of revolution that we saw in the two Edsas. Edsa 1 replaced the Marcos dictatorship with an elite democratic regime under Cory. Edsa 2 merely replaced the corrupt Erap government with a more corrupt government under GMA.
This does not mean that we should not welcome the acts of those trapos who are hitting at GMA, including former President FVR who asked her to come clean and stop ‘titillating the nation’. All these verbal tussles indicate the deepening rift that is driving a wedge among the trapos today.
The Con-Ass must be stopped. Not only because it will perpetrate the rule of Arroyo, but also because it will perpetrate the subjugation of our economy to the imperialist interests (through the Chacha that it will propose). Moreover, the Con-Ass represents and perpetrates trapo rule in the country.
The real revolution is yet to come. This is the revolution that will pit the forces of the masa against the forces of GMA and the trapos. And Con-Ass is an issue that might bring the masa in droves to protest in the streets.
It is important that all those who oppose Con-Ass should come together to build the main force that will stop the Con-Ass. But the direction of this anti-Con-Ass movement can not be the mere replacement of the Con-Ass trapos with another set of trapos, or the replacement of Arroyo with another presidential trapo.
Hence, it is imperative that the masa build their own anti-Con-Ass movement independent from the trapos who also oppose Con-Ass. To paraphrase the words of advice of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin to the working class movement vis-à-vis the capitalist class which was also opposing tsardom: We should march in unison with all the trapos opposing GMA and the Con-Ass, but we should never, never merge our movement with them. #
This warning comes in the heels of a series of protests that erupted after the ignominious passage of House Resolution 1109 by the Lower House two weeks ago. With the Resolution, the House can convene itself as a constituent assembly, without the Senate, to amend the constitution and pave the way for GMA’s continued rule after 2010.
Is the revolution imminent? Drilon replied, “The Filipino people may suffer hunger and economic difficulties in stride but I don’t think they will stand idle while President Arroyo and her cronies stamp on their political rights just to be able to hold on to power. The majority of the Filipino people may be silent but Malacañang should not mistake this for complacency and submissiveness.”
I am of the opinion that there is really something in the air. And this we witness almost daily through strings of actions in the streets lambasting GMA, the House and the Con-Ass. The actions may still be small in number, but the responses from the common people are quite overwhelming.
I found out that the Shame campaign of BMP, PLM and Sanlakas against those representatives who voted for HR 1109 has been gaining support from the masa in the streets. The activists throwing rotten eggs at the LTA building in Makati last Thursday were egged on (pun intended) by onlookers to target the top floor where Mike Arroyo holds office. Last Friday’s noise barrage of Akbayan and other groups at Philcoa were greeted with wild honking by motorists passing through the site.
And the protests will go on. The convening of the Con-Ass during the Sona or after the Sona might be the final straw that will break the camel’s back. This will look like the Senate envelope inquiry during Erap’s impeachment trial, which spurred Edsa Two and led to the exit of Estrada from Malacanang.
But first, some comments about the revolution.
I think that Drilon is really wishing for a revolution, but I guess he just meant an Edsa-type ‘revolution’ once again. Which means that the people will be called to rise up to ensure an unimpeded electoral exercise that will only put new trapos in power.
I have always maintained that the two Edsas have never been a revolution in the strict sense of the word. They overthrew governments, but they only replaced the persons in charge with those belonging to the rival factions of the same ruling classes.
A revolution is an act where the ruling class is overthrown by an oppressed class which then takes power. This is not the type of revolution that we saw in the two Edsas. Edsa 1 replaced the Marcos dictatorship with an elite democratic regime under Cory. Edsa 2 merely replaced the corrupt Erap government with a more corrupt government under GMA.
This does not mean that we should not welcome the acts of those trapos who are hitting at GMA, including former President FVR who asked her to come clean and stop ‘titillating the nation’. All these verbal tussles indicate the deepening rift that is driving a wedge among the trapos today.
The Con-Ass must be stopped. Not only because it will perpetrate the rule of Arroyo, but also because it will perpetrate the subjugation of our economy to the imperialist interests (through the Chacha that it will propose). Moreover, the Con-Ass represents and perpetrates trapo rule in the country.
The real revolution is yet to come. This is the revolution that will pit the forces of the masa against the forces of GMA and the trapos. And Con-Ass is an issue that might bring the masa in droves to protest in the streets.
It is important that all those who oppose Con-Ass should come together to build the main force that will stop the Con-Ass. But the direction of this anti-Con-Ass movement can not be the mere replacement of the Con-Ass trapos with another set of trapos, or the replacement of Arroyo with another presidential trapo.
Hence, it is imperative that the masa build their own anti-Con-Ass movement independent from the trapos who also oppose Con-Ass. To paraphrase the words of advice of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin to the working class movement vis-à-vis the capitalist class which was also opposing tsardom: We should march in unison with all the trapos opposing GMA and the Con-Ass, but we should never, never merge our movement with them. #
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Block Con-Ass, Blockade Congress
By a simple viva voce, the House of Representatives passed Resolution 1109 which allows the Lower House to transform itself into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) in order to amend the 1987 Constitution.
This move has again shown that Congress has been turned into a plaything of the Arroyo administration. Whatever President GMA wants, she gets at least through the Lower House. The Philippine Daily Tribune has reported that the passage of HR 1109 came with a presidential bribe of P20 million pork barrel allocations for each congressman who voted “yea” in the plenary. Hence, despite protests from congressmen belonging to the minority group and mostly the party-lists, Congress rams thorough the Con-Ass resolution with impunity and glee.
The travesty was shown on television till midnight yesterday. The public has once again witnessed how Congress is used by the trapos in power. Without shame, trapo congressmen were shown salivating in delight as the leadership of the House maneuvered the railroading of the resolution.
This is the nth time that Congress has exposed itself as a stooge of the Arroyo administration. Last we remember, this Congress had junked the impeachment case filed by the Opposition. Previous to this, Congress had its congressmen and congresswomen lined up in a televised session to implement Malacanang’s order to depose former ally Jose de Venecia as Speaker of the House in favor of Prospero Nograles.
In this latest mockery and massacre of parliamentary democracy, Congress has served notice that it is ready to commit the crime of butchering the Constitution to serve the trapos’ ends. And if it is not stopped, Congress will commit the crime when it meets again during the Sona on July 27.
The only recourse to block the Con-Ass is to blockade the House. Don’t let Congress convene during the Sona. Don’t let it convene at all. Padlock it and put an end to trapo rule, at least in the Lower House. #
This move has again shown that Congress has been turned into a plaything of the Arroyo administration. Whatever President GMA wants, she gets at least through the Lower House. The Philippine Daily Tribune has reported that the passage of HR 1109 came with a presidential bribe of P20 million pork barrel allocations for each congressman who voted “yea” in the plenary. Hence, despite protests from congressmen belonging to the minority group and mostly the party-lists, Congress rams thorough the Con-Ass resolution with impunity and glee.
The travesty was shown on television till midnight yesterday. The public has once again witnessed how Congress is used by the trapos in power. Without shame, trapo congressmen were shown salivating in delight as the leadership of the House maneuvered the railroading of the resolution.
This is the nth time that Congress has exposed itself as a stooge of the Arroyo administration. Last we remember, this Congress had junked the impeachment case filed by the Opposition. Previous to this, Congress had its congressmen and congresswomen lined up in a televised session to implement Malacanang’s order to depose former ally Jose de Venecia as Speaker of the House in favor of Prospero Nograles.
In this latest mockery and massacre of parliamentary democracy, Congress has served notice that it is ready to commit the crime of butchering the Constitution to serve the trapos’ ends. And if it is not stopped, Congress will commit the crime when it meets again during the Sona on July 27.
The only recourse to block the Con-Ass is to blockade the House. Don’t let Congress convene during the Sona. Don’t let it convene at all. Padlock it and put an end to trapo rule, at least in the Lower House. #
Monday, June 1, 2009
Let us now begin the Revolution for Change
Opening talk by Sonny Melencio on the
“Pagbabago! No More Trapos in 2010!” Forum
June 1, 2009, UP Diliman, QC
On behalf of Partido Lakas ng Masa, I would like to extend our thanks to our two guests here who would be speaking together with me in this forum.
One has already symbolized the struggle against the trapo, and I refer to Among Ed. Among Ed has in fact defeated not only the three letter Gs that come to symbolize the guns, goons and gold wielded by the trapos. In Pampanga, Among Ed has beaten the 5 Gs – which includes 2 more Gs representing Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Gambling lords.
The other one symbolized the call for change, in fact the call for the ouster of the Arroyo regime, during the Manila Peninsula rebellion on November 29, 2007. He is not with us today, because he’s still in detention, but he is represented by his lawyer Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles who’s going to give us the message from Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.
Together with our two speakers, I now announce the initial steps in the formation of a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement that we will expand in the coming months leading to the 2010 elections. The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement will aim to expose the trapo candidates in the election, and will also promote the anti-trapo candidates like the guest speakers that we have now. We have not yet firmed up our standard-bearer in the 2010 election, but we will give all the non-trapo candidates the chance to guest in our forums and activities.
This is a forum off-limits to the trapos but let me speak first about what we mean by the trapos and the kind of rule they represent.
The trapos
Trapo means traditional politician. In its narrow meaning, the trapo is the political representative of the Filipino elite. The trapos are the political clans and the political dynasty which the clans have established in several areas of the country for long years now. Some clans have in fact been holding political power for centuries.
According to the Citizens Anti-Dynasty Movement, at least 120 families control political power in more than 75 percent of the country’s 81 provinces. They also reported that practically 100 percent of major cities are under the control of one or another political clan that passes down power almost as a right on inheritance. This is what we mean when we say these are the people who are “born to rule”.
Just to give you a rundown of the trapo clans. The most prominent from North to South are the Dys of Isabela, the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, the Singsons of Ilocos Sur, the Josons of Nueva Ecija, the Magsaysays of Zambales, the Cojuangcos and Aquinos of Tarlac, the Macapagals of Pampanga, the Osmeñas of Cebu, the Rectos of Batangas, the Gordons of Zambales, the Duranos of Danao City, the Antoninos of General Santos, and the Lobregats of Zamboanga City.
In recent years new dynasties have emerged like the Estradas of San Juan, the Arroyos of Pampanga and Negros Occidental, the Angaras of Aurora, the Defensors of Iloilo and Quezon City, the Villafuertes of Camarines Sur, and the Akbars of Basilan.
If we look at today’s election, the trapos are back in business once more. And we mean not just the trapos of the Administration, but also the trapos from the Opposition.
The list of today’s presidentiables reads like a whos-who on the top trapo families:
-- Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro, one of the main presidential contenders of the Palaka (Partido Lakas at Kampi merger), comes from the clan related to Danding Cojuangco, who’s the brother of Gibo’s mother. Teodoro’s wife, Monica “Nikki” Prieto, is a congresswoman from the first district of Tarlac, which is the bailiwick of the Cojuangco’s and now the Teodoros.
-- Manny Villar (Nacionalista Party) represents the clan which has been holding power in Las Pinas City. His wife, Cynthia Aguilar-Villar, is the congresswoman in Las Pinas. The Aguilars, together with the Villars, are the politically incestuous clan in Las Pinas.
-- Mar Roxas (Liberal Party) is the grandson of former president Manuel Roxas, who was suspected as a collaborator during the Japanese period but was cleared by MacArthur, and then became the first president after the war. His father was the late Senator Gerry Roxas.
-- Chiz Escudero (Nationalist People’s Coalition) comes from the Escudero clan which has been holding power in Sorsogon. The father was the former congressman in the first district of Sorsogon; Chiz uncles were the mayor and vice-governor in Sorsogon.
-- Joseph Estrada (Partido ng Masang Pilipino) is trying to make a comeback. He has built his own dynasty in San Juan. His son JV is now the mayor, the other son Jinggoy and his wife Loy have both become senators.
-- Perhaps, Noli de Castro is the only one who’s not identifiable as a trapo. He came in power in 2001 as a senator, and became the vice-president in 2004, so he has already 8 years in the government. But what has he done in these 8 years, and whose power has he been serving all through these years? If not GMA, is it the oligarchs who are reputed to be supporting him?
Some points to clarify.
Sometimes there are newly-emerging trapos (who are the scions of the political clans) who have not been involved in any traditional political and corrupt activities, and who therefore resist the tag of belonging to the trapos. Although the tag may not seem to fit them yet as separate individuals, they are trapos in the sense of being members of the clans which perpetrate elite rule in the country.
The trapos are usually seen as the most corrupt and warlord-like representatives of the elite. But some of the elite may be benign and modernizing, but they are trapos nonetheless as they represent the dominant forces in a system that oppresses and marginalizes the broad masses.
Sometimes they are not really part of the political clans or the economic elite in the country. But they become trapos because they have given their services to an elite group in order to be voted to and remain in power.
While the trapos may vary in their viciousness as a trapo, the point we are making is that:
First, the people deserve better. Some trapos may be benign and modernizing, but even the monarchy of the old days have kings and queens which were benign and modernizing. But even then, who needs a monarchy/dynasty-type of rule today?
Secondly, the trapos/ the trapo clans have been given all the opportunities in the world to serve in the government. In fact, the government has become them. The trapos have become the government, and the ways of the trapos have become the ways of the government.
While monopolizing power, the trapos have failed to provide for the needs of the people, they have failed to provide for employment for the labor force, they have failed to provide affordable food and services for the poor, affordable housing, land for the landless farmers and agricultural workers, education for the young people, hospital care, and others. They are a failure. They have become the stumbling block to development. They in fact have become the problems, and not a solution.
What we are saying is that Enough is enough. Sobra na, tama na. Pagbabago na, No more trapo in 2010.
The masa
The solution to the country’s problems lies not in the trapos but in the antithesis of the trapos, the non-trapos or the genuine representatives of masa. That’s why we’re bringing here the non-trapo candidates who represent the masa. Not in the way in which Erap has come to represent the masa, and even named his party Partido ng Masang Pilipino, which was a misnomer given that Erap was not of the masa (in his films perhaps). We are referring to candidates who come from the masa, and are still with the masa, and therefore can properly represent the masa.
The other side of the anti-trapo movement is the pro-masa movement, which means that in defeating the trapos, we have to ensure that we put the masa in power. We do not believe in another Edsa where we overthrow dictatorial and corrupt government only to install a more corrupt one.
We are fighting the trapo precisely to promote the needs of the masa. But first we have to expose the trapos, because they have used the media and the three Gs to project themselves as the ones fit to rule the masa.
Platform of government
One best way to expose the trapo is to do away with personality-oriented politics and to look into the platform of the candidates. Let us pin them down on their platform of governance. The trapos get away with motherhood statements because the masa fail to concretize what they want.
And this is the challenge we pose to all, even among the non-trapos and the masa that are gathered here: Are we going to look for leaders on the basis of their clan, their education, their wealth, their connections, their money… Or are we going to test them on the basis of whether they can solve our long-term problems, and therefore contribute to the development of each one, and not just a few lucky bastards.
This test would mean asking the candidate whether his or her platform of government is based on, for instance:
-- An immediate moratorium to the closures of factories and lay-offs, and a program towards full employment for the labor force. We mean not partial employment, not temporary employment, but full, long-term employment based on wages that can provide for the needs of the families. Not employment outside the country, but employment in the country, in the Philippines, right now.
-- A program of delivering basic services to the poor, such as free education for the poor children; no demolition but decent housing for the urban poor; genuine & comprehensive agrarian reform that provides land to the tillers and the necessary support infrastructure for agriculture; free health care and hospitalization; provision of doctors’ services at every barangay; the setting up of government-run stores at every barangay which carry items that have affordable prices for the poor.
-- A program of political reforms, which include the democratization of Congress or the formation of a People’s Congress which will reverse the setup where a few trapos rule our politics while the majority of the population do not have political power, and are even called the ‘marginalized sectors’. We must also have a program to disconnect the barangay councils from the control of the local government trapos, from the trapo mayors and congressmen, and the replacement of the barangay council with a barangay assembly that represents the entire families in a barangay much like the neighborhood councils.
These are just some aspects of the pro-masa platform that we should ask each of the candidates whether he or she can deliver. And we know that these demands of the masa are not impossible. All these things are possible. We know the government has the resources to provide for the needs of the people, except that it has no political will and the trapos have no personal will to provide for the needs of the people. And this is because this is a government of the trapos where the trapos do not serve the people but their clans and immediate friends and cronies, and their own pockets.
But where can we get the money to provide for the masa? In Venezuela, they say, they have oil, so Hugo Chavez can use oil money to provide for free health care, free education, free housing and massive government subsidies to basic necessities. But we also have that money. For instance, we have been automatically appropriating 40% of our national budget towards payment of foreign debts. These are erroneous debts which have been incurred by successive administrations starting with Marcos. Debts which have ballooned to $55 billion dollars or P3 trillion in 2007. We now know the figures, but we don’t even know what these debts are and how were they spent by the government. To provide for substantial social welfare projects, we can do what Argentina did. Declare a moratorium on debt payment and shift the debt payment to these projects. It has been done and we can do it here, if we have a government which has the will to do it.
Lastly, the building of an anti-trapo, pro-masa movement corresponds to our call for a Revolution for Change. We declare that from hereon, we will be launching a revolution, a genuine one compared to the series of so-called Edsa Revolutions. The Edsa Revolutions were fake revolutions where incumbent trapos were overthrown to give way to other trapos. We should be reminded that a revolution is an act where a ruling class is overthrown by another class which takes power. What could be more revolutionary today than dismantling trapo rule and putting the masa in power. Let us now put in place the building blocks for a new future. Tunay na pagbabago! No more trapo! The masa should rule… #
“Pagbabago! No More Trapos in 2010!” Forum
June 1, 2009, UP Diliman, QC
On behalf of Partido Lakas ng Masa, I would like to extend our thanks to our two guests here who would be speaking together with me in this forum.
One has already symbolized the struggle against the trapo, and I refer to Among Ed. Among Ed has in fact defeated not only the three letter Gs that come to symbolize the guns, goons and gold wielded by the trapos. In Pampanga, Among Ed has beaten the 5 Gs – which includes 2 more Gs representing Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Gambling lords.
The other one symbolized the call for change, in fact the call for the ouster of the Arroyo regime, during the Manila Peninsula rebellion on November 29, 2007. He is not with us today, because he’s still in detention, but he is represented by his lawyer Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles who’s going to give us the message from Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.
Together with our two speakers, I now announce the initial steps in the formation of a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement that we will expand in the coming months leading to the 2010 elections. The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement will aim to expose the trapo candidates in the election, and will also promote the anti-trapo candidates like the guest speakers that we have now. We have not yet firmed up our standard-bearer in the 2010 election, but we will give all the non-trapo candidates the chance to guest in our forums and activities.
This is a forum off-limits to the trapos but let me speak first about what we mean by the trapos and the kind of rule they represent.
The trapos
Trapo means traditional politician. In its narrow meaning, the trapo is the political representative of the Filipino elite. The trapos are the political clans and the political dynasty which the clans have established in several areas of the country for long years now. Some clans have in fact been holding political power for centuries.
According to the Citizens Anti-Dynasty Movement, at least 120 families control political power in more than 75 percent of the country’s 81 provinces. They also reported that practically 100 percent of major cities are under the control of one or another political clan that passes down power almost as a right on inheritance. This is what we mean when we say these are the people who are “born to rule”.
Just to give you a rundown of the trapo clans. The most prominent from North to South are the Dys of Isabela, the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, the Singsons of Ilocos Sur, the Josons of Nueva Ecija, the Magsaysays of Zambales, the Cojuangcos and Aquinos of Tarlac, the Macapagals of Pampanga, the Osmeñas of Cebu, the Rectos of Batangas, the Gordons of Zambales, the Duranos of Danao City, the Antoninos of General Santos, and the Lobregats of Zamboanga City.
In recent years new dynasties have emerged like the Estradas of San Juan, the Arroyos of Pampanga and Negros Occidental, the Angaras of Aurora, the Defensors of Iloilo and Quezon City, the Villafuertes of Camarines Sur, and the Akbars of Basilan.
If we look at today’s election, the trapos are back in business once more. And we mean not just the trapos of the Administration, but also the trapos from the Opposition.
The list of today’s presidentiables reads like a whos-who on the top trapo families:
-- Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro, one of the main presidential contenders of the Palaka (Partido Lakas at Kampi merger), comes from the clan related to Danding Cojuangco, who’s the brother of Gibo’s mother. Teodoro’s wife, Monica “Nikki” Prieto, is a congresswoman from the first district of Tarlac, which is the bailiwick of the Cojuangco’s and now the Teodoros.
-- Manny Villar (Nacionalista Party) represents the clan which has been holding power in Las Pinas City. His wife, Cynthia Aguilar-Villar, is the congresswoman in Las Pinas. The Aguilars, together with the Villars, are the politically incestuous clan in Las Pinas.
-- Mar Roxas (Liberal Party) is the grandson of former president Manuel Roxas, who was suspected as a collaborator during the Japanese period but was cleared by MacArthur, and then became the first president after the war. His father was the late Senator Gerry Roxas.
-- Chiz Escudero (Nationalist People’s Coalition) comes from the Escudero clan which has been holding power in Sorsogon. The father was the former congressman in the first district of Sorsogon; Chiz uncles were the mayor and vice-governor in Sorsogon.
-- Joseph Estrada (Partido ng Masang Pilipino) is trying to make a comeback. He has built his own dynasty in San Juan. His son JV is now the mayor, the other son Jinggoy and his wife Loy have both become senators.
-- Perhaps, Noli de Castro is the only one who’s not identifiable as a trapo. He came in power in 2001 as a senator, and became the vice-president in 2004, so he has already 8 years in the government. But what has he done in these 8 years, and whose power has he been serving all through these years? If not GMA, is it the oligarchs who are reputed to be supporting him?
Some points to clarify.
Sometimes there are newly-emerging trapos (who are the scions of the political clans) who have not been involved in any traditional political and corrupt activities, and who therefore resist the tag of belonging to the trapos. Although the tag may not seem to fit them yet as separate individuals, they are trapos in the sense of being members of the clans which perpetrate elite rule in the country.
The trapos are usually seen as the most corrupt and warlord-like representatives of the elite. But some of the elite may be benign and modernizing, but they are trapos nonetheless as they represent the dominant forces in a system that oppresses and marginalizes the broad masses.
Sometimes they are not really part of the political clans or the economic elite in the country. But they become trapos because they have given their services to an elite group in order to be voted to and remain in power.
While the trapos may vary in their viciousness as a trapo, the point we are making is that:
First, the people deserve better. Some trapos may be benign and modernizing, but even the monarchy of the old days have kings and queens which were benign and modernizing. But even then, who needs a monarchy/dynasty-type of rule today?
Secondly, the trapos/ the trapo clans have been given all the opportunities in the world to serve in the government. In fact, the government has become them. The trapos have become the government, and the ways of the trapos have become the ways of the government.
While monopolizing power, the trapos have failed to provide for the needs of the people, they have failed to provide for employment for the labor force, they have failed to provide affordable food and services for the poor, affordable housing, land for the landless farmers and agricultural workers, education for the young people, hospital care, and others. They are a failure. They have become the stumbling block to development. They in fact have become the problems, and not a solution.
What we are saying is that Enough is enough. Sobra na, tama na. Pagbabago na, No more trapo in 2010.
The masa
The solution to the country’s problems lies not in the trapos but in the antithesis of the trapos, the non-trapos or the genuine representatives of masa. That’s why we’re bringing here the non-trapo candidates who represent the masa. Not in the way in which Erap has come to represent the masa, and even named his party Partido ng Masang Pilipino, which was a misnomer given that Erap was not of the masa (in his films perhaps). We are referring to candidates who come from the masa, and are still with the masa, and therefore can properly represent the masa.
The other side of the anti-trapo movement is the pro-masa movement, which means that in defeating the trapos, we have to ensure that we put the masa in power. We do not believe in another Edsa where we overthrow dictatorial and corrupt government only to install a more corrupt one.
We are fighting the trapo precisely to promote the needs of the masa. But first we have to expose the trapos, because they have used the media and the three Gs to project themselves as the ones fit to rule the masa.
Platform of government
One best way to expose the trapo is to do away with personality-oriented politics and to look into the platform of the candidates. Let us pin them down on their platform of governance. The trapos get away with motherhood statements because the masa fail to concretize what they want.
And this is the challenge we pose to all, even among the non-trapos and the masa that are gathered here: Are we going to look for leaders on the basis of their clan, their education, their wealth, their connections, their money… Or are we going to test them on the basis of whether they can solve our long-term problems, and therefore contribute to the development of each one, and not just a few lucky bastards.
This test would mean asking the candidate whether his or her platform of government is based on, for instance:
-- An immediate moratorium to the closures of factories and lay-offs, and a program towards full employment for the labor force. We mean not partial employment, not temporary employment, but full, long-term employment based on wages that can provide for the needs of the families. Not employment outside the country, but employment in the country, in the Philippines, right now.
-- A program of delivering basic services to the poor, such as free education for the poor children; no demolition but decent housing for the urban poor; genuine & comprehensive agrarian reform that provides land to the tillers and the necessary support infrastructure for agriculture; free health care and hospitalization; provision of doctors’ services at every barangay; the setting up of government-run stores at every barangay which carry items that have affordable prices for the poor.
-- A program of political reforms, which include the democratization of Congress or the formation of a People’s Congress which will reverse the setup where a few trapos rule our politics while the majority of the population do not have political power, and are even called the ‘marginalized sectors’. We must also have a program to disconnect the barangay councils from the control of the local government trapos, from the trapo mayors and congressmen, and the replacement of the barangay council with a barangay assembly that represents the entire families in a barangay much like the neighborhood councils.
These are just some aspects of the pro-masa platform that we should ask each of the candidates whether he or she can deliver. And we know that these demands of the masa are not impossible. All these things are possible. We know the government has the resources to provide for the needs of the people, except that it has no political will and the trapos have no personal will to provide for the needs of the people. And this is because this is a government of the trapos where the trapos do not serve the people but their clans and immediate friends and cronies, and their own pockets.
But where can we get the money to provide for the masa? In Venezuela, they say, they have oil, so Hugo Chavez can use oil money to provide for free health care, free education, free housing and massive government subsidies to basic necessities. But we also have that money. For instance, we have been automatically appropriating 40% of our national budget towards payment of foreign debts. These are erroneous debts which have been incurred by successive administrations starting with Marcos. Debts which have ballooned to $55 billion dollars or P3 trillion in 2007. We now know the figures, but we don’t even know what these debts are and how were they spent by the government. To provide for substantial social welfare projects, we can do what Argentina did. Declare a moratorium on debt payment and shift the debt payment to these projects. It has been done and we can do it here, if we have a government which has the will to do it.
Lastly, the building of an anti-trapo, pro-masa movement corresponds to our call for a Revolution for Change. We declare that from hereon, we will be launching a revolution, a genuine one compared to the series of so-called Edsa Revolutions. The Edsa Revolutions were fake revolutions where incumbent trapos were overthrown to give way to other trapos. We should be reminded that a revolution is an act where a ruling class is overthrown by another class which takes power. What could be more revolutionary today than dismantling trapo rule and putting the masa in power. Let us now put in place the building blocks for a new future. Tunay na pagbabago! No more trapo! The masa should rule… #
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Strategies for change: Welgang Bayan, Kudeta at Eleksyon
[Last of 3-part series]
IN MY LAST POSTING, I wrote about the three forces who represent change in today’s condition. They are the masa who are composed of the laboring masses (the workers, farmers, the urban poor and rural poor), the nationalist soldiers (a.k.a. ‘military rebels’), and the sections of the middle classes which have been sliding down the pyramid of the class structure. The masa are not marginalized in terms of number; in fact, they constitute the majority of the population. Despite this, they are the politically and economically marginalized and disadvantaged sectors of society.
The three forces hanker for change in society. Their most politicized representatives have advanced different types of strategies to pursue changes in society. To realize these changes, they have to wrestle with the practical, but difficult, issue of capturing power from the hands of their class adversaries – the dominating sectors which kept them in perpetual misery and subjugation.
Struggle of the laboring masses
For the laboring masses, the struggle means forming unions and associations to defend their rights and advanced their welfare in society. During political convulsions, these oppressed groups can resort to earth-shaking actions, such as industrial strike, wildcat strikes, transport paralysis, demonstrations, street barricades and even people’s power mobilizations to bring down dictatorial and corrupt governments. Historically at its peak, the resistance of the laboring masses takes the form of widespread people’s uprisings which develop into armed resistance. This is what is usually pictured in our mind as the sweep of the revolution.
The radicalized masses of students and teachers have also used specific forms of struggle to air grievances and to protest against the system – through boycotts, street marchers, and at different junctures, takeover of school institutions. Who can forget the Diliman Commune, when the UP students, faculty and unions seized the state university for two weeks and armed only with pillboxes and Molotovs trounced the fully-equipped police and military attempting to crush the Commune?
Welgang bayan
During the height of the resistance against the Marcos dictatorship, apart from the guerrilla war in the rural areas, the struggle in the urban areas had taken the form of what activists called as “welgang bayan”. This is a combination of workers’ and jeepney drivers’ strikes, barricades and massive mobilization of people in the streets. The Edsa people’s power uprisings, which were characterized by people trooping to the Edsa camps (Edsa 1) and the Edsa shrine (Edsa 2 & 3), would pale in comparison with the welgang-bayan type of actions had the latter fully developed as a strategy of resistance.
Given that the two Edsas have failed to deliver meaningful changes in society, the agenda for social change have again taken the front seat. More and more people are realizing that a regime change, or the mere prospect of changing the president by another trapo, does not mean change at all. I am confident that the next street eruption will not be like the Edsa-type, but will be more likely to be a widespread welgang-bayan type of militant actions.
Kudeta or mutiny?
The military rebels, on the other hand, have used the strategy of military rebellion or mutiny to overthrow their superiors in the military and in the civilian government. These rebellions have swept a number of countries in Latin America, leading to the formation of military-led governments. These type of actions have not been successful in the Philippines – the army rebellion during Edsa 1 had to be buttressed by people’s power to survive; the succeeding series of rebellion (against the Edsa regimes of Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos) had all failed.
However, some military rebels’ groups still put forward the strategy of coup d’etat cum uprising to draw in the entire military forces in the revolutionary project that will have the support of the masses. But while a coup d’etat might be the easiest way to break away from the present regime, the experiences of the military rebels themselves have shown them that a coup merely plays into the hands of the military hierarchy.
Ultimately, the only recourse left for the nationalist soldiers (as opposed to the anti-nationalist elite) would be to break away from the hierarchy and the chain of commands and develop their groups as alternative centers of military force that merge with the rebelling masses.
Election
The middle classes have not been seen as a revolutionary force. They are at most composed of forces who want to institute reforms in society. In this sense, they are the ones opening to the strategy of elections as the way to seek reforms in society. No wonder the emerging organizations of the middle classes today are spearheading the fight for “good government” and “good governance”.
However, we can orient ourselves to the lower sections of the middle classes who are also becoming radicalized by their continuing slide to the laboring sections. Their participation in the 2010 election can be turned into non-traditional forms, which means not only voting for non-trapo candidates during the election, but joining the mobilization in the streets and assisting the struggles of the basic sectors and the radicalized soldiers.
Strategies, rather than strategy
It is in this sense that it is hard to talk about a single strategy for change in today’s situation. Even the three major forces which aspire for systemic change and radical reforms in society are brandishing different variants of strategy that fit their class formation and political orientation – welgang bayan, mutiny and non-traditional elections.
I believe, however, that the three forces can come together to share each other’s struggles in order to develop a potent force that will have more chances of success in the immediate future. What is needed, however, is a political center that can combine all these strategies into a coherent plan that will advance the desired objective of dismantling trapo rule and installing the masa in power. #
IN MY LAST POSTING, I wrote about the three forces who represent change in today’s condition. They are the masa who are composed of the laboring masses (the workers, farmers, the urban poor and rural poor), the nationalist soldiers (a.k.a. ‘military rebels’), and the sections of the middle classes which have been sliding down the pyramid of the class structure. The masa are not marginalized in terms of number; in fact, they constitute the majority of the population. Despite this, they are the politically and economically marginalized and disadvantaged sectors of society.
The three forces hanker for change in society. Their most politicized representatives have advanced different types of strategies to pursue changes in society. To realize these changes, they have to wrestle with the practical, but difficult, issue of capturing power from the hands of their class adversaries – the dominating sectors which kept them in perpetual misery and subjugation.
Struggle of the laboring masses
For the laboring masses, the struggle means forming unions and associations to defend their rights and advanced their welfare in society. During political convulsions, these oppressed groups can resort to earth-shaking actions, such as industrial strike, wildcat strikes, transport paralysis, demonstrations, street barricades and even people’s power mobilizations to bring down dictatorial and corrupt governments. Historically at its peak, the resistance of the laboring masses takes the form of widespread people’s uprisings which develop into armed resistance. This is what is usually pictured in our mind as the sweep of the revolution.
The radicalized masses of students and teachers have also used specific forms of struggle to air grievances and to protest against the system – through boycotts, street marchers, and at different junctures, takeover of school institutions. Who can forget the Diliman Commune, when the UP students, faculty and unions seized the state university for two weeks and armed only with pillboxes and Molotovs trounced the fully-equipped police and military attempting to crush the Commune?
Welgang bayan
During the height of the resistance against the Marcos dictatorship, apart from the guerrilla war in the rural areas, the struggle in the urban areas had taken the form of what activists called as “welgang bayan”. This is a combination of workers’ and jeepney drivers’ strikes, barricades and massive mobilization of people in the streets. The Edsa people’s power uprisings, which were characterized by people trooping to the Edsa camps (Edsa 1) and the Edsa shrine (Edsa 2 & 3), would pale in comparison with the welgang-bayan type of actions had the latter fully developed as a strategy of resistance.
Given that the two Edsas have failed to deliver meaningful changes in society, the agenda for social change have again taken the front seat. More and more people are realizing that a regime change, or the mere prospect of changing the president by another trapo, does not mean change at all. I am confident that the next street eruption will not be like the Edsa-type, but will be more likely to be a widespread welgang-bayan type of militant actions.
Kudeta or mutiny?
The military rebels, on the other hand, have used the strategy of military rebellion or mutiny to overthrow their superiors in the military and in the civilian government. These rebellions have swept a number of countries in Latin America, leading to the formation of military-led governments. These type of actions have not been successful in the Philippines – the army rebellion during Edsa 1 had to be buttressed by people’s power to survive; the succeeding series of rebellion (against the Edsa regimes of Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos) had all failed.
However, some military rebels’ groups still put forward the strategy of coup d’etat cum uprising to draw in the entire military forces in the revolutionary project that will have the support of the masses. But while a coup d’etat might be the easiest way to break away from the present regime, the experiences of the military rebels themselves have shown them that a coup merely plays into the hands of the military hierarchy.
Ultimately, the only recourse left for the nationalist soldiers (as opposed to the anti-nationalist elite) would be to break away from the hierarchy and the chain of commands and develop their groups as alternative centers of military force that merge with the rebelling masses.
Election
The middle classes have not been seen as a revolutionary force. They are at most composed of forces who want to institute reforms in society. In this sense, they are the ones opening to the strategy of elections as the way to seek reforms in society. No wonder the emerging organizations of the middle classes today are spearheading the fight for “good government” and “good governance”.
However, we can orient ourselves to the lower sections of the middle classes who are also becoming radicalized by their continuing slide to the laboring sections. Their participation in the 2010 election can be turned into non-traditional forms, which means not only voting for non-trapo candidates during the election, but joining the mobilization in the streets and assisting the struggles of the basic sectors and the radicalized soldiers.
Strategies, rather than strategy
It is in this sense that it is hard to talk about a single strategy for change in today’s situation. Even the three major forces which aspire for systemic change and radical reforms in society are brandishing different variants of strategy that fit their class formation and political orientation – welgang bayan, mutiny and non-traditional elections.
I believe, however, that the three forces can come together to share each other’s struggles in order to develop a potent force that will have more chances of success in the immediate future. What is needed, however, is a political center that can combine all these strategies into a coherent plan that will advance the desired objective of dismantling trapo rule and installing the masa in power. #
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Building the Anti-Trapo Movement (2): Who are the Masa?
EX-PRESIDENT Joseph Estrada popularized the term masa. In fact, it became the name of his party, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP). But before this, masa was already popular among political activists. It symbolized the ‘basic masses’ of workers and peasants, and activists in rallies used to sing with gusto the Masa song which went like this: “Ang masa, ang masa lamang ang siyang tunay na bayani…”
If trapos (traditional politicians) represent the dominant class forces in society, the other side of the class divide is the masa. In building an anti-trapo movement, we are in fact advocating the defense of the masa.
Today’s masa represents the vast sectors of the laboring classes and the lower sections of the middle classes. The laboring classes are composed of the industrial and service workers, the urban poor and the so-called informal sectors, the peasants, the agricultural workers, and all those who have no ownership of the means of production. The middle classes are composed of the professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers; the small entrepreneurs; the higher-paid employees; the small government bureaucrats. The masa also includes the youth and students: the young people who are not yet part of the production process, but who are destined in general to become part of the laboring masses.
The masa represents the dominated sectors, as opposed to the dominating sectors which are the trapos and the elite. In today’s parlance, the masa is seen as the most oppressed, exploited sectors of society. Or, according to Hardt and Negri (The Empire), the ‘multitudes’ who are made up of all the economically and politically marginalized sectors of society.
In Marxist terms, the masa represents the proletariat and the semi-proletariat and the lower ranks of the petty-bourgeoisie. In political terms, the masa embodies the class alliance of the forces seeking change in today’s elite-dominated system. While the trapo embodies the status quo, the masa embodies change and represents the forces which stand to benefit from dismantling trapo rule.
Revolution for change
The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement is the character of an emerging broad mass movement that is opposed to elite rule and desirous of system change. This movement is not only anti-Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but is opposed to the entire trapo-elite system. It is not only for regime change but for system change, a change from the rotten capitalist system (some call it semifeudal) towards a just and egalitarian system of society.
The over-all objective of the movement is the dismantling of trapo rule at all levels of state rule and institutions (from the “top-down”) and its replacement of the political rule of the masa, also at all levels of society. The ouster of trapo rule and the installation of genuine power by the masa reflect the political and class character of the struggle that all those seeking change should be waging today. Ousting the dominating class forces from power and installing the dominated class forces signifies revolutionary action, a genuine revolution for change.
Coalition of three forces
The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement can be built around the coalition of three forces that today forms the backbone of a new system replacing trapo rule. They are the laboring class forces, the radical and radicalizing soldiers (also called the ‘military rebels’), and the middle classes (especially those in the lower ranks). These three forces have every reason to join hands and unite around an anti-trapo, pro-masa movement.
The laboring classes, as previously mentioned, are the basic force of the masa, hence the basic force of the revolution for change.
The military rebels are a new phenomena. They have recently acquired a status of developing force in Philippine politics. Rebel officers and men of the AFP/PNP have formed themselves in groups which are calling for change in the military institutions, in the government and in society as a whole. These groups have been called, in general, the OMRs (organization of military reformers) which vary in their range of political vision and attitudes to revolutionary change. There are Right-wing groups that are formed around some generals and top brasses in the AFP/PNP. And there are radical groupings composed of junior officers and ordinary soldiers, for instance the Magdalo and the Para sa Bayan groups.
The differentiation between the top brass of the AFP/PNP, the junior officers and the rank-and-file soldiers also reflects the class stratification in the military hierarchy – the generals representing the ruling class; the junior officers, the middle classes; and the rank-and-file, the working class masses.
Lastly, the middle classes in the Philippine society are also becoming more and more disillusioned with the system of elite rule. They are a precarious force today. Majority of them are falling into the ranks of the working class masses as their businesses go bankrupt and their professions could not provide them the ample savings to earn capital and a comfortable living. They are composed of the growing number of professionals who have to leave the country to look for decent jobs abroad. They have correctly identified the problem of trapo rule and corruption as basic evils that have to be obliterated in society. This leads them to champion calls for good government/good governance in today’s elections.
Strategic movement for change
Hence, the anti-trapo, pro-masa movement is not only an electoral movement in time for the 2010 election. It is a strategic movement that represents the direction of the changes we want to put in place in our society. It is also strategic, in that it brings together the three major forces that aspire for systemic changes. The most politicized representatives of the three forces have pursued different strategies to advance their visions for change in society. But while they may vary in their strategies, they all can come together with unified goals and program under a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement.
[Next: Strategies for Change]
If trapos (traditional politicians) represent the dominant class forces in society, the other side of the class divide is the masa. In building an anti-trapo movement, we are in fact advocating the defense of the masa.
Today’s masa represents the vast sectors of the laboring classes and the lower sections of the middle classes. The laboring classes are composed of the industrial and service workers, the urban poor and the so-called informal sectors, the peasants, the agricultural workers, and all those who have no ownership of the means of production. The middle classes are composed of the professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers; the small entrepreneurs; the higher-paid employees; the small government bureaucrats. The masa also includes the youth and students: the young people who are not yet part of the production process, but who are destined in general to become part of the laboring masses.
The masa represents the dominated sectors, as opposed to the dominating sectors which are the trapos and the elite. In today’s parlance, the masa is seen as the most oppressed, exploited sectors of society. Or, according to Hardt and Negri (The Empire), the ‘multitudes’ who are made up of all the economically and politically marginalized sectors of society.
In Marxist terms, the masa represents the proletariat and the semi-proletariat and the lower ranks of the petty-bourgeoisie. In political terms, the masa embodies the class alliance of the forces seeking change in today’s elite-dominated system. While the trapo embodies the status quo, the masa embodies change and represents the forces which stand to benefit from dismantling trapo rule.
Revolution for change
The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement is the character of an emerging broad mass movement that is opposed to elite rule and desirous of system change. This movement is not only anti-Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but is opposed to the entire trapo-elite system. It is not only for regime change but for system change, a change from the rotten capitalist system (some call it semifeudal) towards a just and egalitarian system of society.
The over-all objective of the movement is the dismantling of trapo rule at all levels of state rule and institutions (from the “top-down”) and its replacement of the political rule of the masa, also at all levels of society. The ouster of trapo rule and the installation of genuine power by the masa reflect the political and class character of the struggle that all those seeking change should be waging today. Ousting the dominating class forces from power and installing the dominated class forces signifies revolutionary action, a genuine revolution for change.
Coalition of three forces
The anti-trapo, pro-masa movement can be built around the coalition of three forces that today forms the backbone of a new system replacing trapo rule. They are the laboring class forces, the radical and radicalizing soldiers (also called the ‘military rebels’), and the middle classes (especially those in the lower ranks). These three forces have every reason to join hands and unite around an anti-trapo, pro-masa movement.
The laboring classes, as previously mentioned, are the basic force of the masa, hence the basic force of the revolution for change.
The military rebels are a new phenomena. They have recently acquired a status of developing force in Philippine politics. Rebel officers and men of the AFP/PNP have formed themselves in groups which are calling for change in the military institutions, in the government and in society as a whole. These groups have been called, in general, the OMRs (organization of military reformers) which vary in their range of political vision and attitudes to revolutionary change. There are Right-wing groups that are formed around some generals and top brasses in the AFP/PNP. And there are radical groupings composed of junior officers and ordinary soldiers, for instance the Magdalo and the Para sa Bayan groups.
The differentiation between the top brass of the AFP/PNP, the junior officers and the rank-and-file soldiers also reflects the class stratification in the military hierarchy – the generals representing the ruling class; the junior officers, the middle classes; and the rank-and-file, the working class masses.
Lastly, the middle classes in the Philippine society are also becoming more and more disillusioned with the system of elite rule. They are a precarious force today. Majority of them are falling into the ranks of the working class masses as their businesses go bankrupt and their professions could not provide them the ample savings to earn capital and a comfortable living. They are composed of the growing number of professionals who have to leave the country to look for decent jobs abroad. They have correctly identified the problem of trapo rule and corruption as basic evils that have to be obliterated in society. This leads them to champion calls for good government/good governance in today’s elections.
Strategic movement for change
Hence, the anti-trapo, pro-masa movement is not only an electoral movement in time for the 2010 election. It is a strategic movement that represents the direction of the changes we want to put in place in our society. It is also strategic, in that it brings together the three major forces that aspire for systemic changes. The most politicized representatives of the three forces have pursued different strategies to advance their visions for change in society. But while they may vary in their strategies, they all can come together with unified goals and program under a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement.
[Next: Strategies for Change]
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Building the Anti-Trapo, Pro-Masa Movement (1)
IT'S STILL a full year before the May 2010 elections, and yet there has been a mushrooming of political movements gearing up for this event. There is the RV (register and vote) movement spearheaded by Senator Kiko Pangilinan, the Change Politics movement by ‘civil’ society leader Dinky Soliman, the Ateneo’s leadership fora, and just recently, the Silent Society movement by some spiritual groups in the country. A number of these groups are vehicles for the candidacy of selected aspirants, while a few dabble in some ‘worthy causes’ that should be advanced to have a meaningful election.
It is to the cause of a worthwhile and meaningful election that we from various cause-oriented and civil society groups have come together to plan the formation of a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement. We have decided to launch the movement on June 1 at the grounds of the University of the Philippines, and we will have as speakers some of the non-trapo candidates like Fr. Ed ‘Among Ed’ Panlilio, and the spokesperson of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.
For those interested in the building of this anti-trapo, pro-masa movement, I will devote three consecutive write-ups on the what, why and how of this movement. And I urge the readers to contact me and perhaps join us in the endeavor, especially on the UP launching on June 1.
Who are the trapos
The word trapos have come to represent the ‘traditional politicians’ who wield the proverbial three Gs in order to keep themselves in power (guns, goons and gold). In its narrow meaning, the trapos are composed of the political representatives of the Filipino elite or ruling class. They are those who are in government specifically to serve the interests of the ruling class and their own rent-seeking interests. They are parasites who thrive on the patronage of big landowners and big capitalists and on corruption in the government and in all its agencies.
The trapos also represent the political clans in the Philippines, and the political dynasty that their clans have established in specific areas of the country for a number of years. Some clans have even been holding political power for centuries.
According to the Citizens Anti-Dynasty Movement, cited by Fel Maragay at Manila Standard (May 14, 2007), at least 119 families have ruled the political scene over the decades, surviving every change in administration.
Among the prominent old political dynasties or clans in the country are the Ortegas of La Union, the Dys of Isabela, the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, the Singsons of Ilocos Sur, the Josons of Nueva Ecija, the Romans of Bataan, Magsaysays of Zambales, the Cojuangcos and Aquinos of Tarlac, the Fuentebellas of Camarines Norte, the Dimaporos of Lanao del Sur, the Osmeñas of Cebu, the Espinosas of Masbate, the Rectos of Batangas, the Gordons of Zambales, the Plazas of Agusan, the Duranos of Danao City, the Antoninos of General Santos, and the Lobregats of Zamboanga City and Cerilleses of Zamboanga del Sur.
In recent years new dynasties have emerged like the Estradas of San Juan, Arroyos of Pampanga and Negros Occidental, Angaras of Aurora, the Defensors of Iloilo and Quezon City, the Suarezes of Quezon, the Villafuertes of Camarines Sur, Villarosas of Mindoro Occidental, Espinas of Biliran, Ampatuans of Mindanao, and Akbars of Basilan.”
In most cases the families who wield political power are also those which control the country’s economic resources (landholdings, haciendas, factories, businesses). There are families, however, who are part of the economic elite but do not join the political fray, like the Zobels and the Ayalas. They’re part of the oligarchy which has frontmen in the political scene, and which spends a lot of ‘protection money’ to safeguard their interests.
Trapolitos/trapolitas
There may be newly-emerging trapos (like the scions of the political clans, the trapolitos and the trapolitas) who have not been involved in any traditional political and corrupt activities, and who therefore resist the tag of belonging to the trapos. Although the tag may not seem to fit them yet as individuals, they are trapos in the sense of being members of the class/clans which rose to power to perpetrate elite rule in the country.
While the trapos are pictured to be as the most corrupt and warlord-like representatives of the elite, the word is really synonymous to the domination of the economy and politics by a few elite families in the country. Some of the elite may be benign and modernizing, but they are trapos nonetheless as they represent the dominant forces in a system that oppresses and marginalizes the broad masses.
The padrino system
The trapo system also refers to the padrino system, the patronage system, the personality-centered system, and the transactional system that politicians use to remain in power. Because the trapos do not really solve the country’s problems, and in fact represent the problem, the only way it can keep its hold on power is to perpetuate a system where favor is dispensed selectively to its wards and followers.
The trapos represent the elite system and come from the ranks of the elite forces. If they don’t come from the clan, then they must have given their services to any elite group to maintain their hold on power.
The growing disgust of the population against the trapos comes from the long pent-up anger of the masa against the dominant forces whom they correctly recognize as the perpetrators of their exploitation and oppression. It does not merely come from the revulsion of the masa against government bureaucrats, but from a gut reaction to the dominant class forces which monopolize the country’s resources and keep the majority in perpetual poverty. This aspect of the masa’s rejection of elite rule is the main point that we want to cultivate in building the anti-trapo movement.
It is clear as day that in the coming elections, the field is once more dominated by the trapo candidates. The old elite names have lined up to offer their services to the masa. The dynasties of the Villars, Roxases, Estradas, Escuderos, continue…
[Next, Who are the Masa?]
It is to the cause of a worthwhile and meaningful election that we from various cause-oriented and civil society groups have come together to plan the formation of a broad anti-trapo, pro-masa movement. We have decided to launch the movement on June 1 at the grounds of the University of the Philippines, and we will have as speakers some of the non-trapo candidates like Fr. Ed ‘Among Ed’ Panlilio, and the spokesperson of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.
For those interested in the building of this anti-trapo, pro-masa movement, I will devote three consecutive write-ups on the what, why and how of this movement. And I urge the readers to contact me and perhaps join us in the endeavor, especially on the UP launching on June 1.
Who are the trapos
The word trapos have come to represent the ‘traditional politicians’ who wield the proverbial three Gs in order to keep themselves in power (guns, goons and gold). In its narrow meaning, the trapos are composed of the political representatives of the Filipino elite or ruling class. They are those who are in government specifically to serve the interests of the ruling class and their own rent-seeking interests. They are parasites who thrive on the patronage of big landowners and big capitalists and on corruption in the government and in all its agencies.
The trapos also represent the political clans in the Philippines, and the political dynasty that their clans have established in specific areas of the country for a number of years. Some clans have even been holding political power for centuries.
According to the Citizens Anti-Dynasty Movement, cited by Fel Maragay at Manila Standard (May 14, 2007), at least 119 families have ruled the political scene over the decades, surviving every change in administration.
Among the prominent old political dynasties or clans in the country are the Ortegas of La Union, the Dys of Isabela, the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, the Singsons of Ilocos Sur, the Josons of Nueva Ecija, the Romans of Bataan, Magsaysays of Zambales, the Cojuangcos and Aquinos of Tarlac, the Fuentebellas of Camarines Norte, the Dimaporos of Lanao del Sur, the Osmeñas of Cebu, the Espinosas of Masbate, the Rectos of Batangas, the Gordons of Zambales, the Plazas of Agusan, the Duranos of Danao City, the Antoninos of General Santos, and the Lobregats of Zamboanga City and Cerilleses of Zamboanga del Sur.
In recent years new dynasties have emerged like the Estradas of San Juan, Arroyos of Pampanga and Negros Occidental, Angaras of Aurora, the Defensors of Iloilo and Quezon City, the Suarezes of Quezon, the Villafuertes of Camarines Sur, Villarosas of Mindoro Occidental, Espinas of Biliran, Ampatuans of Mindanao, and Akbars of Basilan.”
In most cases the families who wield political power are also those which control the country’s economic resources (landholdings, haciendas, factories, businesses). There are families, however, who are part of the economic elite but do not join the political fray, like the Zobels and the Ayalas. They’re part of the oligarchy which has frontmen in the political scene, and which spends a lot of ‘protection money’ to safeguard their interests.
Trapolitos/trapolitas
There may be newly-emerging trapos (like the scions of the political clans, the trapolitos and the trapolitas) who have not been involved in any traditional political and corrupt activities, and who therefore resist the tag of belonging to the trapos. Although the tag may not seem to fit them yet as individuals, they are trapos in the sense of being members of the class/clans which rose to power to perpetrate elite rule in the country.
While the trapos are pictured to be as the most corrupt and warlord-like representatives of the elite, the word is really synonymous to the domination of the economy and politics by a few elite families in the country. Some of the elite may be benign and modernizing, but they are trapos nonetheless as they represent the dominant forces in a system that oppresses and marginalizes the broad masses.
The padrino system
The trapo system also refers to the padrino system, the patronage system, the personality-centered system, and the transactional system that politicians use to remain in power. Because the trapos do not really solve the country’s problems, and in fact represent the problem, the only way it can keep its hold on power is to perpetuate a system where favor is dispensed selectively to its wards and followers.
The trapos represent the elite system and come from the ranks of the elite forces. If they don’t come from the clan, then they must have given their services to any elite group to maintain their hold on power.
The growing disgust of the population against the trapos comes from the long pent-up anger of the masa against the dominant forces whom they correctly recognize as the perpetrators of their exploitation and oppression. It does not merely come from the revulsion of the masa against government bureaucrats, but from a gut reaction to the dominant class forces which monopolize the country’s resources and keep the majority in perpetual poverty. This aspect of the masa’s rejection of elite rule is the main point that we want to cultivate in building the anti-trapo movement.
It is clear as day that in the coming elections, the field is once more dominated by the trapo candidates. The old elite names have lined up to offer their services to the masa. The dynasties of the Villars, Roxases, Estradas, Escuderos, continue…
[Next, Who are the Masa?]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Real SWINEs and the FLU
By scrapping the national day of celebration for Pacquiao’s victory (originally set on Friday) and resetting it on Monday, the government makes the point that the Pacman is not exempted from doing the “precautionary measures” necessary to prevent the outbreak of the swine flu virus in the Philippines.
The government sought the counsel of the World Health Organization which immediately advised Pacquiao to spend five more days abroad rather than going back on Friday. To everybody’s cheers, the Pacman promptly defied the advice, flew in on Friday, went to a mass, graced a mall show, and is now happily awaiting the Monday rituals.
If Pacquio, who’s now a world-renowned prized possession of the country, is not exempted from the measures, how come the likes of Environment Lito Atienza and a number of Filipino officials who came from Las Vegas for the fight did not go through the same precautions? (Most of us, by the way, only found out that Atienza just arrived from the US when he boasted in the papers that he just went through normal “screening” at the airport on his arrival.)
While we’re at it, why is ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza strutting around like a perennial alalay to the Pacman? Pacquiao is doing his job, but is Atienza doing his? Atienza had been in a spin days before Pacquiao’s homecoming, precisely during those days when the country was battered north to south by typhoons, landslides and floodings. In Hubo, Sorsogon, 18 people died in a landslide at the height of storm “Dante”. There are now cracks in the hills surrounding a number of villages in the south, and the local government has been asking for support to relocate 4,000 people. In the north, typhoon “Emong” already killed 26 people. In Ifugao alone, mudslides killed 9 people and blocked 80% of the roads.
People are dying almost like flies, especially those living in makeshift houses and in areas with scant support from the government. Of course, we could not prevent typhoons from coming, but at least we could prevent mudslides and landslides, and we could reinforce the barungbarongs of our hapless citizens if we want to. But apart from a thousand hosannas to Pacquiao, Atienza hasn’t said a word of environmental concern to the people dying.
If the problem is the possibility of an outbreak of swine flu from the USA, why is there not even an oink from the government about the swines from Congress who flew to Las Vegas and back? How many were the swines? Before the fight, the media reported that some 50 congressmen were set to go to Vegas, although they only mentioned Speaker Prospero Nograles, Representatives Al Francis Bichara of Albay, Bienvenido Abante of Manila, and Eric Singson of Ilocos Norte. There was a mention of Representative Monico Puentevella of Bacolod who would be in Vegas for the Bombo Radyo.
We, the ordinary people, have to right to know who are these congressmen and government officials who have not been named by media. We want to give them our unmentionable comments too. Whether they use their own money or their pork barrel is of no consequence, because at this time of unmitigated economic crisis, this is – to say the least – an ostentatious display of privilege and power. To say more, it’s really obscene. They are parading themselves not as leaders of the nation, but as real swines in the pigsty that is now Congress.
While we’re at swines, let us now turn to the swine flu. The Avaaz, an independent NGO based in Europe and New York, reported that while no one knows whether the swine flu will become a global pandemic, it is becoming clear where it came from. And they pointed to giant pig factory farms run by Smithfield Corporation, a US multinational corporation in Veracruz, Mexico.
Avaaz pointed to Smithfield, the largest pig producer in the world, as the source of the A(H1N1) outbreak. Smithfield crammed thousands of pigs into dirty warehouses and sprayed with a cocktail of drugs which poses health risks to food and environment. Avaaz said that the vast pool of manure accumulated by the giant pigsty created the conditions for breeding new viruses like the swine flu.
Avaaz also reported that Smithfield has already been fined $12.6 million and is currently under another federal investigation in the US for toxic environmental damage from accumulated pig excrement.
Like everyone else, we dread the spread of the swine flu virus. We’ve got to do something to stop it. But we also must stop the real swines from either stealing our money or wasting the country’s resources so they can live like kings and enjoy a front view seat in luxurious Las Vegas during a historic Pacquiao fight – while we the people die like flies during routine typhoon visits. #
The government sought the counsel of the World Health Organization which immediately advised Pacquiao to spend five more days abroad rather than going back on Friday. To everybody’s cheers, the Pacman promptly defied the advice, flew in on Friday, went to a mass, graced a mall show, and is now happily awaiting the Monday rituals.
If Pacquio, who’s now a world-renowned prized possession of the country, is not exempted from the measures, how come the likes of Environment Lito Atienza and a number of Filipino officials who came from Las Vegas for the fight did not go through the same precautions? (Most of us, by the way, only found out that Atienza just arrived from the US when he boasted in the papers that he just went through normal “screening” at the airport on his arrival.)
While we’re at it, why is ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza strutting around like a perennial alalay to the Pacman? Pacquiao is doing his job, but is Atienza doing his? Atienza had been in a spin days before Pacquiao’s homecoming, precisely during those days when the country was battered north to south by typhoons, landslides and floodings. In Hubo, Sorsogon, 18 people died in a landslide at the height of storm “Dante”. There are now cracks in the hills surrounding a number of villages in the south, and the local government has been asking for support to relocate 4,000 people. In the north, typhoon “Emong” already killed 26 people. In Ifugao alone, mudslides killed 9 people and blocked 80% of the roads.
People are dying almost like flies, especially those living in makeshift houses and in areas with scant support from the government. Of course, we could not prevent typhoons from coming, but at least we could prevent mudslides and landslides, and we could reinforce the barungbarongs of our hapless citizens if we want to. But apart from a thousand hosannas to Pacquiao, Atienza hasn’t said a word of environmental concern to the people dying.
If the problem is the possibility of an outbreak of swine flu from the USA, why is there not even an oink from the government about the swines from Congress who flew to Las Vegas and back? How many were the swines? Before the fight, the media reported that some 50 congressmen were set to go to Vegas, although they only mentioned Speaker Prospero Nograles, Representatives Al Francis Bichara of Albay, Bienvenido Abante of Manila, and Eric Singson of Ilocos Norte. There was a mention of Representative Monico Puentevella of Bacolod who would be in Vegas for the Bombo Radyo.
We, the ordinary people, have to right to know who are these congressmen and government officials who have not been named by media. We want to give them our unmentionable comments too. Whether they use their own money or their pork barrel is of no consequence, because at this time of unmitigated economic crisis, this is – to say the least – an ostentatious display of privilege and power. To say more, it’s really obscene. They are parading themselves not as leaders of the nation, but as real swines in the pigsty that is now Congress.
While we’re at swines, let us now turn to the swine flu. The Avaaz, an independent NGO based in Europe and New York, reported that while no one knows whether the swine flu will become a global pandemic, it is becoming clear where it came from. And they pointed to giant pig factory farms run by Smithfield Corporation, a US multinational corporation in Veracruz, Mexico.
Avaaz pointed to Smithfield, the largest pig producer in the world, as the source of the A(H1N1) outbreak. Smithfield crammed thousands of pigs into dirty warehouses and sprayed with a cocktail of drugs which poses health risks to food and environment. Avaaz said that the vast pool of manure accumulated by the giant pigsty created the conditions for breeding new viruses like the swine flu.
Avaaz also reported that Smithfield has already been fined $12.6 million and is currently under another federal investigation in the US for toxic environmental damage from accumulated pig excrement.
Like everyone else, we dread the spread of the swine flu virus. We’ve got to do something to stop it. But we also must stop the real swines from either stealing our money or wasting the country’s resources so they can live like kings and enjoy a front view seat in luxurious Las Vegas during a historic Pacquiao fight – while we the people die like flies during routine typhoon visits. #
Monday, May 4, 2009
Pacquiao Running
Immediately after becoming a world boxing legend through an electrifying and quick knockout of British boxer Hatton, Pacquio is in the news again. Yes, he’s running again as a Congress representative or, this time around, a mayor in
Remember that this will be the second time around the Pacman will run in the elections. The last time he ran for a congressional seat in 2007, he was roundly defeated by then incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio who chalked up almost double the votes of the Pacman.
What is the problem of Pacquiao running?
Bayan Muna party-list representative Teddy Casiño said Pacquiao should train first for the “rigors of politics”, especially lawmaking. Other politicians have advised him to drop the idea of aspiring for a political seat and concentrate instead on his boxing where he’s really “good at”.
I really don’t think the Pacman will not be up to the so-called rigors of politics. Pacman is not as brainless as other congressmen and senators who could not even get to enact a worthwhile bill in Congress. His boxing records are not merely the efforts of a brawnie in the ring; it has intellectual planning and style that is sometimes likened to Muhammad Ali’s.
The real problem with Pacquiao is his kind of politics. He has allowed himself to be used by the corrupt, greedy and ineffectual trapos lording it over the Malacanang palace, Congress and the local governments. To see Pacquiao almost sheepishly being paraded around by GMA and the First Husband, DENR Secretary Lito Atienza, and the likes, is revolting. What makes it disturbing is that Pacquiao, despite his worldwide acumen, grit and charisma, has allowed himself to become a mere spectacle for the trapos.
Why can’t he be like his champion Muhammad Ali? Ali won the respect and accolade of the people worldwide not only because of his fighting style, but because he represented the underdogs in a society ruled by white imperialist masters. As an Olympics gold medalist in the early 1960s (100 wins, 5 losses), Ali was reported to have thrown away his gold medal in the
In the late 1960s, Ali refused to be drafted in the
So the problem is not Pacquiao’s inability to comprehend the role of a legislator or a local official. The problem is on which side of the fence he’s sitting on. With the company he keeps today, with nary a pronouncement on what’s wrong with the present regime and the present system, the Pacman is clearly not championing the cause of the masses. #
Looking for an Anti-Trapo Leader
Today, we have a discussion with the supporters of Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio, the governor of Pampanga who won in the 2007 elections through a spectacular show of local people's power. Among Ed defeated two trapo (traditional politicians) candidates who had the support of not three, but five "Gs" (guns, goons, golds, Gloria, and gambling lords).
Is it possible to replicate Among Ed's local victory at a national scale in the coming 2010 elections? The coming elections are destined to be a non-traditional one. There is so much disgust against the GMA administration and the regime that it represents. Gloria is the quintessential trapo. She fully exposed the rottenness of the trapo system, so much so that all the other trapos, eagerly awaiting their turn to replace her, will face bourgeoining public disapproval in the coming polls.
It means that in the 2010 elections, the people are becoming ready for a non-trapo alternative leader. There is not much excitement generated by the parading candidates offering their bids at presidency in 2010: Chiz Escudero, so young, yet so trapo; Manny Villar, yet another trapo; Mar Roxas, budding trapo; Erap Estrada, been-there trapo.
We agree that Among Ed represents a new high for the people who are starting to understand the need to repudiate trapo rule.
But a national fight for the presidential post cannot be compared to a local people's power upsurge. There should be a national upsurge that can generate widespread excitement among the population.
And for this, we need the support of various forces that want meaningful reforms in the government. Forces who are ready to fight trapo rule.
We told Among Ed's supporters that we need the coalition of three forces in order to win. They are the forces representing the working class masses, the forces of the military rebels, and the forces of the rising middle classes. These are the coalition of forces that also made possible the victory of progressive and socialist leaders in Latin America -- in Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador.
A number of organized groups representing the three forces should come together to form a broad anti-trapo movement that can be the backbone of resistance against trapo rule. The working class masses are represented by various sectoral organizations among workers, urban poor dwellers, peasants, youth and women. These are the groups that also comprise the newly-formed Partido Lakas ng Masa.
The military rebels are also represented by reform-oriented groups in the AFP and PNP whose leaders are still languishing in jails because of failed attempts to oust GMA from power. The rebels, calling themselves the "nationalist soldiers of the people" have come to realize that the problem lies not only with GMA, but with the "anti-nationalist elite" and the rotten political system. The nationalist soldiers are united in supporting Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim as the man who should take the mantle of leadership from the corrupt, arrogant and Quisling leader in Malacanang.
The middle classes are starting to organize into a number of groups that support the likes of Among Ed, Chief Justice Renato Puno, and Gov. Grace Padaca. Although they are small in numbers, they are emboldened by the possibility that non-trapo candidates who represent "good government" can make it in 2010. Some of the groups representing the middle class sectors are Kaya Natin, MP3, and PAX.
During the discussion, Among Ed supporters asked what would happen if we could not unite on who should be our standard-bearer for 2010. Our advise is to keep the negotiations open on who should represent the three forces during the election. It is still early to make this decision.
What is important right now is to start building the movement that will be the backbone of the anti-trapo resistance. The organizations belonging to the three forces should kick-start the formation of the anti-trapo movement. It should clarify its objectives (dismantle trapo rule and install a non-trapo government from "top-down"), and the urgent demands that will constitute its platform of governance. Once the movement is launched, then it can start the negotiations on who could be anointed as the standard-bearer of the organization, the leader that could command the respect and support of the masses. #
Is it possible to replicate Among Ed's local victory at a national scale in the coming 2010 elections? The coming elections are destined to be a non-traditional one. There is so much disgust against the GMA administration and the regime that it represents. Gloria is the quintessential trapo. She fully exposed the rottenness of the trapo system, so much so that all the other trapos, eagerly awaiting their turn to replace her, will face bourgeoining public disapproval in the coming polls.
It means that in the 2010 elections, the people are becoming ready for a non-trapo alternative leader. There is not much excitement generated by the parading candidates offering their bids at presidency in 2010: Chiz Escudero, so young, yet so trapo; Manny Villar, yet another trapo; Mar Roxas, budding trapo; Erap Estrada, been-there trapo.
We agree that Among Ed represents a new high for the people who are starting to understand the need to repudiate trapo rule.
But a national fight for the presidential post cannot be compared to a local people's power upsurge. There should be a national upsurge that can generate widespread excitement among the population.
And for this, we need the support of various forces that want meaningful reforms in the government. Forces who are ready to fight trapo rule.
We told Among Ed's supporters that we need the coalition of three forces in order to win. They are the forces representing the working class masses, the forces of the military rebels, and the forces of the rising middle classes. These are the coalition of forces that also made possible the victory of progressive and socialist leaders in Latin America -- in Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador.
A number of organized groups representing the three forces should come together to form a broad anti-trapo movement that can be the backbone of resistance against trapo rule. The working class masses are represented by various sectoral organizations among workers, urban poor dwellers, peasants, youth and women. These are the groups that also comprise the newly-formed Partido Lakas ng Masa.
The military rebels are also represented by reform-oriented groups in the AFP and PNP whose leaders are still languishing in jails because of failed attempts to oust GMA from power. The rebels, calling themselves the "nationalist soldiers of the people" have come to realize that the problem lies not only with GMA, but with the "anti-nationalist elite" and the rotten political system. The nationalist soldiers are united in supporting Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim as the man who should take the mantle of leadership from the corrupt, arrogant and Quisling leader in Malacanang.
The middle classes are starting to organize into a number of groups that support the likes of Among Ed, Chief Justice Renato Puno, and Gov. Grace Padaca. Although they are small in numbers, they are emboldened by the possibility that non-trapo candidates who represent "good government" can make it in 2010. Some of the groups representing the middle class sectors are Kaya Natin, MP3, and PAX.
During the discussion, Among Ed supporters asked what would happen if we could not unite on who should be our standard-bearer for 2010. Our advise is to keep the negotiations open on who should represent the three forces during the election. It is still early to make this decision.
What is important right now is to start building the movement that will be the backbone of the anti-trapo resistance. The organizations belonging to the three forces should kick-start the formation of the anti-trapo movement. It should clarify its objectives (dismantle trapo rule and install a non-trapo government from "top-down"), and the urgent demands that will constitute its platform of governance. Once the movement is launched, then it can start the negotiations on who could be anointed as the standard-bearer of the organization, the leader that could command the respect and support of the masses. #
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