Gloria Arroyo’s desperation to survive politically is obvious in her attempts to pervert the Constitution just to be able to shift from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government.
When the option of a constituent assembly was stopped dead by an almost united Senate, Arroyo ally House Speaker Jose de Venecia tried pushing for a situation where the 220-man House of Representatives would swallow the 23-man Senate by advocating that both chambers vote as one. The idea is that the two-thirds of the required votes to propose an amendment would be easier to get from Malacañang-beholden congressmen.
All the 23 senators took a stand in a resolution last week that voting on the amendments to the Constitution should be done separately. De Venecia came up with another bizarre interpretation that even with only the House of Representatives voting, they can amend the Constitution.
While De Venecia and company were pushing for Con-Ass, Gloria Arroyo activated another Constitutional perversion: government- initiated People’s Initiative.
De Venecia betrayed his owns doubts about his House-only Con-Ass when he said the House will give higher priority to Malacañang-initiated signature campaign being sold as People’s Initiative.
What People’s Initiative is he and Gloria Arroyo talking about? There is no clamor from the people to change the constitution now. The clamor, which is rising by the day, is for Arroyo to step down.
In fact, the way the signature campaign was “smuggled”, in the words of a barangay official in Cebu,into the barangay assembly last weekend is proof that the initiative did not come from the people. It betrayed the hand of the Department of Interior and Local Government which is an extension of Malacañang.
In Con-Ass, the timetable is for all the amendments to be approved before Congress adjourns in mid-June. The plebiscite will be held before the end of the year, after which the election of members of the parliament in early 2007. The new parliamentary government should be functioning by the middle of next year.
Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, who didn’t have the time to investigate the Hello Garci tapes, the biggest scandal to shake the election body, is eager to devote the resources of the Commission for the verification of signatures of the bogus People’s Initiative in violation of the 1997 Supreme Court decision prohibiting them to do so unless an enabling law is passed.
Abalos said that “barring legal obstacles, the referendum for the approval of Charter change via a people’s initiative may take place in July.” It surprises nobody that his timetable hews closely with that of de Venecia.
The legal obstacle could be the Supreme Court, which in 1997, declared as illegal the “People’s Initiative” initiated by Pirma absent an enabling law. We would not be surprised if this time, with Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban at the helm, the high court would reverse itself and declare the current bogus People’s Initiative genuine.
It should not be forgotten than Panganiban was a major patron of Arroyo’s unelected presidency in 2001. He would save Arroyo, by all means even if he has again to refer to the book of Isaiah.
Everybody is wondering, why the frantic perversion of the Constitution?
The Alternative Law Groups, a coalition of 17 law groups engaged in developmental lawyering for the poor and marginalized sectors, articulated what everybody has suspected all along. ALG said the real intent of Charter change is to shield Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from being ousted and make her an unimpeachable president until 2010. I say even beyond 2010.
ALG cited the 8-page draft petition being currently distributed in local government units which is expected to be submitted to the Comelec later. In that petition, amendments include Section 3 of Article XI (Accountability of Public Officers) which proposes the creation of a commission on impeachment. It states that “A vote of at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Parliament shall be necessary to convict on impeachment. The vote of each Member shall be recorded.”
The present Constitution requires only a third of the House of Representatives to affirm a favorable resolution with the Articles of Impeachment.
The July 2006 timetable for Charter Change is expected to render irrelevant the new impeachment complaint being prepared by the opposition which should begin also in July.
It is obvious that Gloria Arroyo is down to her last cards. The killing of the impeachment last year did not erase what people heard in the Hello Garci tapes – she cheated in the 2004 elections. CPR. EO 464, Proclamation 1017 did not make her illegitimate presidency legitimate in the eyes of the people. She now has to change the Constitution.
The problem of Arroyo is that truth and time are not on her side.
But what we are worried about is that, the more desperate she becomes, the uglier the situation will be. It’s not going to be a graceful exit for her.
Yes Ellen, the more desperate she becomes, the more hardships we have to suffer. She will throw all her dirtiest tactics and evil might just to cling to power and save her ass in jail…Maybe God is allowing these things to happen, para malaman kung sino-sino ang sa Kanya at kung sino-sino ang kay satanas. And we are now seeing these in our politicians and in people who run our rotten institutions. Pero may hangganan din ang lahat… WE JUST HAVE TO CONTINUE TO BE IN THE TRUTH AND FIGHT EVIL WITHOUT LETUP… Yes Ellen, it will not be a graceful exit for GMA and her cohorts. Everybody in her EVIL REIGN will be VERY UGLY in our history books.
as for me, kahit makalusot yung cha cha ngayon na posibleng mangyari, at lumampas sila sa 2010, kahit uugod ugod na sila sa pwesto, at dun na sila mamatay, di nila madadala ang mga ninakaw nila sa langit, babalik din sa atin yun. lalala muna ang kasalukuyang sitwasyon, magsikap muna tayong lahat para mabuhay ng marangal, makakakain 3 times a day. tulungan na lang muna natin ang mahihirap. ang pagkakaupo ni gma, katusong tutoo, ay isang sumpa sa pamilya niya pati sa mga alagad niya. yun ang destiny nila. mamanahin ng mga apo nila. sa ngayon, bakit di natin iboycott ang mga produkto ng mga bansang sumusuporta pa rin sa kanya? tangkilikin natin ang sariling produkto natin. yung produkto ng mga negosyanteng pabor sa kanya, i boycott din natin. nawala na ang inis at galit ko, napalitan ng pagasa kasi malapit nang matapos ang maligayang araw nila, ramdam na ramdam na natin. samantala, lets go on with our own lives, umpisa pa lang tayo, patapos na sila.
tyl
31 March 2006
Again it is all happening too fast, gloria and her clowns wants to fast track cha-cha. The people should be asked “DO YOU WANT THESE CLOWNS TO CHOOSE FOR OURSELVES OUR LEADERS???
According to the “great yoda” by july parliamentary-unicam system will be in place, WOW as sen gordon says “only in the Philippines”, ang galing galing naman nila, in 4 months time ayos na ang shift to parliamentary system ng pinas.
The great yoda is soooooooo ambitious, wanting to become the prime minister, tsk tsk tsk, anyway, galing naman sya sa promise land e (always making promises, heheheheheh).
In case they succeed in pushing the peoples initiative(???) I minght sacrifice my right to vote, kasi sila rin naman ang makikinabang, the same rotten tomatoes will run the govt.
I think we should call for snap election, all of the elective and appointive officials should now resign and make way for snap election.
jinx
as for me, dapat pipirma tayo sa ” people inis sa thieves “. kailangan natin palayasin ang magnanakaw, sinungaling at mandarambong sa palasyo. kung hindi tayo kikilos sinong kikilos, kung hindi ngayon kailan? dapat palayasin na. now na!!!
This “Puno Initiative” will be GMA’s Waterloo! And it will not be a graceful exit as everyone in this blog see it – much bloodier than the Bicutan siege considering the Gestapo-style of GMA’s army and police.
I am with you, Ms. Ellen that changing the form of government is not the solution to the current problem of the government. The solution is removing the problem, which is GMA, by SNAP ELECTION.
I am wondering why AngTenga de Venecia was too assertive yesterday when he was interviewed by Ricky Carandang on ANC that a new form of government will be inplace this coming from July. The initial result of the rigged “Puno Initiative” from different barangays does not reflect the true sentiments of the voting public.
GMA is too desperate and she’s really down on her last few cards… not unless she will unleash a new deck of cards courtesy of PCSO with the words in each of the 52 cards, “I, GMA, IS STEPPING DOWN!”
A very remote possiblity – but still a wishful thinking.
Then she will be remembered in history as the Cheater who relinguished the Philippines Presidency after attempting to implement the result of the “Puno Initiative”!
God have mercy on us!!! This PI is not the answer to our problem. My goodness!!! gloria and her allies are out of their minds. enough of their intiatives……..dapat sipain na si gloria……..huwag nang patagalin, marami pa iyang magagawang kawalanghiyaan!!!
Ano ba ang tanong sa PI na yan?
I think ang tinatanong nila eto
“PIrma ang mga ayaw kay Gloria”
Kaya marahil marmai napapirma…
Nalinlang marahil. Akala nila sino any
ayaw kay Gluria Mandurugas.
Iyng pagboto na lang ang meron sa ating mga Pilipino
ang karapatang pumili ng magiging Lider. Pati ba naman yon
gustong kunin sa atin ng gobyernong ito…
Ninakawan na tayo nuong nakaraang eleksyon ngayon naman
talagang aalisin na sa atin ang karapatang mamili ng pinuno.
Basta KABAYAN, huwag nating kakalimutan ang mga kasalanan ng mga trapong iyan…
Ikulong natin sila..
ELLEN, May punto is mlq3 — na malakas ang katayuan ng Pangulo. Kasi hindi naman niya talagang kailangan ang Chacha kung tutuusin. Hinahayaan lang niya si FVR at JDV na tahakin ang landas na ito, bilang bayad sa kanilang tuloy na pagkakaibigan. Kung magwagi, di mabuti, kung mabigo, eh ano? Tuloy lang ang 1987 charter. Ngunit ako, binibilang ko ang positibo. Sa katunayan hindi kaya ng palasyo, pulis at militar na supilin ang mga tao, lalo na tayong wala namang gamit na dahas. Hindi nila mauulit ang 1972 kahit subukan. Habang kaya nating malayang magsalarawan ng kamalian at batikusin iyon, okey lang kung kumapit sila sa ating matalim na mga habla.
She has a new deck although I’m not sure it’s any better than her old deck. Anyway an intensified all-out attack on the Senate is part of the plan.
My theory of why who ever is on top of the Heap always never run out of tricks of fresh cards to play, no matter without strategy is this:
The biggest problem that besiege the country is not the current crisis that hunts the government of the day, but the same one that lingers on since then. It is the Economic Inequity that exist between the Majority of the Masses and the very Few “Ruling Class” who in turn control just about every aspect of their livelihood thereby controlling the political landscape. Ever since the Country comes to govern by itself, the Government keep changing hands between the limited groups of the “Ruling Class” who were the only people capable to contest the positions and thereby again maintaining the status quo. So the problem lingers on. While the population (thanks to the “church”) doubled or tripled during the period the same number of “rule makers” control most of the agricultural land, the mega-businesses, and the political “party” in the Government to protect their interest forever. Tackle these “crisis” and everything will just fall into places.
It may take a very radical reform on how we look at property ownership. I’m not advocating socialism here, but there is nothing wrong with it for the fair sharing of the country wealth and resources. Or for the simple sharing by paying fair share of taxes, which we know some of the very wealthy don’t just avoid but evade. Lastly, it would be nice if our public officials and public servants and all citizens will atart looking at ourselves and stop making a mess of our own.
Will somebody please “deck” her?
I think Uncle Sam sponsored-coup d’état is a possible alternative to cut or deck the bogus President Gloria Arroyo. There’s ready P2.1 billion budget to finance a plebiscite on constitutional amendments. It appears by hook or by crook charter change thru people’s initiative is a done deal made in Malacanang. Conspirators Ronnie Puno, Jose De Venecia and Raul Lambino of Sigaw ng Bayan are the real enemy of the state. Anak ng jueteng hindi pa tapos iyong petition may pera na para plebisito. Lutong makaw!
Naniniwala rin ako tulad ni MLQ3 na marami pang baraha si Gloria at planado nang lahat ang sunod-sunod na gagawin niya. Pero hindi ako agree sa kanya kung kelan at kung paano aalis si GMA. Sa paniwala ko kung maaalis man siya ay sa panahon at paraang hindi inaasahan ng sinuman. Bigla na lamang itong mangyayari at matutulala ang lahat at magtatanong: Paanong nangyari iyon?
Pero mangyayari ito sa panahong sunod-sunod na makukuha ni Gloria ang gusto niya at sa akala niya ay kontrolado niya ang lahat ng bagay. Pero babagsak ang TABAK at mawawala siya bago pa malaman ng mga tao kung ano ang nangyayari. ITAGA NINYO SA BATO, ITO ANG MANGYAYARI!
SIGE TAGAIN NA NATIN si GMA at mga Heneral niyang bayaran..
“It is the Economic Inequity that exist between the Majority of the Masses and the very Few “Ruling Class” who in turn control just about every aspect of their livelihood thereby controlling the political landscape.” – Scarboro
—
Before 1521, mojority of the Filipinos are very “nationalistic” – willing to die for the motherland, just like the breed of Lapulapu.
They succeeded in conquering us thru brainwashing, promoting supertitions – the belief that there is God. [No offense to those who still believe so. It’s not your fault.]
Today, the Filipino is not capable of thinking beyond the next meal due to lack of adequate education because the Elite doesn’t want to – by not giving the right minimum wage.
If you want change, then by all means let’s eliminate the entity that control us.
Sad fact:
Elite = 40 families = controls 90% economy
Poor = 80 million = shares 10% economy
sa tingin ko ang isa sa pwedeng makakapabagsak dyan kay freakin midget ay yung mga naaaping mga nanay na nahihirapan na sa buhay katulad ng mga metro aid nanagrally sa edsa guadalupe, nakita natin yan sa rally nila sa mmda.
Arroyo, Foe of Estrada, Is Part of Manila Elite
By Thomas Fuller, International Herald Tribune
Saturday, January 20,2001
http://www.iht.com/articles/2001/01/20/veep.2.t.php
For the past four months, Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines has played the part of political rebel, marching through the streets of Manila to demand the resignation of President Joseph Estrada.
But Mrs. Arroyo, who on Friday won the support of the Philippine military and declared herself “commander in chief,” is anything but a political outsider.
The vice president, a 53-year-old economist, is a product of the Philippine establishment.
Her father, Diosdado Macapagal, was the president of the Philippines in the 1960s. Her husband, Jose Miguel, also from a political family, is a wealthy lawyer and businessman.
Like many wealthy Filipinos, Mrs. Arroyo went abroad for her education, attending Georgetown University for two years before returning to the Philippines, where she eventually obtained a doctorate degree in economics.
In her campaign to unseat Mr. Estrada, Mrs. Arroyo has aligned herself with the country’s “old money.” Her strongest support has come from Spanish business dynasties like the Ayala family, which controls one of the biggest corporate empires in the country.
The family patriarch, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, attended one of Mrs. Arroyo’s earliest demonstrations last year. A multimillionaire descendant of Spanish colonialists, Mr. Ayala joined tens of thousands of protesters in chanting anti-Estrada slogans, perhaps a fitting symbol of a political movement that took place in the streets but was often organized in the offices and boardrooms.
Mrs. Arroyo has garnered endorsements from top business organizations in Manila and has the backing of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the eyes of the Manila elite, it was Mr. Estrada who was the outsider.
Mr. Estrada, a former action-movie star, was kicked out of high school and dropped out of college.
As president, Mr. Estrada surrounded himself with ethnic Chinese businessmen who had helped finance his political campaign. Mrs. Arroyo’s supporters felt increasingly threatened by the Chinese businessmen and resented the privileged place they had gained in the Estrada administration.
Mrs. Arroyo’s allies say the Philippines will benefit from her economics background at a time when investment is flat and the economy is generally one of the worst performing in Asia.
“Her greatest strength is where the problem now lies — in terms of the economy,” said Renato de Villa, a close adviser and former defense secretary.
From the early stages of the impeachment proceedings against Mr. Estrada, Mrs. Arroyo has tried to outline her policies as a possible president.
In an interview last year, Mrs. Arroyo said her main priority would be to lure money back to the Philippines.
“We have to show the world very early in the game that there’s going to be transparency and a level playing field,” she said.
The country’s “niche,” she said, is information technology.
“We’ve already shown that we have competitive advantage — let’s maximize it,” she said.
With the posts of president and vice president separately contested in the Philippines, Mrs. Arroyo was elected vice president in 1998 with perhaps the largest margin of votes in Philippine history: 7 million more than her closest rival.
But recent polls have shown a decline in her approval ratings. In a nationwide survey in December, only 20 percent said Mrs. Arroyo would do a better job than Mr. Estrada as president, 46 percent said she would be the same, and 26 percent said she would be worse than Mr. Estrada.
In a country where at least five prominent politicians came to fame through television or movie careers, Mrs. Arroyo’s supporters acknowledge that one reason for her electoral success is her resemblance to a well-known Philippine movie star, Nora Aunor.
Mrs. Arroyo, who has three children, was undersecretary of trade and industry in the administration of Corazon Aquino, who was the president from 1986 to 1992.
Mrs. Arroyo, elected to the Senate in in 1992, was secretary of social welfare and development in the
Estrada administration while serving concurrently as vice president. She resigned from the social welfare post in October when she began the campaign to unseat Mr.Estrada.
Copyright © 2001 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved
* * *
Nasaan nga ba talaga ang kiliti ng mga elitista at mga grupo nito?
saan pa ba?? e di nasa business nila ang kiliti. Iyang mga elitista ang pinangangalagaan ay kabuhayan nila, business and money. kahit sinong iupo sa malacanang, aalagaan nila basta huwag lang salingin ang kanilang mga negosyo. Iyon lang. Konti lang ang mga mayayaman dito sa Pilipinas, kung magkakaisa ang mga mahihirap, talo sila. Kaya kilos na bayan. Now na!!!
“Today, the Filipino is not capable of thinking beyond the next meal due to lack of adequate education because the Elite doesn’t want to – by not giving the right minimum wage.
If you want change, then by all means let’s eliminate the entity that control us.”- Anino
—-
Then let us start by educating our next generation the proper way. To help in your own way like we do for so long now, check our web http://www.alimodian.net. The present crops of leaders we have now are the same group of elitists that just singing different tunes depending on where they are perch. They are beyond salvation. Be the current opposition, take a look who they are. Same rule-makers waiting their turns at the till. I can only suggest the process of elimination by attrition. Because I always believe, now in our days-change can be achieved without resorting to violence. My perspective may be different, but I have seen too much violence happening around the world now and in places no change for the better were achieved as results. Meantime we’ll keep our protests and our consternations towards them, by all means legal and lawful if just to show them we are above their kind. Be in a country for a month to experience first hand and see the events and to educate myself further as I have spent most of my life living here (canada) where things are done quite differently. thank you..
“I have spent most of my life living here (canada) where things are done quite differently.” –Scarboro
—-
Karamihan sa amin dito ay malaki ang pagkakaiba sa iyong lipunang ginagalawan.
Kung sakali man na sa Papua New Guinea, Sudan o Austria mo ginugol ang iyong buhay, ganyan pa rin ba ang iyong pananaw?
Sa pagkakalam ko, ang mga ninuno dyan sa North America(Estados Unidos at Kanada) ay nanggaling din sa Europa na mga nagsitakas sa kalupitan ng mga hari’t reyna at mga alipores nito noong unang panahon.
M’Ellen:
YOUR STATEMENT IS VERY ACCURATE:
“Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, who didn’t have the time to investigate the Hello Garci tapes, the biggest scandal to shake the election body, is eager to devote the resources of the Commission for the verification of signatures of the bogus People’s Initiative in violation …”
That’s because a politician was appointed to a body that’s suppose to be neutral… precisely to protect the one that appoints.
This is happening because the present system allows it.
If we are to change the system, as we should be by all means, the presidential power to appoint an offical to a neutral body should be removed.
If we want a body to stay neutral, then that body should stand alone, with a procedure to select it’s own set of officials, and with a predetermined perpetual budget.
With predetermined budget as a percentage of GNP/GDP, preprogrammed projects and predefined functions for every government entities, those offices could function independently. And we don’t even need Congress as it is today.
Napansin ko sa mga Tongreesmen na ‘yan, kahit ‘di pumasok sa mga sessions nila ay tumatakbo pa rin ang buhay natin. Kaya dapat lang alisin silang lahat.
The New Comelec must be manned by student organization representatives/volunteers. This is a better training ground than SK where the youth are being taught how to corrupt.
The New Lawmaking Body shall be “lean and mean” – manned by people in the practice of law. I don’t believe that anybody could just formulate sensible laws without the necessary training and experience.
Public Works and Highways must follow a development plan that is independent of whoever sits at Malacanan. The president’s function would only be to execute this Master Development Plan to the best of his/her ability – not formulate his/her own.
There must be a continuity of development programs if we are to move forward.
All these are not expected under GMA as she is part of that change to move forward.
am back after a long vacation away
from my computer.
to pundits, critics, bootlickers and
slaves of the fake president remember
you believe God works in myterious ways.
A Parliament of criminals could be the
saving grace for our country. IT CAN
TRIGGER THE MUCH NEEDED REVOLUTION
THAT WILL RID OUR COUNTRY OF THE
BARNACLES THAT’S EATING ITS VITALS.
at·tri·tion Pronunciation (-trshn)
n.
1. A rubbing away or wearing down by friction.
2. A gradual diminution in number or strength because of constant stress.
3. A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death.
4. Repentance for sin motivated by fear of punishment rather than by love of God.
—-
Scarboro,
Thanks for the comment.
I agree with what you wish should be done. But people are already dying here, literally. They don’t have the luxury of time.
The change must be swift, decisive and radical – something that’s not limited to what’s been tried before.
Anino,
I agree the change must be swift, decising and radical but you need the support of big business and the middle class to effect that.
Without their support, the change won’t be meaningful and in the long run, won’t work.
Gloria’s survival today rests in the apathy of the sectors I mentioned. While these sectors haven’t mustered the physical and moral courage to help lead towards “radical” (as in surgical) & decisive changes, there can’t be any change.
Realistically and historically, revolutions, radical & decisive changes, swift actions towards a meaningful political change are never started by the impoverished class. It’s sad but that’s a fact of life.
ms a de brux
i disagree with your last paragragph above:
pls read on.
Here’s something about the massive
rallies by the French Youth and Workers
last Tuesday.
“From the French Revolution to last Tuesday’s countrywide marches and strikes against a new labour law, filling the streets in protest has been a defining element of French democracy.
“Tradition explains the route taken last Tuesday by the biggest demonstration Paris has seen in decades to protest a law that, initially, allowed workers under the age of 26 to be dismissed without explanation during their first two years on the job.
“Like millions of marchers before them, they followed a path rooted in history. It began in the Latin Quarter, on the Left Bank of the River Seine, where in 1968 student protests and strikes pushed president Charles de Gaulle to dissolve the National Assembly and call parliamentary elections. It crossed the bridge to the Place de la Bastille, once the site of a prison that symbolized repressive monarchist rule. The storming of the prison fortress by Parisians on July 14, 1789, marked the French Revolution and gave the country its annual National Day of celebration.
“Tilly says the act of people gathering in protest before a symbol of power was a product of that revolution, a period of divided authority that allowed people to come together in ways that would have previously got them shot. Tuesday’s march ended at Place de la République, where a bronze statue of a woman holds a tablet proclaiming the 1789 declaration of human rights. Below it are three other statues representing liberty, equality and fraternity, a motto that first appeared in the revolution and now forms a pillar of French society and laws.
“There’s a sense in France that a successful mobilization is one that strongly recalls the images and the traditions of the past,” says Parisian sociologist Guy Groux.
“Adds philosopher Jean Pierre Le Goff: “All Western countries have demonstrations, but in France, they’re part of our identity.”
“Having deposed and beheaded one monarch in the French Revolution, further street protests and violent clashes led to the abdication of two more kings over the next 60 years. In 1848, Napoleon III came to power and built wide boulevards through Paris, in part to more easily move troops into the city to crush protests.
“In the 20th century, the 1917 Russian Revolution injected French unions and left-wing parties with a communist fervour that marked street protests to come, says Groux, research director at the government-funded National Centre for Scientific Research.
“A government tendency to back down has reinforced the notion that the power of the people is every bit as legitimate as the power of the state, Le Goff argues.
“Tilly, a professor at Columbia University, applauds street protests as “an often effective form of expression for people who don’t necessarily have access to lobbyists or direct access to their elected representatives.”
“In 1968, a period of economic boom, the student-led protests pushed to change French society toward a utopian social model. Today, a time of economic decline, the protests are defensive — a bid to stop globalization or “Anglo-Saxon capitalism” from eroding cherished social benefits.
“Last fall, French youths from immigrant backgrounds — angered by racism and youth unemployment levels in some suburban ghettos of almost 40 per cent — launched weeks of violent riots.
“Since then, mass demonstrations have been marred by thugs dubbed casseurs, or smashers, shattering shop windows and clashing with riot police. This has added to a collective sense of gloom, a feeling that nothing can get done in France before the next presidential elections in 2007.
“Nothing, that is, except the symbolic re-enactment of storming the ramparts.”
From: Toronto star
The culture of protest
Apr. 1, 2006. 01:00 AM
SANDRO CONTENTA
Was not the French the first people to honor Cory For EDSA I?
WHO STARTED EDSA I?
Jay,
I didn’t say that a revolution DOES NOT NEED the impoverished class. Of course, it does! (Even Edsa 2 called on the warm bodies of the impoverished class to provide the numbers – ask Gawad Kalinga!)
Also, for your information, the people who are massing against the French government’s CPE (1st employment contract law) are NOT from the impoverished class (who usually don’t have jobs in the first place and are highly dependent on the State to survive)! The young people and even the older ones who are staging a revolt against the CPE belong to the lower middle class, the middle class and even from the upper middle class. (There is no such thing as the “impoverished class” in France in the first place…There are very poor poeple in France but they cannot be compared to the Philippine ‘impoverished’ class.)
The immigrants’ “riot” last year didn’t go anywhere. Did you know that thousands were repatriated to their country of origin without a squeak from media? That so-called revolt was nothing but a riot that almost turned into anarchy staged by immigrants who couldn’t integrate into French society. I’m not they had no reason to do it but obviously in the context of the affair, their action didn’t amount to much. More than 1,200 people who participated in the suburban riots last year are behind bars today!
The guys who started Edsa 1, if you want to be technical about it, are not the impoverished class. It was started by the Philippine middle class. The impoverished class joined and rightly they did and should’ve, otherwise it couldn’t have taken place.
You must remember that the French Revolution of 1789 was triggered by the bourgeoisie class in France (‘bourgoisie’ is the “traders’ class” in France meaning they were well off!) against the aristocracy. It is wrong to believe that the “populace” or the impoverished class of the French society then started it. No, they didn’t! It was the BOURGEOISIE class…
You need all components in a society to make a revolution. Unfortunately, the guys in the middle class are the most essential to trigger that revolution because they are the ones that possess the “education” and the means to get it going.
A revolution needs the intellectuals as well as the purely moneyed. Without them, the impoverished class cannot effectively launch a real revolution, otherwise, the whole movement will lead to pure anarchy.
I’m citing historical and realistic facts.
And I repeat Gloria’s survival today rests in the apathy of the sectors I mentioned, big business and middle class.
PS: Btw, only 10% of the French workforce is unionized today. Labour unions no longer have the same hold (or power) on the French workforce that they had some 20 years ago. The French have become more “bourgeois” than ever today…They are the ones that are now calling the shots. In other words, if ever there is a “revolution” in France, it will be triggered by the middle class!
And Jay, even the Communist Party of the Philippines base their “revolution” on the doctrines interpreted for them by an intellectual belonging to the Philippine haute bourgeoisie classe (upper middle class): JoMa Sison, Louie and Connie Jalandoni, etc. They even had to recruit Victor Corpuz, another member of the middle clas who graduated from De La Salle College prior to entering the PMA to become the NPA Tactical Commander succeeding JoMa Sison to the post!
Ms a de brux
well said, And articulated, am clarified
as to history and reality of revolution
de brux version. I only cannot accept the
downgrading of the impoverished class.
If historically the upheavals in our
country were of “middle class” origin
and execution, naming the llustrados,
aguinaldo, down to Joema and the jalandonis
to EDSA instigators, so what’s the result?
Gloria, etc. etc. Let the elite and the
middle class do it again, with leaders
from the opposition assisted by the likes
of pimentel, angara, etc, etc.?
Shall we not then learn the lessons of
history, not repeat it and avoid paying
the price of succeesful EDSA I? Shall
not the poor terminate the SOB’s and make
unconventional history?
I know Jay, it’s hard isn’t it?
Oh and I really don’t think I’m downgrading the impoverished class by saying that the essential component of a revolution is the middle class. If you want to be technical about it, the impoverished are already downgraded solely on the basis of their economic status..this is why it is imperative for the middle class to step in because they have the MEANS to ignite a revolution.
The middle class is not limited to angara, et al. There are others who possess more solid moral ground. They are there today but not many of them are active enough to make the difference. The majority of them are apathetic that’s why Gloria’s tenure is secure.
Quite a paradox really…
PS: Btw, it ain’t my version – what I said is based on history and if need be, go as far back as the time of of Moses who (as an adopted son of the Pharaohs and therefore belonging to the “elite”) led the revolt of the slaves against his “cousin” the Pharaoh…
Ellen,
Sabi ni Bunye “The main purpose of Cha-cha is to make efficient our law making, for example in passing local and nationals bills, and its applications..”
But the real problem is the implementation of the law. Lalo na sa administrasyon ni Gloria na PURO PAGLABAG SA BATAS ang ginagawa. In fact, this government of GMA thinks that THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW. The Supreme Court is supposed to be our Last Recourse for Justice. Pero lagi tayong kinakabahan sa kanilang mga desisyon dahil hawak sila ng Pekeng Pangulo. Kahit gaano kaganda ang ating mga batas kung hindi naman susundin at ipatutupad ng mga nasa kapangyarihan ay talagang walang mangyayari sa Pilipinas. At laging kawawa ang mga pangkaraniwang mamamayan na walang lakas para labanan ang mga nasa poder.
WE do not need CHA-CHA as of now. Tsaka na lang… PAG WALA NA ANG MGA RULING TRAPO AT MGA INEFFICIENT, CORRUPT COMELEC OFFICIALS!
They are just using the chacha as smokescreen to cover up the Garci cheating. There is no problem in the system, what needs to be corrected are the wretched trapos like Gloria, Ramos, De Venecia, Pichay, etc.
The 1987 Constitution: A dictator’s worst enemy
I just don’t agree na “win-win” ang CHA CHA kay Arroyo
Sabi ni Rizalist:
Arbet also calls Aroyo’s cha cha a “win-win” for arroyo.
I disagree with both. Kasi, if you’re in Arroyo’s situation and you want more powers and tools to fight your enemies and prolong your staying power in office, you know the biggest obstacle is the 1987 Constitution — which was crafted by anti-Marcos, anti-dictator commissioners in a way that will make it difficult for future Marcos wannabes like ARroyo to abuse their power without breaking the law.
To remedy that, you make a new constitution. A new constitution will give Arroyo and her allies a new lease of life. She gets to rewrite the laws of this country and stack the rules in her favor (like the newly proposed 2/3’s rule to initiate impeachment, and the No El proposal, and the rewriting of our bill of rights).
Sabi ni DJB na eh ano kung natalo ang cha cha, “di tuloy ang 1987 charter.” No harm done to Arroyo, right? Mali. Because I see the CHA CHA as a referendum for Arroyo. A defeat for Cha cha will be seen as a defeat for Arroyo.
AND A VICTORY FOR CHA CHA WILL BE SEEN AS A MAJOR VICTORY FOR ARROYO.
The 1987 Constitution is ARroyo’s worst enemy. If you notice, Arroyo is getting weaker and weaker under this old contitution, because her hands are tied most of the time, and it takes a lot of rule-breaking to get away with some of the stuff she’s trying to pull (like EO 464, Proc 1017, CPR). And when you are caught breaking the rules, it doesn’t look good, let’s just say that. 😉
That’s why there’s a strong effort to change the rules in her favor via the CHA CHA. The Arroyo Constitution, if passed, will make GMA (and her allies) twice as strong and twice as hard to remove. Remember, Marcos lasted 20 years because of the his 1973 Constitution.
So to say na cha cha is a “win win” for Arroyo is just not right (as if it doesn’t matter kung manalo o matalo siya sa CHA CHA).
If she loses this fight, I expect her to lose more allies in the House and in the media (or their asking price to continue supporting her will increase). Nobody will respect or fear her anymore. I don’t see her surviving much longer under the anti-dictator 1987 constitution.
But if she wins CHA CHA, not only will this give her more powers, but her prestige will rise as well. the big losers here will be those who are opposed to her. And let me tell you something boys and girls, If you think Arroyo is “unstoppable” now, wait till she gets her COMELEC to pass her new constitution.
OFF TOPIC: Sa mga 51 Congressmen na contra sa Cha cha initiative ni Arroyo, wala ang pangalan ni TeddyBoy Locsin at Edmund Reyes.
ms a de brux
Shall we not then learn the lessons of
history, not repeat it and avoid paying
the price of successful EDSA I? Shall
not the poor terminate the SOBs and make
unhistorical history?
the intellectual says:
the ends do not justify the means.
endings brought forth by guillotine or by bolos does not justify societal reform and end to oppression. NEVER.
the means do justify the ends.
peaceful means like special election and
resignation then reconciliation justify the perpetuation of corruption of the elite and the middle class; injustice and poverty for
the 90 per cent of population. ALWAYS.
God offers nothing in a silver platter.
Paradise and heaven do not result from
bloody revolutions or peaceful EDSA’s-
contrary to the delusions of peacemakers.
That’s life in man’s cosmos. That separate
the reactionary from the revolutionary, the opportunist from the patriot. Those who
have less in life deserves to fight and
shed predators blood to have more in law.
Magsaysay word’s turned on its head for he
belonged to the first category like a few
Filipinos who shaped the history of our country.
the more one speaks out the more one
contributes to the enlighthenment of
readers, the more one undresses
into nakedness, one’s true self. I am
what I say I am. Even in the choice of
pen name. Well I am not a gangsta,
nor a shadow, or a rizalist, but to
assume being more of a bonifacio or
greg del pilar, that’s the greatest
honor. Integrity precludes that vanity.
“Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, who didn’t have the time to investigate the Hello Garci tapes, the biggest scandal to shake the election body, is eager to devote the resources of the Commission for the verification of signatures of the bogus People’s Initiative in violation of the 1997 Supreme Court decision prohibiting them to do so unless an enabling law is passed.”
Ellen, labas ang tunay na kulay ni Ben Abalos na talagang TUTA siya ni GMA. Wala tayong aasahang malinis na plebisito o eleksyon sa BULOK NA COMELEC.
M’AdeBrux,
You’re good in the history of other countries.
Why not remember the likes of Lapu-lapu who initiated the first successful defence against a more advanced invader? Or the likes of Bonifacio who’s not from the middle class but has the courage to fight, against all odds, just to show his love for country.
Or have you heard this…
http://www.nenepimentel.org/news/20060308_Bud_Dajo.asp
http://www.nenepimentel.org/news/20060308_Bud_Dajo.asp
http://www.nenepimentel.org/news/20060308_Bud_Dajo.asp
Washington State (not Washington DC) has a lot of experience with initiatives. Here’s a link about Tim Eyman, an individual who got a reputation, both good and bad, in the initiatives game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Eyman
If you are able to open the link and read the article, notice that in at least two cases, his initiatives won but were later declared unconstitutional by the Washington State Supreme Court for having more than one subject matter.
Of course, the initiative process in the Philippines is different. I just can’t help comparing because it is very obvious that the so-called People’s Initiative for cha-cha is very broad in its scope. It would never pass in Washington State on substance, but more so, because it would be shown for what it is–not a true people’s initiative but a government sponsored mutilation of the existing constitution. But then again, ibahin natin ang Pilipinas.
A desperate person is dangerous. That’s gloria arroyo.