Crisis Mode?
by mcg
MLQIII and Unlawyer are posting about recent developments in the Ong (not Bob) – jueteng – election irregularities – tape brouhaha. Somehow it now involves the Catholic church, Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Ping Lacson, Susan Roces and Jejomar Binay. Jovy takes us behind the scenes at the Palace.
As I’m writing this, it should be almost daybreak in Metro Manila. ABS-CBNNews.com reports of soldiers being deployed in the capital (3:54 am, Manila). There should be more developments, statements, denials and accusations coming soon. This one is far from over.
All this on the eve of the Philippines’ Indepedence Day. I sure hope this thing resolves soon without having EDSA III or IV. Even George Lucas said “Stop!” after five sequels.
Comments
there must be some kind of conspiracy invloved in all these brouhaha. kada coup o ano mang political calamity na nangyayare sa pinas, tumataas ang value ng dolyar. at kung tumataas ang dolyar umaapaw ang dalos ng mga remittance.
pwede. kasi remittances na lang ang bumubuhay sa ekonomiya ng Pilipinas. kaya lang kada taas ng dolyar, olats na naman yung business people na umaasa na bumaba yung palit sa peso – lalo na yung sa import/export. kahit bigas at pagkain galing na rin sa ibang bansa kaya tumataas na rin ang bilihin.
i used to think that it was so cool that we could change administrations just by a sufficiently boisterous EDSA rally. now…i don’t know if law school turned me into a conservative…but the whole EDSA thing, used as a method of regime change (as opposed to just assembly/expression) goes against what it means to be in an actual republican democracy :(
You? A conservative? No way! :)
If EDSA has a label it would be ‘break in case of emergencies’. ’86 was a popular revolt, as history would say. ’01 started out as that but it got hijacked. I think that’s why most of the civil society groups are a bit wary of participating in another one.
Kailangan garapalan na pang-gagago ang dapat mangyari para sa susunod na EDSA, kung mayron ‘man. Tanga na lang ng presidente kung sino man yun, kung hahayaan niya umabot sa ganun.
That’s true. I guess civil society also feels burned out AND burnt. Twice they get less-than ideal presidents and then things go back to the way they were. Who can not feel cynical about EDSA?
And yep, I was there at EDSA 1. *sigh*
the hotblooded young’uns would say that the EDSA scenario is a viable democratic option given the way elections are never truly free in this country. to which i say: if you’re really so hot with democracy, you must realize that we have, as a people, ultimate electoral responsibility. how deep was our commitment to free elections back in 2004? committed enough to lose a paycheck? life and limb? collectively, i would say not nearly enough. going to EDSA is such a lazy hack to avoid bigger responsibilities. the rule of law ain’t for slackers ;)
I’ve always believed that sequels are actually better than the original, because they improve upon the qualities that stood out. Kaya nga Back to the Future II, Blade II, Empire Strikes Back.
But that only applies to the first sequel. Too bad the same doesn’t apply to EDSA. The problem was a case of too much in too short a time. EDSA II was so overhyped, overtexted, and overcrowded to the point that it became not the EDSA Revolution, but the Matrix Revolutions.
Banzai, yeah I think of it as two golden opportunities blown.
Emer, the two EDSAs were extra-legal. Hence they were called revolts. It came to that point in our history that the institutions which were supposed to uphold the law (’86 Presidency, ’01 Senate) were so blatant in perverting it. The rules were t hrown out the window. Sure it was a quick fix to a difficult problem but I’d like to think we didn’t have a choice. Isn’t the law supposed to preserve society? What happens when it fails to do that? Why did we need to amend the constitution after 86? I’m not saying we do EDSA every other year but democracy in the Phil is still very fragile. Maybe it’s like software that iterations on the current version is needed to iron out the kinks and keep up with the times. And yes you’re right the commitment should be to the processes…as long as it doesn’t get perverted by the powerful few.
Boy Tusok, true sequels are so supposed to be so much better than the originals and EDSA II became the Burly Brawl instead of kick-ass kung-fu sequence it was supposed to be. Maybe we should stop looking for the One to save the Phil and start from the ground up and save ourselves. Pronouncements like “I was put here by God” by PGMA only make seem more like clinging desperately to power. What was more politic should’ve been “I was put here by the people.” It is after all a democracy right?
See, when you put it that way, it becomes exactly what can make a story of heroes and legends turn out bad: A freaking Jesus complex.