Epiphany

Senator Ping Lacson and Senator Aquilino Pimentel, the true voices of the real opposition, nailed it in the head. They criticized how the palace defended the alleged decision of Arroyo to extend Esperon's term. They say that we are now living in an imperial presidency, where the Chief Executive is being hostaged by a group of generals, both active and retired.

Frankly, these statements resonated in me. Why? Because my ideal of a government to be run in this country for a certain period of time postulates the same kind of arrangement to be undertaken prior to the institution of a more democratic model.

For a long time, I've been advocating for a civilian-military governance model, the kind where military generals rule the country in tandem with members of the academe, civil society and non-government organisations. I believe that this setup is the one we need to replace the present decrepit governance model that we have.

My observations jibe with Lacson's and Pimentel's in the sense that at present, we already have this model in place, albeit, unofficially. That's why the state, though perceived weak, is actually strong to repel external pressures and counter forces.

If this is the setup we have today, where Arroyo serves as just a ceremonial head, without exercising real powers of her own, then, it confirms that a silent revolution is now before us. We don't need a coup because forces have already neutralized Arroyo in the sense that she does not dispense decisions of her own. She dispenses them ceremoniously.

However, this imperial presidency, as Pimentel describes the present governance paradigm is, I think, the extreme interpretation of the New Philippine Revolution (NPR). Why? Because only the military sector wields true power. In my model, it envisions the unity and synthesis of three dominant forces in Philippine society: the civil society, military and the people's organisations.

I've explained this model in previous blogs. The only component that this present model lacks is the active participation of people's organisations in policy-making in all government agencies. Likewise, there is no latent council of senior advisers who contributes towards crafting policies based on their collective experience and skills sets.

This is the only thing lacking in this model. If these generals would eliminate the causes of disapproval, namely Esperon and Arroyo's group, then the people will accept this model and embrace it as their own without shedding blood. Only those in the ideological groups would balk at such a model because it does not conform with their beliefs. Since they are weakening, they don't matter.

Now, I know why FVR etal are silent. They are working for us to neutralize Arroyo, though, in a silent mode. They are building up the model not from ground up but from the present structure and its resources. This supports Ramos' statements saying that we don't need another EDSA because it's easy to neutralize Arroyo without her knowing that she already lost power.

And she already lost power since Day One. She's perceived to be strong yet, the true powers are those behind her.

Public acceptance remains a problem. However, there's a rationale why these true powers want her to continue being there at the helm. They want her to receive all the flak. For if they surface, they'll be exposed and receive direct attacks, leading to civil war.

Hence, going back to Esperon's term extension, this is the test whether Arroyo truly wields real power or not. Should she really announce her alleged decision to extend Esperon, then, this confirms what Ping and Pimentel are saying to us all along--we indeed have a besieged presidency.