A Major War of the Titans

There's a major battle ahead. This war will clearly show who among the major political titans of this country will win the prize--that of being the top political leader of the Philippines. And it will not be long before all of these things will reach boiling point.

And who are the protagonists?

There are two major camps: the camp of Arroyo and the camp of FVR-Estrada-Aquino-JDV. Yes, this is confirmed. You may not believe it but these four major political players have now joined forces against Arroyo.

In an interview over ANC, JDV revealed that FVR called him up and relayed his all-out support for JDV. Estrada also called JDV. And it is not a secret that even Cory called JDV. What does these all mean?

Hundreds of their supporters, their lieutenants, and their political soldiers, especially those highly entrenched in the civil society sector will now move to further destabilize the administration of Arroyo. This is the signal for everybody against Arroyo to move. Analyzing the situation, it will not be long before we see the following events happening:

(a) Internal jockeying at the palace to remove JDV allies from their positions. With the exception of Justice Secretary Gonzales, groups within the palace will definitely try to oust Ermita from the Executive Secretary position. This is a certainty despite the pronouncement of support by Ermita. We will also see Ignacio Bunye's role as the presidential spokesperson marginalized since Bunye is also highly connected with JDV. There are other executive officers in the administration who are closely connected with JDV and FVR. They will definitely be ousted from their respective positions. Allies of Arroyo will do this in silence.

(b) There will be at least four (4) very close Cabinet members of Arroyo who will do a JDV--expose the anomalies of government. What is happening with Lozada is just an example. Even some advisers of Arroyo will distance themselves from the center of power and expose the anomalies under the guise of the moral revolution of JDV.

(c) Though the Church have been neutralized, I believe that in the next few weeks, we will see a totally different CBCP. Militant church workers will rise up against Arroyo, leaving the pro-Arroyo bishops marginalized.

(d) The revival of the civil society network is expected. With JDV-FVR casting their strength for the removal of Arroyo, it will not be long before their mass-bases, especially their supporters will also move to organize the masses more and conduct wide-spread mass mobilizations. The critical period will be in the next two to three weeks.

(e) Obviously, critical segments of the military will also give their lot to the JDV-FVR-Aquino-Erap alignment. However, I can't really read what they will do with Esperon. Either they isolate him or convince him to join the movement. I think that some groups close to Arroyo will move for the delimitation of Esperon since he is very close to FVR. I think as soon as some things are resolved, like if the rebel group of Lim etal agrees with some suggestions to "invite" Esperon to join them, then, we will see a repeat of EDSA Dos.

So, we are just counting the days when this war will happen between these titans. Either they do it within this month in celebration of EDSA 1 or they do it after the Holy Week. I surmise that a major event will happen within this month. For, if they fail to mass up and do what is necessary and expected of them to do against Arroyo this month, then, all is lost.

The effect of not moving against Arroyo now

If these groups highly critical against Arroyo fail to do their mission, these events will happen:

(1) Lakas will be raided dry. It will be a spent force. Lakas will just be a shell of a party. As the voting showed yesterday, more than 50 Lakas Congressmen supported the ouster move of JDV. We don't know what's happening at the grass-roots level but surely, Lakas will find itself irrelevant in the 2010 elections if it does not flex its muscles again and oust Arroyo.

(2) Arroyo will emerge as the strongest political force. Arroyo will use her enormous political power to decimate her detractors and enemies and build a totally dictatorial government where the center of power is cloistered around various mafia-like groups of like-minded interests.

Next Target: FVR

The next target will be FVR. Mark my word. The reason why Arroyo is also moving against FVR is fear. Likewise Arroyo wants to marginalize FVR since Tabako is still perceived as a king-maker and a force to reckon with. With FVR at the side of JDV, it will not be long before the former president moves against GMA.