Protection

Protection is the new old term being used by everybody in Philippine society today. When asked why police abducted Lozada, PNP chief Razon said cops were just trying to "protect" him. When Lozada testified before the Senate yesterday, he revealed that the reason why the ZTE deal ballooned to an astounding 325 million dollars was "Abalos was just trying to "protect" his 130 million dollar commission. The nuns and civil society witnessed Lozada's testimonty, saying they were trying to "protect" him from the evil forces of the state.

JDV in his valedictory speech before Congress told how he and his partymates "protected" Arroyo from being impeached many times. He was unprepared though to be ousted himself. Senator Cayetano asked Arroyo to "resign or go on leave" to "protect" the integrity of the ZTE investigation.

Now, the chief of the Eastern Police District Supt. Nilo de la Cruz are mobilizing his men to "protect" the EDSA shrine. The state recognizes that the explosive tenor of Lozada's Senate testimony might again see huge throngs of people going to the shrine to oust Arroyo. Dela Cruz said, they want to "protect" the Shrine from the people.

So this word protection was used for:

1. Protecting a person (i.e. Lozada and Arroyo)
2. Commissions (like what Abalos did in ZTE)
3. Impeachment (JDV did that to Arroyo before finally being ousted himself)
4. Integrity (Cayetano is asking Arroyo to at least find the temerity to be ethical)
5. Monuments (EDSA Shrine and the Mendiola bridge)

So we now see the state transforming itself as a garrison state, the kind that only exists in dictatorial regimes. The use of the word admits being attacked or being in a vulnerable state. Both sides (the side of Arroyo and the anti-Arroyos) are protecting themselves from each other, belying the fact that, indeed, both groups are now gearing up for a major fight.



What this means to all of us?

Both groups are appealing to the powerful neutrals for support. The fight between the Arroyo mafia and the Anti-Arroyo groups have now reached strategic neutrality. Contrary to belief, Arroyo is not as powerful as she thinks she is. In one swift stroke, Arroyo's position has changed from the most powerful political leader to a slowly marginalized leader.

I am revising my earlier observation that, Arroyo can't be ousted from any political act. The Lozada episode exposed the weakness of Arroyo. This action of a few nuns and priests from La Salle showed how vulnerable this administration is. It is just a small group of God-fearing men and women who stood up to challenge a dimunitive yet powerful personage such as Arroyo.

It is now, a matter of time and a matter of resources for this thing to snowball. Korina Sanchez asked the most relevant question--where do we go from here? Many people are thinking that this could spell the end of this regime. The Makati Business Club and JDV predicted this to be so. When two of the most powerful voices talk about being ousted, this administration should listen and take the cue. Historically, when both the business sector and the militant religious merge, this means that a campaign is in the offing and we should take this very seriously.

Let me say that the political situation has drastically changed for Mrs. Arroyo. Her fate as a leader now lies in its perilous state, more vulnerable than other previous attempts. Why? Because Lozada has provided the dramatis causa so to speak, that could galvanize public anger and turn it into a huge mass of dissenters. When people are angry inside and they don't find an outlet fast to show their anger, this has very dangerous security implications because it would manifest itself in other forms.