Threats against the Aquino administration much bigger today than 4 years ago

The possibility of President Benigno S. Aquino III getting his first taste of a coup looms much bigger today than in the first four years of his administration, a source told this writer yesterday.

In a private huddle this weekend, a source says that if Aquino falls due to a coup, it is because of his own doing. He says Aquino has distanced himself from various groups which have worked hard for his election in 2010.

These groups, most of them composed of well-meaning individuals who did not seek any appointive posts from Aquino, enjoy a high reputation among middle forces.

Since the DAP issue broke out, many of the conscience block of the Aquino administration asked for the president's explanation but was repulsed, allegedly by the President himself. Another group, those close to the family especially to the Presidential sisters and some members of the partylist group Akbayan were likewise given the bum steer reportedly by the President.

According to some people, people behind Hyatt 10 and those close to LP Mar Roxas were responsible for the indignant stance of the President. One of the Hyatt 10 members, reportedly Butch Abad was the one who reportedly told the President to "stick to the group" for fears of getting a backlash reportedly from the stated enemies of the administration (read: " pro-Arroyo" group).

Now, it seems that the President has been "besieged" by LP and other people closely allied with Mar Roxas (read: LP). Presidential adviser Ronald Llamas, a member of Akbayan, and Vicente Emano, a member of the Black and White Movement are reportedly already working for the Mar Roxas group.

A source says the President is now "with blinders". She did not elaborate.

With the conscience block already neutralized, the Hyatt 10 and the Mar Roxas group are now struggling very hard to neutralize officials close to the Vice President. However, one of them, Executive secretary Paquito Ochoa continues to enjoy tremendous trust of the President inspite of his being a member of the Panay block. (Remember that there are four blocks in the palace surrounding the President: Balai of Mar Roxas composed of LP, Black and White Movement, Akbayan and Hyatt 10 members, Panay composed of close associates of the Aquino family who supported Binay as vice presidential candidate, Panfilo Lacson block and Chiz Escudero/Sergio Osmena block. Osmena has since distanced himself from the palace, leaving Escudero's group behind.

Many of those within the conscience block are close to idealistic soldiers and former officials of the AFP. It is said that some of them are moving against the administration.

Another group, composed of retired and junior officers who oppose the Bangsamoro Basic Law, is likewise a serious threat to the survival of the Aquino administration.

Akbayan and Anakbayan cancelling themselves out

It's like 1993 again, this time, these groups are not engaged in an ideological war---they are now discussing on who deserves the right to run in a parliamentary elections. Before, they used to debate on who holds the right strategy in effecting the downfall of the Philippine Republic. Now, they are debating why the other is not fit to be allowed to run in the 2013 elections.

Anakbayan and Akbayan are throwing mud at each other, like kids. Anakbayan accuses Akbayan of being a political stooge of the Aquino administration, while the latter raised once more the accusation of the former being the legal front of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

True red or pale red--you choose. 

Akbayan's Walden Bello boasts that their organisation is pursuing a progressive kind of politics, meaning, a yellowish form of Socialism while Anakbayan is simply Red. 

Bello's boast is simply an attempt to hide their true colors--these personalities have been coopted by the State already--like the dreaded Kabapi during the time of the Japanese invasion.

Anakbayan, meanwhile is a confused lot. They want a revolution, but is dying to enter the system and dominate politics. For what?

And I am not entirely surprised anymore why a Socialist-inspired revolution would ever succeed in this country---its leaders are no more than armchair dreamers, sons and daughters of wealthy landlords and bureaucrat capitalists.

Their own process of transformation---from purely ideological literatis (or textbook revolutionaries) to pure revolutionary (those who underwent proletarization process) has been incomplete.

Truly, these groups are both irrelevant. They have retired themselves from true revolutionary work. They don't want to change the system by uprooting it from the ground. 

The only true revolutionary group that I find worthy of my praise as a true-blue mass-based and pro-people political party is the Partido Lakas ng Masa.

500 Million Pesos for RPA-ABB

Presidential adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles allowed the release of several millions to the members of the RPP-ABB, or the Revolutionary Proletarian Party-Alex Boncayao Brigade, a splinter group of the Communist Party of the Philippines. 


The RPA-ABB has been waiting for the conclusion of their peace talks with the Government for more than ten years. One of the things they want is the release of about 500 million pesos to them to fund their livelihood projects.


Former president Joseph Estrada initiated talks with the group during his time, but cut the flow of funds to the rebels when, as Estrada said, the group started kidnapping operations in Bacolod.


Now, with Deles on board and members of the AKBAYAN, which is being led by Ronald Llamas inside the palace, the government allowed the release of the expected funds.


More than 30 million pesos were given to the rebel group as initial goodwill money to be followed by another tranche of funds.


These funds are allotted for the reintegration into society of these rebels, who, for several years already, have fought government forces in several towns.

What is so "democratic" and so "Socialist" about the Demsocs?

I just saw a rally by the militant Bayan Muna. One of their banners read : " US-AQUINO Regime". Am I living in the 80's? Oh, no, this is 2011 and it reads: " US-AQUINO Regime". Is there basis for such a tag? Yes, of course. We all know that behind the propaganda of a largely elected regime shows the shadowy figures of the CIA.


It seems that only Bayan Muna or those in the re-affirmist side recognizes the relevance of continuing the struggle against the rising oppression of this capitalist, anti-people administration of President Noynoy Aquino III.


Aside from Bayan Muna, who among the Left groups continue to militate against the system? 


As far as I personally know, the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) continues its revolutionary stance against the Aquino administration, and with substantive reason---the struggle is about the system, not the personalities behind it. 


The Socialist Revolution is a struggle against the principalities, against the system that perpetuates the cycle of poverty and oppression and the continued alienation of the broad masses of the people.


The Socialist Revolution is about transformation not from within, but from outside the system. The Socialist Revolution aims to overhaul the capitalist system and replace it with one that truly reflects the democratic aspirations of the basic masses of the People. 


The People are being deceived by the principalities of the State into believing that it is after change. They mouth this every single time. Yet, what they do is assume the role of administrators of the elite whose interests lie parenthetically opposed to the People's.


Those who once donned the Socialist cap, and now actively help these principalities in protecting the interests of their true masters--the thieving elites--are pseudo-Socialists. They have sacrificed their struggle for a few crumbs thrown by these principalities. 


What is so "democratic" in the term "democratic Socialist" when they are part of an un-democratic government? What is so Socialist about them when they now recognize the continued existence of the oppressive capitalist system? 


These people are neither democratic nor Socialist. They are now pathetic apologists for an administration that continues to show its devilish nature yet hides behind sheep's clothing.


These people are compromisers. They are worst than the lumpen--the lumpen at least has an iron will to disrupt the system that oppresses them. IN the case of these "democratic Socialists", they are dogs that wait for the crumbs of their big bellied masters.


Don't be deceived--there is nothing Socialist about demsocs and nothing democratic about their actions. They are now part of a small group of people deceived by the rhetoric which the elites created in order to preserve their rule and protect them from the rising discontent of the broad masses. 


Fact is, the very press statement of one of the coopted ones, the Akbayan, belie their true nature, as that of reformists rather than revolutionists. 

"We, from Akbayan welcome the announcement of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III concerning the naming of our very own, Akbayan President Ronald Llamas as one of his Presidential Advisers. We are honored by this pronouncement as it proves once more the sincerity, intensity and expertise of our leaders and of our political party in working towards the fulfillment of our people’s aspiration of a democratic and people-oriented government committed to reforms."

What is so democratic about a system that perpetuates the rule of a few that spites the condition of the majority? When a group realizes that it is better to work with a few elites and dreams of infecting reform from "within", it is a dream carved out from the warped minds of Don Quixotes.

What is this so-called "democratic and people-oriented government committed to reforms? Is this the Socialist ideal? Oh, no. 

The Socialist ideal is nothing short of transformation, the kind that an average Filipino knows to be true---the total overhauling of this decrepit system of oppression and alienation. 

Let the true Socialist recognize that the indigenous Filipino aspires for a total change--not loose change. When the Filipino says "Pagbabago", he means total change, not reforms. The root word "bago", means new, not something which came out of the old, no. 

If the demsocs defend themselves and say that is a new kind of struggle, the insurrectionary kind, they are deceiving themselves.

Insurrection means disrupting the operations of the system through militancy, not cooptation. It is a tactic that employs all the means available, subverting the state from inside, but still employing revolutionary methods in achieving its primary objective--that of revolution.

Now, don't tell me that these Socdems will come rushing in and sending me defensive statements that will accuse me of trying to be as stolic as Stalin, let me be very emphatic: if you're a Socialist, be a true one, not someone who tries to be one. If you're a Socialist, be very clear about what you intend to do. You're not a Socialist that tries to defend the very system you want changed. You are not a Socialist if you think that this system is still defensible. 

PLM Ka Sonny Melencio reacts on AKBAYAN's statement re Ronald Llamas appointment as Political Adviser of Noynoy Aquino

I am publishing here a response from Ka Sonny Melencio of the Partido Lakas ng Masa. Melencio reacts on the press statement given by the Akbayan on the recent appointment of Ronald Llamas as Noynoy Aquino's Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs. I will be publishing the AKBAYAN Statement in full and Melencio's response to this.

From: Emmanuel Hizon <sashaninel@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 3:23 PM
Subject: [FOA Forum] On President Aquino’s choice of Akbayan Leader Ronald Llamas as Presidential Adviser
To: akbayanforum@googlegroups.com, friends_of_akbayan_forum@googlegroups.com

January 20, 2011

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact Person:

Percival Cendana, Akbayan Chairperson @ 0917 828 1030

On President Aquino’s choice of Akbayan Leader Ronald Llamas as Presidential Adviser

We, from Akbayan welcome the announcement of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III concerning the naming of our very own, Akbayan President Ronald Llamas as one of his Presidential Advisers. We are honored by this pronouncement as it proves once more the sincerity, intensity and expertise of our leaders and of our political party in working towards the fulfillment of our people’s aspiration of a democratic and people-oriented government committed to reforms.

But beyond this, we warmly receive the announcement, as it is politically extraordinary if not refreshing in many ways.

First, Presidential advisers are usually party mates of the incumbent President to guarantee that political policies are aligned with his/her principles and vision. The decision of President Aquino to name a presidential adviser from its coalition partner attests to the government’s pluralist and democratic character of governing. It demonstrates the Aquino government’s willingness to democratize and empower the field of governance unlike the previous administration, which greedily consolidated power among themselves, greatly putting the people in the fringes of state governance.

Second, the choice of a reputed progressive leader hailing from the democratic left shows that President Aquino can actually go beyond partisan ideological politics and extend its hand of solidarity to forces of change willing and fully committed in meaningfully contributing in the deepening of democracy, the eradication of corruption and the fulfillment of indispensable reforms.

More so, it also displays that the democratic left is a serious and relevant political actor capable of making its mark on the political process and in becoming a significant force of change, contributing towards and firmly establishing the hegemony of the people’s interest through participatory democracy and governance.  

As such, we fully support President Aquino’s choice of Akbayan President Ronald Llamas as one of his presidential advisers. We vouch for the integrity, leadership and competence of this person, who for the last thirteen years has been one of the major pillars of our party and an acknowledged leader of the broad democratic left.

Definitely, with his eventual appointment to government, our party will suffer the absence of a seasonedpolitical leader. Yet, the struggle for reforms is more important and bigger than all of us.

Thus, in this just struggle, we offer one of our “best and brightest.” We look forward that with Ronald llamas’ absence from our party and his entry to government, it will greatly strengthen the resolve of the new dispensation to fulfill its promise of change to the Filipino People. ### 

HERE IS KA SONNY'S REACTION

Dear Patricio,

When we read the press statement issued by Akbayan on the appointment of Ronald Llamas as Presidential Adviser (see below),  I raised the following comments.  I think the PLM statement can be based on these comments which we already circulated at the PLM and the Laban ng Masa e-groups:

n      Akbayan seems to have found its final resting place. Welcome to the new social democrats. Its fortunes are now completely tied to the rise and fall of President Noynoy.

n      Instead of the fawning and servile tone of the press statement (purportedly written by Akbayan’s Communications Head Emmanuel Hizon), a major concern that should be raised is the problem of cooptation.  The left should have learnt its lesson. Wasn’t it not too long ago when too many left leaders had joined the Cory government and got coopted (if not later booted out from their posts) in the process?

n      The entry of Akbayan leaders Joel Rocamora (secretary of NAPC) and Ronald Llamas into the P-Noy cabinet raises the following underlying and related questions: (i) How should the left view the Aquino government (is it still correct to use the framework of a “lesser evil” (i.e., still comparing it with the GMA regime) when it is now the chief administrator of an unabashedly pro-capitalist neoliberal program? (ii) Should the left entertain the possibility of changing the system from within the capitalist government (of Noynoy) or from without?

n      Akbayan and the many groups that had coalesced under the former Laban ng Masa constituted the left spectrum during the campaign to oust the GMA regime and replace it with a TRG (transitional revolutionary government).  But given that the political crisis of the elite during that time was already resolved not through the TRG but through the election of the Aquino presidency, a regime that is nonetheless an elite-dominated pro-capitalist regime, the left spectrum that is Laban ng Masa has now practically collapsed. Akbayan and some other groups in the Noynoy electoral coalition are expected to move towards the right of the political spectrum as they continue to prop up P-Noy and its pro-capitalist, anti-masa policy regimes.

n      The left should understand that, irrespective of the personal character of Noynoy himself (a “Mr. Clean”) and his commitment against corruption in government, his government is still anelite-dominated pro-capitalist government. The left should not participate in this government, especially at the executive level, as it means bearing the responsibility for implementing a pro-capitalist program. 

n       Having said this, the true dilemma is that we have to go beyond being mere oppositionists, or only good on the issues. We must have the perspective of presenting a genuine alternative -- not only political -- but also social, cultural and economic, to the system, especially when it faces such a deep and irreconcilable crisis.  This is the challenge that we face to be relevant today. Such an alternative -- a truly social, socialist alternative -- can best (and only)  be developed today from without the system, including the “Aquino system,” rather than from within.  (underscore mine--Pat)

Sonny

Street Parliamentarians as Senators?

AKBAYAN Representative Hontiveros-Baraquel is running for the Senate. Same goes to BAYANMUNA Representatives Teddy Casino and Satur Ocampo. These are personalities closely aligned with the Left. There are also reverberations on the ground that Leah Navarro of the Black and White Movement is running; same goes to her bosom buddy, ZTE whistle-blower Jun Lozada and Joey de Venecia III.

Are we seeing the resurrection of the Bugs Bunny craedo that if you can't beat them, join them? Are we now abandoning street parliamentarism in exchange for Traditional Parliamentarism?

Is this also an admission that other forms of struggle, like EDSA or the People's Protracted War, are failures? That the way to go for change is simply be like those in power except that you're non-trapo? Is that the only difference?

For Arroyo and her bunch of nincoompoops, this is a serious security problem. Hawks within the palace will surely squawk and fidget in their seats. They definitely would try to frustrate the Senatorial ambitions of these personalities to preserve the gains of the reinvigorated oligarchy.

Street parliamentarians as Senators? Why not?

The only worry I have is this---will they transform into Joker Arroyos who abandoned the Cause of the People just to protect his political friends?

Will they be the Osmenas who now protect the interests of big energy players and big haciendero interests when they became senators? Or will they continue their fiscalizing roles and try to effect real, significant changes in Philippine society?