Arroyo's sinister plan

Philippine pseudo president Arroyo just announced that she'll be leading the charge against drug syndicates. Fine. Laudable. My observations.

This is uncanny, given that this is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo will be dabbling her puny hands on crime prevention. Since she started her checkered political career, she took part either in economic policy making (as DTI usec) or in social welfare. Even in the time of the deceased Senator Robert Barbers making overtures to be the state's foremost drug czar, never did Mrs. Arroyo agree on making herself the anti-drug czar.

So, the question everybody is asking--why just now?

One answer is, this validates a previous observation that Mrs. Arroyo and her evil minions are toying with the possibility of having an armed force that they can personally command in the event that they declare emergency rule. Bear in mind that Mrs. Arroyo has her own private anti-coup army, recruits from Pampanga that they formed as counter-force against the forces of Senator Antonio Trillianes. Maintaining such a force is financially draining, even if Mrs. Arroyo controls billions of pesos worth of intelligence funds.

It's obvious that Mrs. Arroyo has now shifted strategy by forming her own legal counter-force in the person of the PDEA. By strengthening the PDEA, Mrs. Arroyo is actually preparing for the formation of an organisation similar to the dreaded MISG of Col. Abadilla.

The grand plan? This government will be using the PDEA not just in defeating those drug syndicates. PDEA's role will be expanded and will include close surveillance and intelligence against enemies of the state. Will this include active Magdalo soldiers now incarcerated and remains defiant against Mrs. Arroyo? Probably. Will this include powers to pry open the financial records and personal circumstances of known critics of this regime? Quite strongly, yes.

Now, if that is the case, do we see Malacanang's hand in efforts at perpetuating itself beyond 2010?

The Way to Enlighten the Masses Against One-Woman Rule

There's an interesting thing going on over at Filipinovoices.com, a collective of Filipino bloggers. Over the past few days, there has been a flurry of exchanges between "fascists" and "anti-fascists", with the first salvo initiated by this so-called "High Priest of Smokes", who claims to be a lawyer with a big ego. His (or her?) arguments border from rational to insanely irrational. Obviously, HP is a staunch defender of the insane, err, Gloria, which, to his credit, seems understandable, given his so-called position in the administration. 

However, from all the trash that he wrote, one thing struck me as a valid observation which I'll be discussing here today--why is there no visible signs of dissent against Gloria? If we are to believe those who oppose her, the people oppose one-man rule. Yet, why is there no cogent opposition from the masses?

Yes, we hear members of civil society, former government officials and civic-minded intellectuals writing pieces against this regime. And yes, we always read stuff that reminds us of those evil times under Marcos. However, despite all of these revelations, the masses remain silent, like Orwell's sheep. 

Thinking about it, the answer lies in how civil society position their propaganda against one-man rule. Whenever we talk about "authoritarianism", "dictatorship" or "martial law", we always associate it with the former Marcos dictatorship, which is understandable, since it is the only regime that imposed martial rule. We have this penchant of always using this formula: martial rule=Marcos, or vice versa.

Yet, we fail to grasp that not all people equate bad things during the dictatorship with the Marcos brand name. In fact, over the past years, we see Marcos running just second in the list of most despicable Philippine leaders, shamelessly behind Gloria the Queen of Enchanted Kingdom. Meaning, for the masses, the concept of martial rule is not as equally bad as Gloria's rule. The People are trying to tell us something here.

What the people are trying to say is leave the brand name Marcos alone. If we are to succeed in convincing the people that martial rule or any authoritarian rule is evil, we need to associate the concept of authoritarianism with the loss of liberties under the present administration.

We need to portray Gloria as the head of a cult of fascists in barongs intent on perpetually governing a freedom-loving Nation. We need people to think and feel that their futures are in peril with the continued governance of these fascists. 

We need to tell the masses that the better concept that would at least ensure a bright future for everyone lies in the concept of the collective---that the future would be more secured if there's a group of leaders who serve as Vanguards of Democracy. The anti-thesis of the concept of one-man rule is collective governance. This concept should be explained more thoroughly to the masses to disabuse their minds that martial rule is not bad.

Creeping Fascism

First, that attempt to take over Meralco (which on second thought, seems okey to me now. I know. I opposed it before. But, because of this electricity rate hike this coming month, it would be best for everyone for government to manage Meralco. I;ve had enough of Meralco and the Lopezes already). Then, the outbreak of war in Mindanao. And now this.

IN Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales' interview, he charged that ABS-CBN 2 violated the Code of Ethics and its franchise with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) when it released an interview of MILF Commander Bravo. Bravo is wanted by the law. The Philippine Army and the PNP are out there in Mindanao, trying to arrest the elusive commander.

My good friend, George Carino (who's a brilliant journalist and hails from Bulacan) traced the whereabouts of Bravo and interviewed him. I saw his interview. And I found nothing wrong. I would agree with my professor, Luis Teodoro, that ABS-CBN 2 violated no law.

Jun Nicdao of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) also found nothing wrong with the interview. As a former journalist myself, I saw nothing that would merit a sanction against ABS-CBN.

What instigated IN Justice secretary Raul Gonzales?

Gonzales said that ABS-CBN violated its franchise when it gave air space to a known fugitive. He said that Bravo used ABS-CBN to "instigate" fellow Muslims to "foment violence or the use of arms".

Where? Where in the interview did Bravo actually tell his fellow Muslims that they need to raise up arms against the government? I never saw nor heard anything similar to what (in)Justice secretary Gonzales referred to as "instigations"? Am I dreaming or Mr. Gonzales is just hallucinating?

Gonzales' acts are plain and simple muscle flexing. Government is trying to frighten one of the biggest media networks in the land for one goal--neutralize or marginalize media outlets. Why? Is government laying the ground for martial rule? My mother told me that this is the same tactic employed by the dictator Marcos a year or two before he implemented martial rule. History shows that media was the first one neutralized, second were civil society and people's organisations, and lastly, progressive middle class groups.

Are we in the midst of martial rule?