Impressions from a brochure July 27, 2006

THE demonstrators fought off rain, the hostile presence of riot cops and the smug indifference of the cows, also called Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's allies, being fattened inside the Batasan complex of the House of Representatives. I sympathized with them mightily not merely because I shared their sentiments and cause, but also because I too had to fight off something heroically. I had to fight off sleep.

The only reason I couldn't do something else was that I had committed to comment on Arroyo's speech on ABC-5 television. That wasn't a speech, that was a brochure. A brochure such as you may find in the Department of Tourism, with its idyllic and completely hyperbolic description of the lay of the land. The brochure is more interesting. It keeps you awake.

I seriously wondered if Arroyo hadn't discovered a new offensive strategy, which was to bore people to death. That is by no means completely facetious or metaphorical. I took a lot of coffee to keep myself from falling into Morpheus' embrace and frayed my nerves that night.
At the end of my mighty struggle, I came away with several impressions. A coherent response was not what that brochure provoked.

My first impression was hearing all over again the "Hello, Garci" tape. That was so not just because it was the same unique DNA-imprinted voice being conscripted for pretty much the same reason, which was to put the wool over the public's eyes. It was also because the speaker showed the same passion for micro-management. It answers the question of why she personally called up then-election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with a persistence that tried the patience of Garci himself, rather than had a minion do it for her, thus giving her space for deniability. She just had to sink to that level.

My second impression while looking at the reporters and announcers at the Batasan being besieged by wind and rain, their hair tousled furiously this way and that, was that God was making a comment on the proceedings. I remembered that shortly before that, Arroyo had just repeated her favorite line, which was that God put her there. The real God, who is not Garci, must have heard, and decided to send a storm at least, if not athunderbolt, in her direction. The caption that rose in my mind at the scene at the Batasan was: "A lot of wind."

My third impression was that Arroyo's intro in her State of the Nation Address (Sona) showed exactly what was wrong with it. The Sona would later turn out to be a division of spoils, or a sharing of loot with her favorite allies under the guise of breaking the stranglehold of "imperial Manila." Or at least it was a promise of a division of spoils or sharing of loot. I don't know if the congressmen or congresswomen bit into it hook, line and sinker, but they seemed to be a gullible lot. The collective IQ of most of the people there could not have exceeded the speaker's weight. As newly elected Senate President Manuel Villar would say later on, they seemed ready to applaud anything. The image that leaped to mind was a live comedy show where the props-people intermittently and frequently raised signs before the audience that said, "Laughter" and "Applause."

But as I was saying, Arroyo began her speech by talking (all too briefly) about the plight of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon. It reminded me of Fr. Agustin Advincula's plaintive cry about where the OFW billions have gone. You have P7.6 billion in cash reserves of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and you have P100 billion in savings, and you can spare only P150 million to evacuate an entire horde of Filipinos trapped in a war-torn country? And give the rest-or at least promise to do so -- to loyal lieutenants. Punish the "modern heroes" and reward the modern heels? Story of this nation's life.

My fourth impression was that, then as now, Arroyo has a habit of crediting herself for all the good that happens in this country and exculpating herself from all the bad in it. At one point, she even took credit for Jollibee Foods Corp. putting up a place in the southernprovince of Basilan. But what did she say when it came to the killings? "I condemn the political killings in the strongest terms." And she went on to cajole the witnesses to come out and testify.

That is not unlike saying, "I condemn crime in the strongest terms." But, madam, it is precisely the task of government to stop crime and extra-judicial killings. It is precisely the task of government to create the climate that stops crime and extra-judicial killings. When they happen, and to the extent they do today, government is to blame as surelyas the direct authors of these crimes themselves. You are to blame as surely as if you pulled the trigger yourself. The inability to stop these things by itself voids your claim to existence. What are you saying -- these things are the fault of the witnesses who do not come out to damn them? Government is excused if they never do so?

Acsa Ramirez came out to tell what she knew, and look what you did to her. Francisco Gudani and Alexander Balutan came out to tell what they knew, and look what you did to them.

My fifth impression was déjà vu. Arroyo ended her speech by saying: "After three years, 11 months, and six days, I shall relinquish the presidency, with much if not all that I have outlined completed." Three years, six months, and 24 days before, that was nearly exactly what she said too: "If we achieve these, my successor as president will be in a good position to lead the Philippines through the next decisive steps for the strong and modern society." She said that in her (in)famous speech about not running again and instead leaving her successor a nice legacy. She never had a successor. She ran again and stole the elections.

Ask yourself seriously: Will she really relinquish her position in 2010? Indeed, will she ever do?

That brings me to my last, and lasting, impression. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=11930