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Sunday, July 10, 2005
Cabaero: Supreme sacrifice and tipping point
By Nini B. Cabaero
Beyond 30
“Supreme sacrifice.”
Former president Corazon Aquino asked this of President Arroyo last Friday as the only way to save the country from violence. "I ask the President, in all humility and with full awareness of its difficulty and pain, to make this supreme sacrifice to spare our country from the violence that threatens it from those who seek in her lapses of judgment, not a reason for reform, but an excuse to subvert the Constitution, grab power, and destroy our country," Aquino said in a televised statement.
That sacrifice, of course, meant Arroyo had to let go of her position and hand it over to Vice President Noli de Castro.
Aquino took this stand after several days of speculation on what her position was over the question--resign or not resign. Aquino kept mum until she said a few days ago that the Filipino people should not resort to means outside of the Constitution to replace Arroyo. Then a sudden turnaround Friday when she gave her categorical statement that Arroyo must go.
Talk about making a "supreme sacrifice" is best used to describe what the people are undergoing right now as they cope with financial difficulties and poor social services, rather than what President Arroyo has to do.
There seems to be no end, in fact, to the supreme sacrifices the people have been making because they are left with no choice but to continue with their lives despite the destructive tendencies of their leaders in the executive and legislative branches of government.
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"Tipping point."
At what point will this crisis being faced by President Arroyo end? Some analysts said that "tipping point" will be when the Catholic Church and the military take action and then this drama series on the presidential crisis will be resolutely resolved.
The "tipping point" is defined in www.dictionary.com as the end of a build-up of small changes that effects a big change. In this ongoing crisis, that big change should be in the form of a government that is united and focused on the delivery of basic services. Can the Church and the military create that big change?
Church leaders have started taking individual stands on the issue while the head organization, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, is scheduled to come up with a statement following their retreat this weekend.
Military and police officials have generally declared support to the duly elected President, but rumors of a coup continue to circulate.
Once they take action, there would either be more chaos or a painful start to the long road to recovery.
The "tipping point" must be when the people throughout the country, not only those in Manila, take action to create the change.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)
(July 10, 2005 issue)
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