Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Malilong: Motives of those agitating People Power By Frank Malilong The Other Side
SOMETHING I read in yesterday’s issue of the Philippine Star nearly made me fall off my seat.
It was about pardoned plunderer Erap Estrada claiming that he is not only ready but has the constitutional right to replace President Arroyo if and when. His basis? Former president Cory Aquino’s “admission” that Edsa 2 was a mistake. Aquino, if you will recall, shared the stage with Erap during the interfaith rally in Makati last week.
“Actually I have the constitutional right to replace President Arroyo because I was unconstitutionally removed,” the deposed President was quoted by the Star. “They said that it is a big mistake and in order to correct that mistake, they should return me to the presidency.”
Of course, Erap isn’t the only one who is ready to assume the presidency. Vice President Noli de Castro has earlier said that he “was not preparing but was prepared” to take over from Mrs. Arroyo.
De Castro’s right to succeed the presidency is at least constitutionally clear and unambiguous. But don’t tell that to constitutionalist Erap who, still according to the Star, said: “The sovereignty lies with the people and the authority resides in them.”
But neither Estrada’s nor de Castro’s idea fit in the post-Arroyo scenario painted by Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who espouses the creation of a transitional junta that presumably includes a Bayan representative. The junta is supposed to have a lifetime of only six months after which general elections will be held but we all know that in Philippine politics there is no such thing as an absolute guarantee.
Perhaps, we should expand the search for truth to include the motives of those who are now agitating another People Power in order to force Arroyo out of Malacañang.
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I have both good and bad news for the National Basketball Association fans who feel orphaned by the decision of SkyCable to drop Basketball TV from its program. The good news is that another cable television provider, Destiny Cable, carries BTV. The bad news is that Destiny serves only the Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue areas.
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The municipal government of Compostela will mark today the anniversary of the Battle of Guila-Guila in simple ceremonies at the site of one of the bloodiest encounters between Japanese forces and Cebu guerillas during the Second World War. The rites will be led by town mayor Ritchie Wagas.
The battle of Guila-Guila is well-chronicled in a book on the guerilla movement in Cebu written by Col. Manuel Segura. One of its many heroes was then Maj. Fabian Sanchez, who eventually became Mandaue Police Chief when peace was restored.
One of the most moving scenes narrated in Segura’s book was when Sanchez was told by Maj. Alfredo Vargas to withdraw. “Give the order to withdraw. You cannot fight without ammunition!
“I am ashamed to order withdrawal,” Sanchez cried thinking of his boys on the line in Guila-Guila.
“This is guerilla war; you hit and run! Why sacrifice the boys?” Vargas countered. Sanchez then turned to his executive officer and gave the order to withdraw.
The official report said 232 enemy soldiers were killed in the battle but civilians said they saw nine truckloads of Japanese dead, each truck with a capacity of at least 60 bodies. It was by far the most humiliating defeat the poorly-equipped but brave guerillas inflicted on the enemy in the Cebu theater of war.
