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Monday, October 31, 2005
Carvajal: Martial law, greater evil
By Orlando P. Carvajal
Uncut Gems
'She must revoke the calibrated preemptive response (CPR), or the no permit, no rally policy, because she is not fooling any one.'
EXCEPT when a nation is being invaded by a foreign power, there is really only one reason heads of state declare martial law, and that is as a last and desperate effort to cling to power. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must, therefore, not only unequivocally reject martial law; she must also avoid any hints of declaring martial law.
She must revoke the calibrated preemptive response (CPR), or the no permit, no rally policy, because she is not fooling any one. This, and the planned use of emergency powers, do not protect the rule of law as claimed but protect her from the opposition and from those who hate her but hate the opposition even more. She refuses to be accountable for her errors in judgment and just wants to cling to power.
Again, Arroyo must be reminded that people with cool heads and who have no ambitions of power are not supporting the opposition's ouster move for two grudging reasons. They judge her to be a "lesser evil" and they do not want demagoguery and street protests to become our regular way of changing power.
The more she uses fascist ways to prop up her government, the more these people become convinced she is guilty as charged. She would do well to remember that many of these people are veterans of the fight against Marcos' martial law. They are of the belief that anything is better than any form of dictatorship and they will fight tyranny with all their weary hearts.
The moment they see Arroyo heading in the direction of martial law, they no longer see her as "lesser evil." Instead they see her as a "greater evil" that does not deserve to be there in the first place for having cheated and, therefore, must be ousted, toppled, brought down from her high horse by all means.
If she thinks, therefore, that she can keep her power secure with martial law, she is grossly mistaken. She does not even have to declare martial law to become the focus of an abused nation's anger. She only has to be adamant in revoking CPR and she only has to keep Justice Secretary Gonzalez blabbing about emergency powers for her to cease to be the "lesser evil" and become the "greater evil."
At the moment Arroyo and her broken, disparate circle of advisers continue to justify her fascist policies as legal means of protecting the rule of law. Wrong. Granting for the sake of argument that the CPR is legal, the fact remains that it was promulgated not to protect the rule of law. The water canons simply protect her from those who are demanding accountability from her.
The policy is absolutely unnecessary and, as she can see for herself, serves only as a red flag to the bull. She needs it like a hole in the head.
(October 31, 2005 issue)
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