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Monday, February 26, 2007
Arroyo: RP can't afford to have another revolt
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said people power "is not all about ousting a government," adding that the international community would not accept another revolt even if it is a peaceful one.
Arroyo issued the statement in her speech on the 21st anniversary celebration of the 1986 People Power revolt.
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The coup attempt against Arroyo also celebrated its first anniversary on February 24. Because of the ouster try against Arroyo last year, there was no 20th Edsa anniversary celebration except for a mass.
In her speech, Arroyo said "people power" must be given a new meaning in order for the spirit of Edsa to remain alive and to be remembered by future generations.
"People power is about the future not just about the past. And I am glad that today we honor those from the past but also those from the present working for the future. People power should be about new ideas like Gawad Kalinga, Pondong Pinoy, not old complaints. People power is about all of them who bear faith in a new Philippines," she added.
Arroyo said the world embraced the Edsa People Power revolt in 1986 and tolerated the second revolt in 2001.
But she warned that, "The world will not, however, forgive another Edsa but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable and Filipinos as among the finest people in the world but who always shoot themselves in the foot."
She said foreign investors will no longer invest in the Philippines and the gains of the economy would not be brought to the average Filipino.
She said Filipinos exercised people power by sacrificing and supporting the imposition of taxes that would stabilize the economy. Such support, she said, has resulted in savings that are being used to generate new jobs, build new roads, bridges and ports, and deliver better education and health services.
Arroyo also said Filipinos miss the late Manila archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin, who was also among the four awardees of the Spirit of Edsa Foundation. Sin's brother, Ramon, received the posthumous award.
The other awardees were the Pondo ng Pinoy of Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales; Gawad Kalinga, which is a program for housing in partnership with government; and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who have remitted almost US$13 billion.
Throughout the celebration, the absence of several key Edsa personalities such as former President Corazon Aquino--who has been calling for Arroyo's resignation since 2005, Makati Representative Agapito "Butz" Aquino and the other officials of the August Twenty One Movement (Atom), and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile was apparent.
Former President Fidel Ramos, who was wearing the same blue shirt he wore at the 1986 Edsa revolt, was present and executed his historic jump three times before the cameras.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, chairman of the Edsa People Power Commission, said all the personalities have been invited, except for former senator Gregorio Honasan, who is detained due to rebellion charges.
Ermita said the former lawmaker had his own schedule while he did not want to compel former President Aquino to attend, especially since she is attending to the campaign of her son, Tarlac Representative Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who is running for senator under the opposition.
Ermita, in explaining the thinning of the crowd that celebrated the Edsa celebration to only close to 1,000, said the set-up before was very different. About half of the crowd was made up of officials and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the diplomatic corps.
Through the thin crowd, stage actor Pen Medina was able to slip in while wearing a blue pin bearing the words "Gloria et al out" and a gray shirt that read "Mga trapo-dorobo at manggagago, resign, alis" in front and "Real power to the people" at the back.
Ariel, of ABC-5's Ariel and Maverick show, sat beside Medina for a while in an attempt to interview him but the actor waved him off.
A member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) then approached Medina and tried to take his pin. Medina and the PSG man haggled for a while, and Medina later agreed to let the PSG have it.
The PSG member sat beside Medina all throughout the program, another sat behind them, while others watched from several seats away. A photographer tried to take Medina's picture but the PSG shooed him away.
Medina just sat while every one stood up and waved while singing "Magkaisa." After the confetti shower, everyone started to leave, including Medina who was still escorted by the PSG.
He tried to find the PSG member who took his "Gloria et al out" pin but he was given the runaround and it was not clear whether he was able to retrieve it.
In an interview, Medina said he is not representing any group and that he only wanted to feel if Arroyo is really sincere in her Edsa anniversary message.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in his weekly column "View From the Palace", said he shares the disappointment of Ramos and Bishop Socrates Villegas, who have decried the lack of interest or short memories of the people.
"Perhaps the euphoria has died down since, in the ensuing 21 years, reality has taken over and the spirit of brotherhood and unity that swelled into an unstoppable force during those heady days in 1986 has given way to protecting and perpetuating the very same interests that we sought to eradicate at Edsa," Bunye said.
"While it would be gratifying to see the crowds massing together to evoke the selfless spirit that gained our people admiration throughout the world, it would be more meaningful for each of us to rekindle that spirit in our hearts and minds, and to manifest that spirit in our daily lives. May this year's celebration, no matter how low key, serve as a reminder and challenge to bring back the days when selfish interests were set aside and there was willingness and will to move on from the mistakes of the past," he said. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (February 26, 2007 issue)
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