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Friday, July 01, 2005
Estanislao: Does history repeat itself?
By Jacquelyn Estanislao
Part II
THE Spanish, American and Japanese occupations have made heroes of simple men. The Filipinos have proven their bravery in fighting for their sovereignty. They will never allow foreign intervention and will challenge anything that might snatch their freedom away.
The presence of US military bases in the Philippines was a long-debated issue until their pull-out after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The Marcos regime was branded as a puppet government with the US controlling everything from elections to socio-economic policies.
Imperialism was not just sloganeering but a reality which hit our people squarely on the face. The Filipinos stood their ground and asserted their rights over their beloved land, not once, not twice but in all those moments in our history. The same vigilance was exhibited during Edsa I and II which toppled the Marcos administration and the Estrada leadership, respectively.
Time and again, it has always been proven that the battle is won by those whose side the masses take. In the Philippine political arena, elections become a zarzuela of sorts. No candidate had ever admitted defeat, with the loser always accusing the winner of massive cheating.
Such is the trend, though. No exercise had ever been free of cheating and fraudulence. In most cases, the ruling administration has to take the blame for it.
While militant groups from various sectors of our society in the past united to fight a perceived foreign aggressor, the issues that are now confronting us are those involving our own system of governance.
Are we on the brink of a civil war? The fighting in Mindanao remains unabated while revolutionary groups continue to gain ground. The never-ending debates in the Senate and Congress are inevitable as they are now in the habit of taking opposing views on the promulgation of laws. Politicking had always been their agenda and even the administration cannot agree on solutions to problems involving our economic, social and political situations.
The opposition keeps lambasting the administration for its errors but fails, too, in presenting a more viable solution. Our fate becomes a cycle of loose ends with no indication of things getting better in the immediate future. Meanwhile, the common tao is made to suffer the cost of the government's ineffectiveness.
During the Marcos years, the military played the most important role in quelling social unrest, while the civilians pouring to the streets in support of Enrile and Ramos in Edsa I made the dictator leave Malacañang Palace in haste. An angry people propelled to power the widow of the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and gave the mandate to Fidel Ramos when he ran for President after Cory's term. Indeed, the Filipinos have very short memories or are just too much of Catholics to be so forgiving.
During the Marcos regime, Ramos and Enrile were prominent figures of the military, accused of committing a long list of human rights violations, from illegal arrests and detention to torture, massacres and salvagings. The instrument of oppression was hailed as a man of peace and proclaimed a hero after his decision to switch loyalties and abandon Marcos.
Enrile, once seen as the executioner of the dictator's fascist role is now back in the corridors of power. Even the Marcoses who had to flee the country for fear of their lives are now back in the social limelight, wining and dining with the who's who in the business community and the political arena. The political clans are back, with the older solons being replaced by their children and grandchildren.
The scandal that now rocks the Arroyo administration can be a test of the people's willingness to forgive and forget. The President's recent admission and the decision of the First Gentleman to leave for the US with Congressman Mikey Arroyo "to clear the air" and give the President a chance to dispense of her responsibilities better, will prove the Filipinos' consistency.
Or it could be that we have already gone tired of the same scenarios of our leaders trying to test our threshold for sufferings.
The jueteng controversy caused the downfall of the Estrada administration. The same controversy now confronts the First Gentleman and his son. The President's credibility is in question. The Philippine state of affairs is in far dimmer grounds. Will history repeat itself? I most sincerely hope not.
(July 1, 2005 issue)
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