“Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles.”—William Shakespeare, Macbeth
At around the time that the hardworking and prayerful Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was due to deliver her ninth—and presumably last—State of the Nation Address, as well as for several days after, the phrase “lame duck” was predictably bandied about to refer to her. It would probably be more accurate, however, to say that, in the face of the overwhelming nationwide antipathy that has dogged her through nearly a decade in power, the President has consistently comported herself like a lame duck. That is, she has acted in ways that show a flagrant disregard for the consequences other than her own political survival—and, of course, the occasional “simple dinner“.
It is for this reason that all the perfumes of Arabia—or the boisterous bleats of her bovine boosters, anyway—will not sweeten either her rule or her legacy. It is also for this reason that she and her allies have been doing their utmost to damn the mandate of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino III, her apparent successor, with spots—ones that are calculated to be difficult to wash off or rub out, ensuring that the next administration will be so completely preoccupied with and weakened by setting the house of the state in order, it will be unable to live up to even the simplest and most basic expectations of an electorate that has invested so much in the hope that a new leader with a clear, legitimate mandate can and will usher in positive, meaningful change.
Dashing such a hope, as Macapagal-Arroyo surely knows from experience, can only be advantageous to her. After all, it seems to me that her betrayal of the spirit of EDSA by reneging on her promise not to run once she had sat through the term of her ousted predecessor, and then rigging the polls in her favor to boot (allegedly, because, per her lackeys, the evidence has yet to presented at the proper forum), did not so much spark a massive uprising as it did drain the public of the vigor for vigilance and cause widespread resignation—a situation to which the perceived weaknesses of those who could have conceivably replaced her (action star Fernando Poe, Jr. during the 2004 elections, and Vice President Noli de Castro in 2005 following the explosion of the Hello Garci scandal) also contributed. Once the people were sufficiently alienated from and cynical about the political realm, Macapagal-Arroyo gained a far freer hand to do as she pleased, and the results have been appalling beyond belief, as the annus horribilis that was 2009 alone shows: the deeds of her regime ranged from the imposition of duties on imported books—a blatant violation of the Constitution and the Florence Agreement that, per anecdotal reports, is still being implemented—to the torture and execution of 57 people in the Ampatuan Massacre—a crime that represents the very nadir of impunity, and which the hour of justice would seem to be approaching at roughly the pace of a paralyzed snail.
Considering her victorious campaign to represent the second district of Pampanga in the Lower House, and the number of land mines that she has laid to maim and mutilate the mandate of Aquino—the appointment of the publicity hound Renato Corona to the position of Chief Justice by way of a convoluted Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution is but the most prominent—it would appear entirely plausible to posit that the name of Macapagal-Arroyo’s game is to ensure that, once Aquino takes the helm, the ship of state flounders so badly that she can credibly bring impeachment to bear against him (perhaps on the basis of betrayal of public trust, an offense that she is particularly adept at committing). Her recent smarm offensive regarding the dubious accomplishments of her administration dovetails with this goal: should the nation succumb to disillusionment and despair-induced docility, as is doubtless her wish, “Buti pa noong panahon ni Gloria” might wind up resounding in the public consciousness sooner than one might care to think. Worse, as many a political observer has warned, she could somehow pull together a large enough coalition to instigate the process of charter change, which she has consistently pushed for, paving the way for her return to power, this time as Prime Minister—or, for all we know, as queen regnant.
The recently concluded national and local elections, therefore, are only the end of the beginning—the hurlyburly is not yet done. We, the people, have scorched the snake, not killed it, and we remain in danger of her fangs. In truth, I hope that this assessment will turn out to be an ultimately alarmist one, but for the moment it seems a touch of paranoia is warranted. As Peter Wallace has remarked, the Philippines, especially under the present dispensation, is a magical place, one that has been bent and warped ad majorem Gloria gloriam.
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(This post also appears in my blog, Random Salt.)
Popularity: 1% [?]
You got her number, Jay
It would be generous for all of us, to let Gloria Arroyo go silently. Of course, she has some failures in governance. However, she has also some success in some of her projects. I will not judge her. History will
judge her. It’s too early to feel the impacts and results of her projects. Presidents had their failures and successes.
mario cruz,
The degeneracy of GMA should not be forgotten. She has taken away the very essence of support for the Filipino people, and have used the means for the filipino people, despairingly.
Pilipinas should view GMA — garcification and corruption — like it views “Who killed Noynoy?”
Finding justice and truth is very important.
ninoy….
Will double jeopardy apply to Gloria?
I believe that GMA by remaining in the national stage is actually providing a gift to the next administration. Having run on an anti-GMA platform, the Aquino govt will still have her around to bash and blame for its inability to live up to the exceedingly high expectations that were created during the campaign. There is nothing like an adversary to help keep you focused.
Agree.
The Cusp,
What a powerful statement. And a statement that may soon ring true, if we all do our part. Can we hurl pies, or just tomato.
A strange parallel exists between Noynoy and his father in that Ninoy blamed Diosdado Macapagal for keeping him in prison. For if Cong Dado had not flirted with being PM by virtue of the transitory provisions of the 71 Constitution whose convention he presided over, Marcos would have never gained legal cover for extending his lease on Malacanan. Marcos of course reneged on his promise to reconvene parliament under the new constitution. The next elections were held in 1978 when Ninoy ran from prison.
Perhaps, but one looks at the number of votes Erap collected, and one stands in awe at the malleability or lack of perspective of the common man. Politics is deceit, the dressing of wolves as sheep or even majestic elk, and an uninformed electorate – or badly informed electorate – is hardly likely to be off cheering for Mr. Aquino, much less finding some way to put muscle behind his mouth. Even Mr. Obama, with Mr. Bush’s woeful implosion of the economy and explosion of international relations held his glow for about 60 days then the army of vested interests whacked him from a Nobel guy to a wimp.
I don’t see the mechanisms for change anywhere.
Joe
Jjoe,
Obama is clearly governing from the center; which is just as well because in one of his campaign speeches he reiterated that in the end there really is no red or blue America, just one nation of individuals living and sharing the same hopes and dreams encapsulated in that brilliant manuscript crafted by your founding fathers.
Succumbing to the ideological puritanism of either the left and the right means waging war on the other. Better a wimp than a war monger.
If Noynoy and the nation wants dramatic changes, he could always opt to be a revolutionary; which means positioning on either side of the ideological fringes.
Do I hear you say, bring it on?
The defeat of reformists like Panlilio and Padaca (as well as reformist Roxas’ defeat in the hands of populist Binay) should serve as a warning to Noynoy that he has a time limit. Running on a reformist agenda alone, even a successful one (with ‘success’ defined as funds that would have been lost to corruption being reclaimed and rechanneled to development) has a time limit. At some point, it will be EDSA Dos versus EDSA Tres again.
It is almost a given that soon enough, some pinoys will say
“… pareho lang naman, ah. Ano ba ang nagbago?”
Above not that bad, worse will be when more and more Pinoys say the words:
– mabuti pa noong panahon ni Marcos;
- mabuti pa noong panahon ni GMA.
Noynoy has to get on the ball of governance very quickly because he can get stung by more frequent electricity-brown-outs or lack of low-cost rice at public markets.
“Corona Talsik Diyan!” and various blame-game games can only go so far.
MikeH,
Both Marcos and Gloria share the same ignominious record of being illegitimate scums who we should confine in the dustheap of inglorious history.
tranquil,
I like Obama, and think he is doing a fine job. My point is that he swims against mighty currents, and they undercut his achievements. Mr. Aquino swims against mighty currents, too, and needs to posture a very few specific goals that the people can get behind. So that when Ms. Arroyo and other obstructionists try to get in the way they are overwhelmed by the common voice.
Joe
GMA is the person we have to look up above not because we are glorifying her…but very soon she has ropes around her neck.