President Arroyo is in New York for a United Nations-sponsored interfaith dialogue, the latest chapter in the world body’s long running advocacy of promoting the tolerance of ethno-religious differences to promote peace.
Some will recall that even former Speaker Jose De Venecia at the height of his influence several years back also mouthed the need for interfaith dialogue.
So Mrs. Arroyo’s swing through New York may be properly justified.
Defensively, Malacanang is saying that Mrs. Arroyo is making a stop in Chicago, Ilinois not to take another chance at getting a photo-opp with president-elect Barack Obama but to meet with members of the Filipino community.
Obama was unable to take Arroyo’s congratulatory phone call and also had no time to meet the Philippine leader when she was last in New York for the start of the UN General Assembly meeting.
Still there are wagging tongues asking why Mrs. Arroyo is out of the country just as Joc Joc Bolante is set to face the Senate and amid the persistent talk of a new plot to bring doiwn her government.
A clear indication of that danger is the appearance of a web site purportedly authored by rebellious soldiers with the site prominently featuring the call of 5 ranking Catholic bishops for “radical reforms against massive corruption,”
Pundits are juxtaposing this angle with last Friday’s surprise midnight mass in Malacanang where churchmen, politicians, and civic leaders supporting Mrs. Arroyo where in attendance.
Is the ground shifting from under the embattled leader or will she, like before, be able to stare down the threat which her security people are closely watching.?
Popularity: 1% [?]
It would be disappointing if Barack meets GMA knowing Barack’s briefing papers explicitly state that GMA is a corrupt leader.
Parang walang saysay ang ‘change we can believe in’ if there is a photo-op with Gloria.
Haven’t seen that ‘briefing paper’ sir. That on line?
What’s the purpose of the latest U.S.Trip?
Inquirer Editorial:Stalking Obama
I still have to see this destab campaign to succeed. With so many people eyeing the top position, I doubt if there is one who will emerge victorious.
I still have to see who is this “Savior” anointed by the wannabe Cardinal Sin bishops.
Having witnessed the destabilization attempts in the past with my dollar bet that it is not going to be successful, it makes me think that there are more rumormongers in the media than in the showbiz.
Wasn’t it Napoleon who said “I found the Crown in the gutter and I picked it up”
It could be that Gloria has realized her crown is no longer on her head.
I hope that neither Bayani or Jejomar will find it.
But no destab attempt will succeed if there is no ideological and popular support to push it
A clear indication of that danger is the appearance of a web site purportedly authored by rebellious soldiers with the site prominently featuring the call of 5 ranking Catholic bishops for “radical reforms against massive corruption,”
Scary, man. The military leadership has been so co-opted by the Arroyo presidency that Im afraid there won’t be a military coup without factions in the military shooting each other.
Mrs Arroyo might have missed the window of opportunity of resigning after the Garci affair, handing over the presidency to De Castro with the understanding that De Castro won’t let cases filed against her prosper while she slips quietly into the night. Or to GW Bush’s US.
The Sundalo website is bereft of a ideological programme. While it mouths some of the same slogans that Jose Maria Sison and company do, I don’t see any strategy aside from mounting the usual Makati coups Trillanes style. If they grab power, how will they manage it?
Here Joma Sison has the edge. I find his Maoism-Leninism out of sync with reality but at least he has a plan.
The soldiers want to do away with the constitution but what will you replace it with? You do not scheme for a revolution without putting the necessary structures to sustain it They should read the history of the Russian Revolution. Kerensky and his provisional government had the edge only to lose it in internal squabbling.
Lenin found the crown in the St Petersburg gutter instead.
Mao is right. A revolution is no picnic. It has to be studied and schemed. The Sundalo blog shows no evidence of this.
The EQualizer Post fervently hopes that Barack Obama will find some time from his busy schedule to meet Gloria Arroyo during her brief stopover in Chicago.
If this happens, Barack could compare notes with Gloria on how presidential elections in their respective countries are conducted.
since when has gma’s regime not been “in trouble”? if one gets a buck for every media report/commentary that proclaims a “plot” to oust the president since she held the office, he/she would be wealthy by now.
is there anything else worth writing about? i guess the gossip mill has to keep running for some people. it’s the only thing that keeps them going, it seems. what a crying shame!
Our intervention in this process is indirect; we are here to offer our life’s experiences, and having done that we must await this development with respect.
“…is there anything else worth writing about? i guess the gossip mill has to keep running for some people. it’s the only thing that keeps them going, it seems. what a crying shame!”
Atty. Ben,
I am in Manila in direct touch with multiple sources in government, including element in the military, and both sides of the political fence.
Visit your motherland again soon, talk to our compatriots, and walk in our streets.
Then revisit your comment.
Erratum: “…elements in the military…”
I think Mrs. Arroyo will remain in power till she ends her term in 2010.
If her term ends up abruptly, who will replace her?
As I remember, Erap was ousted only to be replaced by this president and this messy govt that we have now.
Is there a guarantee that history won’t repeat itself?
“Is there a guarantee that history won’t repeat itself?”
No. Up and until ordinary Filipinos also become the change they want their leaqders to be.
Kung manatili tayon na laging naghahanap ng padrino, ng pagbebenta ng ating boto,ng pagturing sa mga batas bilang ‘optional’, mauulit at mauulit ang kasaysayan.
“No. Up and until ordinary Filipinos also become the change they want their leaqders to be.”
Then we deserve the government that we have… It also means that a change in leadership is not the primary “revolution” that the country needs but a reorientation of values, which might take anytime between ten years to forever…
unless something drastic happens.
What that “something drastic” is, I have no idea.
“we deserve the government that we have… It also means that a change in leadership is not the primary “revolution” that the country needs but a reorientation of values, which might take anytime between ten years to forever…”
Hindi po naman. Ang patunay na may pagbabagong maaring magsimula sa bawa’t is sa atin ay ang 8 milyong mga kababayan nating nasa ibayong dagat… ang OFWs na siyang bumabalikatc sa ekonomiya natin at kabang bayan na walang awa namang pinagnanakawan ng mga nasa kapangyarihan.