I have never realized that more people than I care to think of had been been taken for a hilarious ride by the Magdalo Group.
The Magdalo Group is version 2 of RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement) who was led by Senator Gregorio Honasan and the members of this group are transactional operators just like RAM members; they too are brash, ambitious, adventurous and ruthless.
The RAM members were plain opportunists who had seen the upsurge of civilian support for Cory and had decided to abandon their commander-in-chief in a fast sinking ship. Instead of looking at them as coup plotters and villains, we see them as the saviors of the Republic. We elected some of them to high government positions and they continue to derive benefits from the very institutions they had subverted in favor of a Marcos one-man rule and from the institution they tried to subvert in favor of a military junta.
Most coup plotters against Mr. Marcos had trained their guns against Cory because they had been sidelined by her from their lucrative posts and assignments in government corporations they had treated for a long while as their private piggy-banks. Some of these plotters were punished by asking them to do ten push-ups by Cory’s Chief of Staff, Fidel Ramos.
The perception that most of those in power were guilty one way or another of subverting our democratic institutions prevented us from imposing the full measure of punishment to those who openly committed acts of treason and subversion against the republic. To our minds, only the members of the New People’s Army, (NPA) the members of the Moro National Liberation Front/Moro Islamic Liberation Front, (MNLF-MILF) and members of other left-leaning groups deserved to be punished by salvaging and death. The most sinister plotters that had destabilized the nation and ruin our economy and the raiders and plunderers of our treasury do not deserve the kind of punishment meted out to other subversive elements in our society when in matters of degree, the latter wrongdoers have wrought more havoc and destruction to our motherland.
The Trillanes and Lim capers have all the trademarks of Senator Honasan’s uprising; it is too adventurous, irresponsible and selfish. They wanted to advance their political agenda at the expense of the constitutional process and hope to gain leverage from the undiscerning public who can always be waylaid to look at their adventure as an honorable patriotic quest. These military exploits were twin-propelled with the ambition to topple down a duly constituted authority and if they fail, the five-star hotel escapades would catapult them to prominence and build in them a vast reservoir of political capital enough to get them a Senate seat.
Never mind if the economy had nose-dived again.
Honasan, Trillanes and now Lim.
These three stooges had tried at a power-grab for their own selfish interest and vainglory and not for the genuine desire to help you and me.
This May 10 elections is no different from the May 2007 midterm elections of Congressmen, Senators and local officials which provided us an uncomfortable paradox of how people of diverse and conflicting political or personal persuasions can make temporary alliances during election period to improve their chances of being elected to the positions only to bolt the alliance after elections and go their own destructive separate ways. Political parties are never defined by a distinct set of political beliefs and economic platforms that distinguishes one from the other. They are hodge-podge of non-partisan or overly partisan individuals fueled purely by personal ambition and offering their individual wisdom or lack of it as the complete recipe for the salvation of the nation.
A writer described Philippine politics this way:
“Political parties in the Philippines are extensions of the key politicians who control them, rather than institutions focused on particular ideologies or political viewpoints. Political loyalties are given to individuals, and rarely to the parties. Politicians often switch party allegiances for personal gain or regional advantage.”
The Magdalo group endorsement of Senator Villar for President is a political transaction and a temporary alliance in its tawdriest form. It is has nothing to do with honor, principle, country, flag and the people.
Popularity: 1% [?]
that’s why it’s called a ‘revolution’. it returns to the point from whence it started.
magdalo is just wallowing in their inflated sense of self-importance. trillanes even had the biggest travel expenses* at the last senate because apparently, senators have to do ‘outreach’ programs. talk about the effective use of resources.
*Trillanes received P247,404.00 for his “local travel” while his staff incurred P878,496 and P253,810 for local and foreign travel, respectively-gma news
These people are not idealists. They are power hungry and corrupt
like Honasan, and his patron Enrile.
The Magdalo Group sees the immenent victory of Noynoy and it wanted it derailed by casting its luck on Noynoy’s closest opponent, Senator Villar. A Noynoy victory will put Magdalo’s interest at bay. Noynoy almost died from the hands of RAM soldiers. I can only understand Magdalo’s apprehension of their would-be commander-in-chief whom they almost had killed in 1987, that is because I see no difference between RAM and Magdalo.
jcc,
Frankly, I don’t understand the need for such a huge military here. Just sign a defense treaty with the US to repel any invading hordes. I understand the need for high-skill troops to do battle with terrorists and rebels. But I don’t understand the need for military manning traffic stops to find illegal guns, to make for a safe election. It would make more sense to transfer the budget for these troops, who are essentially defending Filipinos against Filipinos, to the Judiciary so the Judiciary can get rid of its backlog and start jailing the law-breaking gun-toters.
Build more jails, too, and create new jobs.
Joe
It provides employment for an overpopulated country. The bigger the government, the higher the ‘employment’ figures. It gets you re-elected.
Magdalo Group is like the RAM. Honasan is a political adventurist and
an opportunist. Like his patron and father-in-law, Enrile. The two
are the worst opportunists I have seen in Philippine politics. Using
the Armed Forces to grab power. With the help of the Imperialist colonial master, the U.S.