Destructive distraction
Destructive distraction
Updated 00:59am (Mla time) Oct 29, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 29, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
FEAR and rumors are contagious. In the case of recent rumors of coup plots being hatched, these have provoked fears verging on panic in the some quarters.
The apparent drift of the administration, combined with increasingly hostile rhetoric from some oppositionists, hasn't helped. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been perceived, first of all, as being stuck in an ever-expanding quicksand of her own making: the ever-increasing, and increasingly illogical, appointments made by her as well as attempts to tinker with the bureaucracy by creating new entities such as the Office of Special Concerns (whatever it is or whatever it is supposed to do). Some opposition politicians, such as former senator Francisco Tatad, have also been trying to shake things up by speaking darkly of the need to replace the President with a nebulous junta composed of a mismatched collection of prominent names.
Opportunists apparently want to make use of the corruption scandal involving Major General Carlos F. Garcia to tip the balance in their favor. Suddenly, the massive majority of the ruling coalition, and the President's astounding ability to muddle her way through even her own best efforts to sabotage her ability to rule, have an antidote. That antidote is the threat, whether manufactured or not, of military intervention.
Military intervention is precisely the sort of pressure the administration's stable of political operators lack the courage or the means to resist. For the opposition, the prospect of being backed with bayonets can compensate for the popularity it lacks.
However, both sides -- the administration as it panics and suffers from the lack of allies willing to defend it, and the opposition in salivating over the chance to bastardize people power through a naked power grab -- do not take into account the public and the military. If no large segment of the population is prepared to sacrifice in order to keep the administration in power, there is no equivalent segment prepared to risk all for the opposition. The same applies to the military. If some generals, whether out of fear of being exposed as crooks, or out of a genuine desire to change the system, want to mount a coup, they cannot be sure if anyone will follow them. After all, where would a coup lead the country? Would it lead to a solution to current problems?
Even former senator Gregorio Honasan, a coup expert if there was one, says no. "A coup attempt is totally uncalled for. It will not solve the problem," he told the media.
Would a coup help the opposition? Oppositionists weren't pleased by talk circulating last Tuesday that Senator Edgardo Angara had met with the President. Their meeting seems to have born fruit, with Ms Arroyo announcing the other day that she had invited Angara and his Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino party to join her in forging "a covenant of national unity." The opposition, as before, remains divided. It also has no love for -- and is not loved by -- many retired generals.
Would a coup help the military? It would only help to prove the rank and file gullible and the officer corps selfish beyond redemption. Coup fears, in fact, have been kept at bay by a growing suspicion that our soldiers aren't so dumb, and our officers so totally corrupt, that any significant number of them would be tempted to join a coup.
The truth is, plotting coups or circulating rumors of a coup is an act of desperation by officers whose desperation is shared by some politicians. Even if corrupt officers are outnumbered by fairly honest ones, it only takes a few to send the rest on red alert.
However much the administration may be adrift now, it can try to milk coup rumors for all they are worth, including a tactical alliance with some opposition figures. And no matter how divided the opposition may be, ambition springs eternal and coup rumors are useful to those out of power. And whatever it is politicians and generals actually want, coup rumors help to distract the country.
This is a distraction no one needs. These are fears the country can do without. The simple truth is, the only reason to attempt a coup is to protect the guilty.
Updated 00:59am (Mla time) Oct 29, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 29, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
FEAR and rumors are contagious. In the case of recent rumors of coup plots being hatched, these have provoked fears verging on panic in the some quarters.
The apparent drift of the administration, combined with increasingly hostile rhetoric from some oppositionists, hasn't helped. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been perceived, first of all, as being stuck in an ever-expanding quicksand of her own making: the ever-increasing, and increasingly illogical, appointments made by her as well as attempts to tinker with the bureaucracy by creating new entities such as the Office of Special Concerns (whatever it is or whatever it is supposed to do). Some opposition politicians, such as former senator Francisco Tatad, have also been trying to shake things up by speaking darkly of the need to replace the President with a nebulous junta composed of a mismatched collection of prominent names.
Opportunists apparently want to make use of the corruption scandal involving Major General Carlos F. Garcia to tip the balance in their favor. Suddenly, the massive majority of the ruling coalition, and the President's astounding ability to muddle her way through even her own best efforts to sabotage her ability to rule, have an antidote. That antidote is the threat, whether manufactured or not, of military intervention.
Military intervention is precisely the sort of pressure the administration's stable of political operators lack the courage or the means to resist. For the opposition, the prospect of being backed with bayonets can compensate for the popularity it lacks.
However, both sides -- the administration as it panics and suffers from the lack of allies willing to defend it, and the opposition in salivating over the chance to bastardize people power through a naked power grab -- do not take into account the public and the military. If no large segment of the population is prepared to sacrifice in order to keep the administration in power, there is no equivalent segment prepared to risk all for the opposition. The same applies to the military. If some generals, whether out of fear of being exposed as crooks, or out of a genuine desire to change the system, want to mount a coup, they cannot be sure if anyone will follow them. After all, where would a coup lead the country? Would it lead to a solution to current problems?
Even former senator Gregorio Honasan, a coup expert if there was one, says no. "A coup attempt is totally uncalled for. It will not solve the problem," he told the media.
Would a coup help the opposition? Oppositionists weren't pleased by talk circulating last Tuesday that Senator Edgardo Angara had met with the President. Their meeting seems to have born fruit, with Ms Arroyo announcing the other day that she had invited Angara and his Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino party to join her in forging "a covenant of national unity." The opposition, as before, remains divided. It also has no love for -- and is not loved by -- many retired generals.
Would a coup help the military? It would only help to prove the rank and file gullible and the officer corps selfish beyond redemption. Coup fears, in fact, have been kept at bay by a growing suspicion that our soldiers aren't so dumb, and our officers so totally corrupt, that any significant number of them would be tempted to join a coup.
The truth is, plotting coups or circulating rumors of a coup is an act of desperation by officers whose desperation is shared by some politicians. Even if corrupt officers are outnumbered by fairly honest ones, it only takes a few to send the rest on red alert.
However much the administration may be adrift now, it can try to milk coup rumors for all they are worth, including a tactical alliance with some opposition figures. And no matter how divided the opposition may be, ambition springs eternal and coup rumors are useful to those out of power. And whatever it is politicians and generals actually want, coup rumors help to distract the country.
This is a distraction no one needs. These are fears the country can do without. The simple truth is, the only reason to attempt a coup is to protect the guilty.
posted by Dante at 11:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home