Arangkada for August 27, 2005

 

             DUWA RA DIAY?

 

Natinuod ang pangangkon sa oposisyon nga madugangan og duha ang mga kongresista nga mopirma sa impeachment complaint batok ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ang wa matinuod hangtod karon mao ang pasiatab sa administrasyon nga dunay pito ka mga kongresista nga mobakwi sa ilang pirma. Laing wa matinuod mao ang panghambog ni House Speaker Jose de Venecia nga ang resolusyon nga nagsuporta sa presidente gipirmahan na sa labing menos 181 ka mga kongresista.

Pero kuwangan pag 31 ka pirma una maabot ang 79 nga maoy gikinahanglan aron ma-transmit ang articles of impeachment ngadto sa Senado. Ug nagkanihit nang panahon. Mahimong di na gyong kapugngan ang pagbasura sa mayoriya sa kinalig-onang impeachment complaint sa pagpadayon sa deliberasyon sa House Justice Committee sunod semana.

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Duna hinuoy mga tilimad-on nga ang politikanhong oposisyon di ingon ana kamakaluluoy. Ang makahuloganong pahiyom sa mga lider sa oposisyon ug ang pasumbingay sa mga alyado sa administrasyon nga mahimong di na gyod kapugngan ang paglusot sa kaso nakapalig-on sa pagduda nga bisan sa gipabaha nga mga haylo ug mga suburno ang mayoriya ni Presidente Arroyo di paigo sa pagbasura sa impeachment complaint.

Pun-an pa sa managkaluha nga pahibawo sa Nacionalista Party ni Senador Manuel Villar ug Liberal Party ni Senate President Franklin Drilon, nga giluwatan dihang ang administrasyon masaligong nideklarar nga naghingutas nang impeachment complaint, nga ang kapin sa 30 nila ka mga sakop mahimong mopirma na sa sunod semana.

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Ang pahibawo ni Villar puno sa kahulogan. Hangtod karon alyado pa silang Presidente Arroyo. Pero mas suod silang Bise Presidente Noli de Castro. Maong ang iyang pagpangunay pagpahibawo nga di niya pugngan ang iyang mga sakop nga kongresista sa pagpirma sa impeachment complaint moambas sa kasipa sa pag-awhag ni Drilon niadtong Hulyo 8 sa resignasyon ni Presidente Arroyo.

Labi na nga ang bomba ni Villar wa mag-inusara. Giunhan ni sa pahibawo nga dunay luwatang importanteng deklarasyon si de Castro sunod semana. Nga nagsunod sa kalit lang pagbalitok ni Senador Joker Arroyo, laing suod nga alyado nilang Villar ug de Castro, nga ang pakigsabot ni Presidente Arroyo kang kanhi presidente Joseph Estrada klarong pamolitika.

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Pero sa di pa purungpurongan og pasidungog ang oposisyon ug ang bag-o nilang mga alyado, basaha ni og hilak:

• Ang grupo ni Villar mahimong nanalipod lang sa ilang interes kay seguro man silang mawani kon magka-alyansa silang Erap ug Arroyo; samtang
• Ang politikanhong oposisyon mahimong sayon ra untang makatigom sa 79 ka pirma pero wa tinud-a kay kon makasugod dayon ang impeachment trial, ang mga senador nay bida, mawani nang mga kongresista.

Kon ang mga politiko sa pikas ug pikas igo lang diay nagpatas-anay og tinuboan, kinsa may mopatigbabaw sa interes sa kinabag-an? [30]  leo_lastimosa@abs-cbn.com

Glo's Advice

Arroyo should heed her own advice

Inquirer News Service

AS a participant of Edsa People Power II, I rejoiced at what I considered our people's "victory." To memorialize the events, I made a scrapbook. Recently, I went over it and came across a newspaper article dated Oct. 26, 2000, titled "Gloria says economic problem will worsen unless Erap [Joseph Estrada] resigns."

In the article, then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked for Estrada's resignation due to a "crisis in confidence." She also said: "... a political problem requires a political solution… It pains me to say that the only solution is resignation." The country is now experiencing the same kind of "crisis in confidence." President Arroyo should follow her own advice. She should resign for the sake of our country. We are in a crisis primarily because of President Arroyo, not because of our system of government. Any form of government can only be as good as its leader.

In 2000, surveys said that 54 percent of respondents wanted President Estrada to resign. Today, surveys say 70 percent want President Arroyo out. Isn't that convincing enough?

Ms Arroyo gave sound advice then. She should be humble enough to accept her own prescription.

In that same article, the then-spokesman of the Lakas-CMD Party, Rep. Hernando Perez said, "…the party will use all means to have a change in leadership." Why should President Arroyo's party now criticize the opposition for doing the same?

Ms Arroyo has betrayed the trust our people gave her at Edsa II. Corruption charges, graver than those that the president she ousted was accused of, have been thrown her way. What makes Ms Arroyo more dangerous is that, in her selfish desire to cling to power, she irresponsibly encourages threats of dividing our country.

I strongly agree with Conrado de Quiros (Inquirer, 8/03/05): "… Ousting Ms Arroyo by itself won't solve all our problems, but it sure as hell, or heaven, will solve a great many of them. The fact that we had a procession of corrupt presidents doesn't make stopping a current one less imperative, it makes it more so!"

I appeal to all nationalistic Filipinos! Let us not get tired of going back to the streets to demand morality and integrity in our leadership!

ZENAIDA ALFON, 101 Cosmopolitan Tower, Valero Street, Makati City

Inquirer Editorial

Editorial : Shenanigans

THE LATE Sen. Genaro Magsaysay once famously said, "No talk, no mistake." Party-list Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay should have heeded those words, but then he wouldn't have had his 15 minutes of fame (or notoriety). Living up (or down) to Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez's dictum that "politics is addition," Magsaysay withdrew his support from the impeachment complaint. The opposition countered that with Representatives Robert Jaworski Jr., Robert Ace Barbers Jr., Edmund Reyes Jr., Renato Magtubo and Gilbert Remulla signing the amended complaint, it still registered a net gain of supporters.

All these gains and losses are, of course, temporary, with the political tide ebbing and flowing like waves on a seashore. Both sides are claiming that they're on the verge of tactical victory, with Speaker Jose de Venecia saying Magsaysay will be followed by others, and the opposition suggesting that others, like the Nacionalista Party members, are preparing to throw their support behind them.

The saying that the impeachment battle in the House is a "numbers game" has been repeated like a mantra by both sides. However, the side that really has the numbers is the majority, and small defections aside, it is managing to hold.

Magsaysay, in his previous incarnation as a supporter of impeachment, denounced efforts to bribe him into withdrawing his support. Now it turns out that all he needed to withdraw that support (according to him, at least) was to read the complaint and consult his lawyers. Still other lawmakers have made similar allegations of attempted bribery. But even without resorting to actual bribes, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her people have been widely mentioned as phoning congressmen to ensure their continued support.

Given the widely discussed speculation that Malacañang wants to kill the impeachment before the President departs for Saudi Arabia and New York City, could it be that the administration is becoming more frantic or reckless, or both? Or are congressmen simply holding out for more? Columnist Dong Puno related, with barely feigned contempt, that one pro-administration congressman had inquired about pork-barrel funds because, if he didn't get any, he just might support impeachment after all. Magsaysay, in announcing his about-face, denounced suggestions he did so due to some trade-offs. But he should look at his colleagues to realize why such suspicions gain ground.

Does impeachment's nature as a "numbers game" justify the administration's moving heaven and earth (and allegedly a whole lot of cash, according to the opposition), and the opposition, in turn, attempting to make up for its numerical weakness by milking its every media appearance for all it's worth?

Both sides seem to recognize no limit, either ethically or tactically, to their actions in furtherance of their ultimate goals. What the administration, for example, loves to dismiss as merely a "Manila problem" has leaked into the province of Cavite, where the Remullas are attempting to restore the dominance over provincial politics established by their father. Whether or not there is truth to the suspicion that the suspension of Gov. Ireneo Maliksi has been influenced by the impeachment proceedings, the Remullas in the House have evenly divided its votes between avowedly pro-impeachment Gilbert and (so far) non-committal and possibly anti-impeachment Crispin. Maliksi's suspension obviously benefits their bother John-Vic who gets to sit as governor.

By all accounts, Cavite is opposition country, but as it stands, the Remulla brothers in the House have cleverly leveraged their votes in temporarily assisting the opposition (with Gilbert's signing on), while holding Crispin's vote in reserve. If Maliksi gains the upper hand, Crispin can add his vote to the opposition. If John-Vic succeeds, then the Remullas can point to Gilbert's "conscience vote," while Crispin votes with the administration and spites, in the process, their province mate, oppositionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

The spread of the political turmoil to Cavite indicates just how pervasive the question of impeachment is. It also shows the intensity of lobbying on the local level. In basketball, to use up time to the advantage of a team that's ahead, there's the tactic of pointlessly dribbling the ball. The question is whether it's the House majority doing the dribbling.