GMA Won’t Last Her Term – Sison

The chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has predicted that newly-proclaimed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won’t last the presidency and that she could be the third president to be ousted while in power.

By Bulatlat.com

The chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has predicted that newly-proclaimed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won’t last the presidency and that she could be the third president to be ousted while in power.

In a statement emailed to the press June 27, political émigré Jose Maria Sison said there is a possibility that Macapagal-Arroyo “would be removed from power as soon as it loses the support of the reactionary military and police.”

Sison issued the statement three days before the inauguration of Macapagal-Arroyo who will begin her six-year term as president on July 1. But the president’s rigged election coupled with the worsening economic conditions in the country will fuel unprecedented mass protest actions and for the development of a “broad united front” against the “U.S.-Arroyo regime,” he said.

Macapagal-Arroyo was proclaimed by the ruling-party-dominated Congress at 3:30 a.m. June 24. She does became the only Philippine president to be proclaimed while the whole nation was asleep.

Opposition forces, including actor-turned-presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., vowed to question Macapagal-Arroyo’s election even as militant people’s organizations began a series of protest actions, calling her presidency “bogus.”

“A broad united front of civilian forces and retired military and police officers are reportedly already working hard to persuade military and police forces of the ruling system to support the democratic mass movement of the people and withdraw support from the U.S.-Arroyo regime, as in the overthrow of Marcos (in 1986) and Estrada (in 2001),” Sison said from Utrecht, The Netherlands.

In a related development, the third meeting between the government and NDFP ended last week in Oslo, Norway after three days of talks. Unlike in previous peace talks, however, no joint communiqué was issued prompting NDFP leaders to express disappointment. NDFP negotiators led by Luis Jalandoni said however they would work out a common document weaving in the agreements reached in the third round of talks before the next round set for Aug. 23-30.

Two immediate concerns, among other issues, remained unsolved. In the talks, the NDFP panel expressed serious concern to the government peace panel over the mysterious transfer of $684 million Marcos wealth to the National Treasury. The plundered wealth includes the $150 million earmarked for the 10,000 Marcos torture victims.

On June 26, Philippine Foreign Secretary Delia Albert told reporters the Macapagal-Arroyo government will not help the NDFP in removing the Communist Party, New People’s Army and Sison off the terrorist lists of the United States and certain European countries.

Jalandoni has insisted that two Oslo agreements forged this year obligated the government to ask the international community to uphold the integrity of the peace talks and the non-interference of foreign countries. NDFP leaders have also defended their claim that the terrorist listing was done through secret deals between the government and its counterparts abroad. Bulatlat.com

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