Both Agabin and Dean Amado Valdez of
the Far Eastern University’s College of Law agreed that playing the tape
in session was not unconstitutional and that it would be in aid of
legislation. The House legal department said the same.
Lolita Carbon and Pendong Aban, Jr. of the folk-rock group Asin
PHOTO BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA
|
Casiño said the President’s allies in
the House should face reality. “If they would use technicalities to block
the playing of the tape, it would be too blatant that they were protecting
the president,” he said.
In turn, he said, this would further
fuel the protest against Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Bayan Muna congressman added the
administration congressman seemed to have learned their lesson from the
Estrada impeachment of 2000-2001 particularly the controversial “second
envelope” containing an alleged proof of jueteng (illegal numbers
game) payola against then President Joseph Estrada. The “second envelope”
controversy triggered the second Edsa people’s uprising that led to
Estrada’s ouster. Estrada followed the footsteps of Ferdinand Marcos who
was swept out of power in 1986.
|
Before the committee secretariat could
finish the tallying of votes, congressmen allied with the President began
clapping their hands and were heard shouting “Play it, play it!”
“They made it appear that they were
the ones who were eager to have the CD played but in fact were just doing
an act of self-preservation,” Casiño said. “They could not afford a
‘second envelope’ scenario, so to speak.”
A weakening majority
Some members of the majority bloc in
the House disagree with its “maneuverings,” however. Rep. Clavel Martinez
(2nd District, Cebu) said in an earlier interview with Bulatlat
that her colleagues are trying to suppress evidence.
“It leaves a bad taste in the mouth,”
Martinez told Bulatlat. “I don’t feel good about the whole situation. They
are trying to apply all the technicalities in trying to avoid playing the
tapes and having a confrontation with the truth.”
She qualified however that she is
still with the majority.
In the hearings last week, Martinez
said she was sorry to have campaigned for Macapagal-Arroyo. She admitted
though that she had talked to the President twice but the latter, she
said, gave no specific reaction except to say, “I will pray for you.”
Martinez could not give a categorical
answer when asked if Macapagal-Arroyo won fair and square in Cebu as what
the other administration congressmen from Cebu had claimed last week.
“That is something which we have to
find other proofs about,” she said referring to the question raised about
flying voters in Cebu City particularly in the district of Rep. Antonio
Cuenco.
Bayan Muna community activists showcase anti-Arroyo
visors
PHOTO BY
AUBREY MAKILAN
|
Martinez also said it was not remote
that Government Service Insurance Service (GSIS) funds were used to
campaign for the President in the May 2004 elections. GSIS employees have
charged their president and chief executive officer (CEO) Winston Garcia
for laundering the agency’s funds.
Garcia comes from an influential clan
in Cebu that is also allied with the President. He was appointed to the
GSIS post by Macapagal-Arroyo and has kept his position despite mounting
calls for his resignation last year.
|
Meanwhile, on June 29, another
congressman left the administration bloc and declared himself an
independent. Rep. Roilo Golez of Parañaque tendered his irrevocable
resignation from the President’s coalition party Kampi and as chair of the
House defense committee. He also called for her resignation.
People will decide
Martinez agreed with Casiño that the
House hearings were only a venue for articulating the people’s sentiments
over the alleged election fraud committed by the President
While calling the House proceedings “a
circus” and saying that this is leading to “almost nothing,” Martinez
said, “It’s going to be the public that’s going to be the judge and
everything lies in their hands. Because if you count on the way Congress
is doing it business, it is monkey business.”
On the other hand, Casiño said the
opposition does not have an illusion that Congress could oust the
President from power. “Ang magtatakda n’yan ay ang kalsada” (It
will be decided in the streets), he said.
Losing presidential candidate and
religious leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva echoed the same sentiments in a
rally in Makati City July 1. Villanueva publicly announced his alignment
with groups calling for the President’s resignation. “Arroyo’s presidency
is illegitimate, it is a by-product of a stolen election,” he told crowd
of about 20,000.
The Makati rally was the third held in
a week to call for the President’s ouster. The first rally held June 24 at
the Welcome Rotunda Manila drew 20,000 demonstrators, and the second was
on June 30 in Plaza Miranda, Manila.
Militant groups and anti-Arroyo
opposition parties have declared a countdown for the President’s ouster as
they vowed to hold daily rallies before her state-of-the-nation address on
July 25. Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
