PROTEST MOVEMENT
Anti-Arroyo Forces: The
Broadest Ever
The Arroyo
administration belittles the movement working for her ouster as a small
group of “destabilizers” and “power grabbers” that are unable to muster
the numbers to mount a People Power uprising. But the Anti-Arroyo
movement working for her resignation or ouster is the broadest ever
compared to the movement that ousted Marcos and Estrada.
By Benjie Oliveros
Bulatlat
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Questions regarding
the legitimacy of the current administration have been hounding it since
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was declared president in 2004. The opposition led
by her closest rival Fernando Poe Jr. claimed that there was massive
cheating during the last national elections. In fact, the administration
had to use its majority position in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to
ward off any attempts by the opposition to have the ballot boxes opened
and to compare the election returns with the certificates of canvass.
BEYOND THE USUAL:
Anti-Arroyo rally
at Ayala Avenue, Makati City
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But even after her
proclamation and the subsequent filing of election protests by the
opposition, PMacapagal-Arroyo was never secure with her hold to power.
Charges of destabilization have been thrown by the administration left and
right to prevent the formation of a broad movement that will work for her
ouster.
The stormy months
The first week of
June was the start of the crisis that shook the presidency. In an
apparent attempt to preempt the impact of the exposé of the “Hello Garci”
tapes, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye called a press conference, June 6,
and presented two CDs. One, said to Bunye, was the original and the other
a tampered recording, spliced to make it appear the president was talking
with a certain Garci. Later on Bunye claimed that he never said that the
voice was the president’s.
Two days later,
lawyer Allan Paguia, presented a tape, which according to him was not
tampered, containing the voice of the president conversing with Commission
on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
The damning silence
(by the president) and frantic maneuvers (by her henchmen) could not
mitigate the impact of the tapes. The opposition, militant organizations,
and other political groups believed the tapes confirmed what everybody
knew all along, that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated her way to the
presidency.
The very next day, a
group calling itself the Kilusan para sa Makabayang Ekonomiya (Movement
for a Nationalist Economy) or KME together with the Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) or Bayan and its member organizations
conducted a mass action. On June 24, Bayan, organizations identified with
Susan Roces, widow of the late Fernando Poe Jr., such as Filipinos for
Peace, Justice, and Progress Movement (FPJPM) and NCCV, with former
President Joseph Estrada such as Partido ng Masang Pilipino (Party of the
Filipino Masses) or PMP and PMAP, and the opposition under the United
Opposition (UNO) converged at Welcome Rotonda, boundary of Quezon City and
Manila.
On June 27, Macapagal-Arroyo
appeared before national television and admitted she talked with a Comelec
commissioner whom she did not name. She claimed she did it to safeguard
her votes and not to commit electoral fraud. She apologized for her
“lapse in judgment”.
The apology did
nothing to appease her critics. The mass actions continued and broadened.
Three of her rivals for the presidency, Eddie Villanueva of Bangon
Pilipinas (Rise up Philippines), former Senator Raul Roco of Aksyon
Demokratiko (Democratic Action), and Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson of the
Be Not Afraid Movement joined the calls for Arroyo’s resignation or
ouster.
The crisis of the
presidency climaxed on July 8. Eight cabinet secretaries and two
commissioners –namely, former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, former
Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, Juan Santos of the Department of Trade,
Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman,
Department of Education Secretary Florencio Abad, Rene Villa of the
Department of Agrarian Reform, Imelda Nicolas of the National Anti-Poverty
Commission, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles,
Commissioner Guillermo Parayno of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and
Alberto Lina of the Bureau of Customs – resigned and urged Macapagal-Arroyo
to resign. They collectively call themselves as the Hyatt 10.
The Liberal Party,
headed by Senate President Franklin Drilon, bolted the ruling coalition
and called for the president’s resignation. Former President Corazon
Aquino held a press conference also calling for Arroyo’s resignation.
The troubles of
Arroyo worsened when the Makati Business Club, Finance Managers
Association of the Philippines, and the Personnel Managers Association of
the Philippines also called for her resignation.
Four bishops also
called for her resignation: Bps. Julio Labayen, Antonio Tobias, Oscar
Cruz, and Deogracias Yñiguez
The continuing slide
of the presidency halted when former President Fidel V. Ramos and Speaker
of the House of Representatives Jose de Venecia took the side of the
president. They called for charter change as a solution to the crisis and
a graceful exit for the president.
This was followed by
a statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
led by Archbishop Fernando Capalla calling for sobriety and reflection.
But that did not stop
the mass actions, which rose steadily reaching its peak on July 13 at
Makati where anti-Arroyo forces gathered around 40,000 people and on July
25 at Commonwealth Avenue, in time with President Arroyo’s state of the
nation address, where the gathering reached around 60,000.
The start of the
impeachment proceedings provided President Arroyo relief from the
intensifying mass actions.
The subsequent
junking of the impeachment complaints on technical grounds galvanized the
anti-Arroyo forces. It also worsened the cracks within the military and
police, leading to rumors of attempts at coup d’ etat.
Anti-Arroyo forces
With the
intensification of calls for her ouster or resignation came the formation
of various coalitions and alliances.
On July 23, a
formation calling itself the White Ribbon movement was launched. Its
members are personalities within the middle sector most of whom were
active in the Estrada Resign Movement.
Bayan Muna Party
(People First) and Bayan, with its member organizations such as the
Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1st Movement) or KMU, the Kilusang
Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Movement of Peasants in the Philippines) or KMP,
Kadamay, a federation of urban poor organizations, Gabriela, an alliance
of women’s organizations, among others, formed the Gloria Step Down
Movement.
The Hyatt 10 and
social democrats, which formed Kompil 2 during the movement to oust former
President Joseph Estrada, formed the Black and White Movement. They are
working for Arroyo’s resignation and replacement by constitutional
succession.
The party list group
Akbayan, the Freedom from Debt Coalition, Sanlakas, Bisig, and Kalayaan
formed the Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses).
The biggest formation
is the Solidarity Movement. It is comprised by organizations under Bayan
Muna Party and Bayan, PMP and PMAP, FPJPM and NCCV, UNO, and Reporma Party
of former presidential candidate and defense secretary Renato de Villa,
and Bangon Pilipinas. The basis of unity of the Solidarity Movement is
the ouster of President Arroyo and formation of a Transition Council that
will preside over the country until the holding of elections in six months
after Arroyo’s removal.
The broadest
formation is the Bukluran para sa Katotohan (Unity for Truth). Its members
encompass the members of the Solidarity Movement, Black and White
Movement, Gloria Step Down Movement, White Ribbon Movement, Laban ng Masa,
and KME. It is comprised by around 80 organizations. It is a loose
coalition of organizations working for the resignation or ouster of
President Arroyo.
Other groups, which
are not part of the said formations, are the Christians Nationalist Union,
Coalition for National Solidarity, and the People’s Coalition for National
Salvation led by a former chief of the Philippine Army, Fortunato Abat,
Salvador Enriquez and Linda Montayre who are both associated with former
President Fidel V. Ramos. Lacson’s Be Not Afraid Movement also makes their
presence felt during mobilizations.
The non-aligned
institutions calling for Arroyo’s resignation or ouster are the National
Council of Churches of the Philippines, the Association of Major Religious
Superiors of the Philippines, De la Salle Brothers, Philippine Independent
Church, United Church of Christ, Concerned Ateneo faculty and students,
and UP Aware.
Anti-Arroyo groups
within the AFP and PNP have made their presence known. These groups
include the Protectors of the Filipino People, and the Young Officers
Union or YOUNG.
Political crisis
and impasse
Still, Macapagal-Arroyo
refused to resign.
She was counting on
the support of the majority in the House of Representatives, local
government officials, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the chain of command of the AFP and
PNP, and the U.S. embassy.
President Arroyo
tried everything to maintain herself in power from rewarding her loyal
supporters with positions and pork barrel funds, curtailing civil
liberties, harassments and killings. Her administration also delays the
implementation of politically sensitive policies such as the EVAT. And
she tries to divert the attention of the people to other matters such as
the “war on terror” in Mindanao, bombings, the anti-terror bill, and
constitutional amendments.
The administration
claimed the movement to oust her failed and they are over the hump. But
surveys by independent groups show that the president continues to get
negative ratings and the slight improvements in her satisfaction ratings
are far from being enough. More than half of the Filipino people still
want the president to resign or be ousted.
The lingering crisis
of the presidency forced the administration to surface Comelec
Commissioner Garcillano to deny that he was the person talking with the
president in the “Hello Garci” tapes. But Garcillano complains that nobody
believes him.
Nobody is budging
from his/her position. Politically, the nation is at an impasse. There is
an economic crisis. The people are suffering from unemployment and high
prices. And the Arroyo administration is facing a movement far broader
than the ones that ousted the late dictator Marcos and her predecessor
Estrada. Bulatlat
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