Military Rebels Say No to Cha-cha
Military rebels are “silently observing” the people’s
reaction to the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s charter change
maneuvers. “If the people will strongly react against it, there might be
another attempt of military intervention to solve the current political
impasse,” a retired military officer who has close ties with the military
rebels said.
BY
DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat
Military rebels are “silently
observing” the people’s reaction to the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
administration’s charter change maneuvers. “If the people will strongly
react against it, there might be another attempt of military intervention
to solve the current political impasse,” a retired military officer who
has close ties with the military rebels said.
The source added that the military
rebels believe the present administration is just using charter change to
ensure its survival. “The Constitution is too sacred to be treated that
way,” the military source said.
In particular, military rebels are
against amending the provisions on impeachment; the removal of safeguards
and checks regarding the declaration of Martial Law; rescinding provisions
protecting national patrimony; and granting Macapagal-Arroyo more powers
and ensuring that she can hold on to power until 2010.
In a statement Jan. 17, the lawyers’
group Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) said that among the
proposed changes in the 1987 Constitution are guarantees that Macapagal-Arroyo
remains in power until 2010 and grants her the powers of both president
and prime minister.
It also proposes to remove safety
mechanisms that will check the executive’s powers to declare martial law
or suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. The proposed
economic provisions go beyond the mere ‘easing of restrictions on
foreign investments” as it grants aliens the right to own lands and
exploit the natural resources of country, both rights previously reserved
to Filipinos under the 1987 Constitution. Worse, it opens to foreign
ownership all types of businesses including the operation of public
utilities.
The source said it is not right to
give up national patrimony in order to gain some economic advantages
because in the long term, “this means giving up much of the benefits that
should go to our own people.”
“If we run this country the right way,
we don’t have to look for short term benefits,” the source added.
The source said the mismanagement of
local resources makes the country economically weak. “If local resources
are not wasted through corruption, local capital should be enough for our
people,” the source said.
Distrust
Although seeing the need to institute
drastic changes in the constitution, the source said military rebels no
longer trust traditional politicians to oversee the process.
“Traditional politicians will not
allow provisions in the constitution that work in their favor to be
touched,” the source said.
If this is the case, the source said
the country would not have a constitution that is for the people. “We will
have a constitution that people will not respect because it does not
reflect their real sentiments,” the source added.
The source said the military rebels
still believe that the most acceptable political set-up is the formation
of a Transition Council, a respectable body to oversee changes in the
charter and eventually call for an election.
Restiveness
The military rebels’ stand against the
Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s charter change initiatives came after
the controversial Mayuga Report was made public. The report is the result
of a nine-month fact-finding investigation headed by Navy chief Vice
Admiral Mateo Mayuga that looked into allegations that military officers
and soldiers were involved in electoral fraud during the 2004 elections.
The report cleared four top military
officers and some 300 officers and soldiers deputized by the Commission on
Elections (Comelec) as members of Board of Election Inspectors.
The four generals include Army chief
Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Gabriel
Habacon, retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko and retired Brig. Gen. Francisco
Gudani.
The first three generals were
mentioned in the controversial “Hello Garci” tapes. The tapes allegedly
contain wiretapped conversations between Macapagal-Arroyo and former
Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano discussing how they can ensure
the victory of the former in the 2004 presidential elections.
Gudani, a retired Marine general,
appeared in a Senate inquiry last year testifying that he was one of the
generals mentioned in the “Hello Garci” tapes. In the same testimony, he
denied that he was close to the opposition as mentioned in the tapes.
Gudani’s testimony allegedly triggered the president’s promulgation of
Executive Order 464 (EO 464), a gag order on all public officials to
refrain from giving testimonies in congressional investigations without
approval by the president. The Supreme Court, in a decision last April 20,
declared significant provisions of EO 464 as unconstitutional.
“Instead of looking into the possible
involvement of military officers in electoral fraud as revealed by the
Hello Garci tapes, the Mayuga fact-finding team only made a general
evaluation of the conduct of the armed forces during the elections,” the
source said. “The investigation avoided looking into the culpability of
those who cheated for the president,” the source added.
The Mayuga Report exacerbated the
feeling that the armed forces were used to cheat during the May 2004
elections, the source said. “For idealistic officers who do not want to be
used, lalo lang silang nag-init,” (They felt more angry.) the source
added.
“Nagamit na nga sila sa eleksyon, pati
sa cover-up ginagamit pa sila,” (They were used during the elections and
now they are still being used for the cover up.) the source said.
The revelations of the Mayuga Report
didn’t appease the restiveness of young military officers, the source
said. “We can still expect things to happen. The fight for truth and
justice is still on,” the source warned.
Despite reports of a crackdown on the
rebel military officers, the source said their ranks have become stronger
because the sentiment of the people is in their favor. The source cited
the March 8-14 survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) that showed that
36 percent of the respondents favored a military coup against Macapagal-Arroyo.
The survey was done a week after the president placed the country under a
state of national emergency through Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP
1017) issued last Feb 24, the same day military rebels planned to withdraw
support from the president. Bulatlat
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