This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 11, April 23-29, 2006
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 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 © 2006 Bulatlat
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