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| Devil as Caretaker By Antonio C. Abaya Written Sept. 06, 2005 For the Standard Today, September 08 issue If you watch TV Patrol (6:30 pm Mon to Fri on ABS-CBN Channel 02), as I often do (while working out on my treadmill), to get an idea of what information the CDE masa are getting from their TV sets, you may have noticed an item buried in the newscast last Monday, September 05. The headline of the item was, in Taglish: �Pinipisil si de Villa maging pinuno ng caretaker government.� In English, it means �De Villa being pressed to head caretaker government.� But the subsequent story did not say who it was who was doing the pressing, or, in the current argot, who it was who was making pisil. This, to my mind, identifies the item as a deliberately planted story, not one that the TV reporter stumbled upon during his or her rounds at his or her beat. And who would plant such a story other than the person or group of persons who are himself or themselves doing the pressing or making the pisil? For those who may have tuned in late and missed the earlier details, let me fill in the blanks with some background information. De Villa is Renato de Villa, AFP chief-of-staff under President Aquino, later secretary of national defense under both Aquino and President Ramos, an early executive secretary under President Arroyo until he had to resign for health reasons. He ran for the presidency in 1998, under the impression that FVR would endorse him for the Lakas nomination. When the Lakas nomination went instead to Jose de Venecia, De Villa felt betrayed, but he went ahead with his presidential campaign, under a miniscule party (Reporma) that he had formed for the occasion. Joseph Estrada, of course, won that election by a landslide, De Venecia was a poor second, and De Villa an even poorer third or fourth. When he was still in active military service, he was nicknamed Devil, which was really a misnomer since, from the little contact that I have had with him, he struck me as a gentle, mild-mannered, soft-spoken decent person whose name was never dragged in any scandal or controversy. He was, to all appearances, one of the few Mr. Cleans in the government. It was the malicious press which began to call him Teka-teka (Wait, wait) after a most-wanted Muslim criminal, cornered by the military in the dock area of Zamboanga City, still managed to escape, allegedly because of the indecision of then Gen. De Villa, who had taken personal charge of the operations. After a long post-2001 hiatus, De Villa�s name started to be mentioned again around April this year, as one of five persons who were rumored to be probable members of a revolutionary council that would take over the government in the event President Arroyo was forced to resign or was overthrown by elements of the military. The other members of this rumored revolutionary council would be Susan Roces, Evangelist Eddie Villanueva and Fortunato Abat, plus a mysterious and secretive primus inter pares, who would be the head of junta. This mysterious and secretive would-be head of junta turned out to be none other than the new dark horse of revolutionary politics, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, and those who were initially intrigued by the tantalizing promise of a fresh new beginning in the morally bankrupt world of Philippine politics, had to rush for the nearest exit to unburden themselves, so to speak, of their indigestible disappointment. Especially since it also turned out that Binay�s co-conspirator in the �revolutionary� junta was San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, son of the disgraced and detained Erap. But this is a free country, and even the dirtiest trapos can pretend to be the cleanest chamois and promise to idealistically wipe the slate clean for a new beginning. To give their enterprise some semblance of democratic consensus, the �revolutionaries� convened a gathering of 66 like-minded individuals at the Quezon City Sports Club and formed the so-called Unity for Truth and Justice to advance their cause and choose those who would finally make up what they now called a �caretaker government,� apparently to accommodate those who found the word �revolutionary� too radical. (See my article, �Truth and Justice,� of July 24.) The original five-person junta was enlarged to eleven. Among the new additions were Horacio �Boy� Morales, agrarian reform secretary under Erap and co-founder of the National Democratic Front, the political arm of Joma Sison�s Communist Party of the Philippines. Plus two active members of the communist movement, who were later identified as Satur Ocampo and Crispin Beltran. But a funny thing happened on the way to revolution. The communist nominees withdrew from the Unity for Truth and Justice when it was revealed by one of their party-list allies that an Estrada son (JV?) �wanted to deviate from their original agreement (to propel GMA�s ouster) by the grant of a �revolutionary amnesty� to his father (Erap) in case President Arroyo is ousted and a revolutionary government is created.� I had always warned, after I learned the identity of the would-be head of junta, that this was the ultimate agenda of this phony revolutionary council, and I am glad to have been vindicated by the communists themselves, for whom I now have a higher respect. Brother Eddie has assured me that he has dissociated himself from this phony revolution. And, to all appearances, so has Susan Roces, who has teamed up with Cory Aquino to push for a constitutional succession to President Arroyo. The question now is why does Renato de Villa continue to act as the front man for this shady enterprise? Is the Devil really bent on being the Caretaker of this fractious and fragmented republic? Is he really so eager to wield the presidential power that he thought he was assured of in 1998 but failed so miserably to win in the election? His character, as well as his past record as a public servant, are on the dock here. In the unlikely event that his junta succeeds in grabbing state power, would he be a party to granting �revolutionary amnesty� to Erap? Would he then also grant �revolutionary amnesty� to his present patron and manipulator, Jejomar Binay, who is facing charges of unexplained wealth at the Ombudsman? If his answer is No to both questions, then what is a Mr. Clean like him doing associating with a bunch of Mr. Dirtys? If his answer is Yes, then what the hell kind of revolution is he trying to sell? Removing one set of thieves from power, and replacing them with another set of thieves, especially a set of thieves who had grown fat at the feeding trough before, is not revolution but abominable regression. And what, really, are Devil�s credentials as revolutionary or even as reformer? He was defense secretary for four years, but can anyone recall anything that he did to make him worthy of a higher office, or to make him worthy of a revolutionary calling? I can�t. He formed his Reporma Party when he ran for the presidency, but did he reform anything, aside from his office furniture � if even that, when he held public office? As far as I know, he has not made any public statements in the past on such burning issues as foreign debt, radical Islam, parliamentarianism and federalism, taxes, poverty, globalization, electoral reforms, judicial reforms, population management, alternative sources of energy, etc. And if he suddenly does so now, to boost his credentials as unelected revolutionary caretaker, it would merely show that he has hired a team of ghost writers to provide him with sound bytes, not that he had ever given these matters any serious thought at all. As devil�s � not necessarily Devil�s - advocate, I would like to argue that revolutionaries, or even only reformers, should be made of more cerebral stuff. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo |
| Reactions to �Devil as Caretaker� Sir: That is an excellent banner for today's column since the devil is, indeed, in the details. Rene de Villa, Susan Roces and Cory Aquino are being used as deodorizers of a nefarious gang. Under the camouflage of motherhood statements and half-truths, the true devils-incarnate are lying in wait. These are Communists like Satur Ocampo, Beltran, Casi�o and Renato Constantino. And corrupt politicians like Binay and Zamora. We all know about the sinister blueprint the Communists have in mind. And about the shady and unscrupulous Zamora brothers, who have managed to acquire immense wealth and power by astute wheeling-and-dealing through all political administrations since Marcos. We also know Binay, the once-penniless "street parliamentarian" and human rights lawyer, who has ruthlessly acquired considerable political clout, and tremendous unexplained wealth, by usurping the Yabut Tammany Hall machinery in Makati. The mentally-challenged Rene de Villa is a pathetic figure in all this. He never managed to achieve anything without the patronage of Fidel Ramos, yet was deluded into thinking that he had some sort of manifest destiny. The avenging widow, Susan Roces, is so obsessed with vindicating her husband's electoral loss that she will sell her soul to the devil to do so. Never mind if that devil is incarnated in Satur Ocampo. But I find Cory Aquino the most ridiculous figure of them all. After she squandered the country's international goodwill after EDSA, and led us through a black-out-prone administration, she surfaces to remind us of how clueless she really is. I agree that Gloria Arroyo is a trapo and a micro-managing crook. I believe that she has to go. However, I do not believe in taking her out through an ad-hoc aggrupation whose most remarkable feature is that it is composed of divergent forces tugging at different directions. That is a formula for disaster and chaos. I do not believe in riding the tiger because, in the end, the well-meaning ones will be swallowed alive. The groups that have a long-term plan, and are better organized, are in the best position to take advantage in such a scenario. And who have the organization? Yes sir, you can bet that the Communists and the trapos will have their heydey! And the country will be back to square one, if not several squares further down. Juan Deiparine, [email protected] Toril, Davao City, September 08, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir Tony, You are right Devil is a misnomer for Sec De Villa. There is nothing malicious in that nickname but only the fondness and endearment of mistahs. It has been a tradition in the PMA to call classmates by creating a nickname out of their lastname. If your last name is Domingo you will be Doming to them, De Villa is simply DeVill to them. We may ask the former Secretary about the correct spelling of his nickname. But lets go to greater things. De Villa may not have done greater things in our eyes because he was not in the position yet to do so. As secretary he was only an alter ego of the president. A spring cannot rise above its source. But he possesses the management skills and the right blend of brain and patriotism to be a successful caretaker. We don�t need cerebral people who are very intelligent in stealing and cheating and in lying from us. And very brainy in hiding their stolen people's money and in fooling the people. Our leaders are asking the military to remain neutral but who is using the ISAFP to raid for evidence which maybe used to prove cheating in the last elections? All good men should unite to defeat evil in our land. If you are not in favor of De Villa then propose a name. As a tactical move we should rally behind people who can change our rotten system and our trapo leaders if we are to see most of our countrymen out of this miserable poverty - and give dignity to our race and to the Land we love. Ben Entico, [email protected] September 09, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hello Tony, I immensely enjoyed your article. However, why do you have to use "muslim" to identify the criminal Rizal Alih? How about using the word "christian" to describe the criminal Joseph Estrada or the criminal rapist Jalosjos? Salam, Edilwasif Baddiri, [email protected] September 09, 2005 MY REPLY. My apologies for being politically incorrect. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, just want to share with you a letter to the editor I emailed recently to a newspaper, though I asked the editor to withhold my name. I don't know if it was published but I just want to share it with you. Nakaka-frustrate lang kasi talaga. Cecile S. Abis, [email protected] September 10, 2005 The impeachment process against President Arroyo may have failed to move on from the House of Representatives. But one very good thing that came out of it is that the Filipinos who followed the proceedings on the different media had the chance to know that, at least, not all those who sit in the House are "trapos." The pro-impeachment Congress representatives may have been a mix of different parties and persuasions but, at least, they knew where to put their heart and their soul when the country�s interest was at stake. They knew when to put aside party concerns in favor of the greater masses who were more important than anything else. And the best thing about these best minds that came together in the pro-impeachment team was that many of them are relatively young, which means that they still have many productive years to give to serving the country. Hopefully, though, these wonderful men and women will not follow the path treaded by a certain former colleague of theirs who once gave "spice" to the House but is now busier giving out "splices" of defenses for his boss. Additionally, though, a sad note comes by way of how a number of party-list groups (PLGs) seemed to have been co-opted into traditional politics. As far as I know of PLGs, they are supposed to be direct representatives of marginalized sectors of society. Hence, they bring to the House the immediate pulse of these sectors who are among the ones who would have most benefited from an improved and stronger national governance. But from among the many PLGs in the House, very few of these groups joined the pro-impeachment call. What happened? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I would like to start by making a minor correction to your piece on "Devil". Renato De Villa finished a miserable sixth place in the 1998 Presidential elections. Estrada won, followed by JDV, then Raul Roco, then Lito Osme�a and his Promdi, then Alfredo Lim. Finally, in sixth place, garnering less than 5% of the total votes cast, was the poor "Devil". The man is unelectable, no wonder he has to pursue extra-constitutional methods to become head of government. After I saw what happened to Cory Aquino after EDSA, I have always been apprehensive about motley groups banding together. I saw how the Aquino presidency was hijacked by Leftists and traditional politicians, resulting in an erratic and woefully inept administration, when it should have succeeded mightily because it had captured the world's imagination and sympathy. In the end, the Aquino administration barely limped along, a ghost of the shimmering potential it had in 1986. Its only legacy was a contentious new Constitution and the dubious distinction of having "restored" democracy to the Philippines, albeit without any economic emancipation. On the contrary, we became even more heavily indebted than when Marcos departed, because we failed to make a case for, and meekly assumed, the obviously fraudulent Marcos behest loans totaling billions of dollars. Before the end of Cory Aquino's term, we were tormented by 8 to 12-hour power shortages (due to turf wars in the Executive Office which resulted in the neglect of the energy sector) and the devastation wrought by Mt. Pinatubo. FVR's quick-fix for the blackouts was to set up the wildly expensive PPA's. To this day, we are paying dearly for those PPA's, via high electricity rates and the debt servicing of Napocor, which had to absorb some of the shock. The experience of EDSA 1, followed by a similar experience with EDSA 2, has taught me to be wary of divergent groups uniting for expediency. Today, you have articulated my misgivings. We cannot trust an opposition that is led by trapos and communists. Supposedly upright persons such as "Devil", Abat, Susan Roces, Cory Aquino, or even the good Bro. Armin Luistro, may seemingly have good intentions. But they are patsies who can easily be manipulated by seasoned conspirators. I even have doubts about the purity of intention of some of these figureheads. Some, like "Devil" or Abat (which means an evil spirit in Cebuano) may have delusions of grandeur. Others may be out for vengeance or to settle old scores. Others may just be dimwits playing with fire. But I am sure that the trapos and the communists have clear objectives, which they hold closely to their chests. They may try to mask their sinister intentions through catchwords like "people power", "people's court", "transition council", "caretaker government" or "caretaker council", but it smacks of a naked grab for power to me. I have no sympathy for Gloria Arroyo, but we have to be patient to prevent this band of thugs and schemers from taking over. GMA's days are counted. She has a year at most to look for a way out of this mess that she got all of us into. She will not survive a second impeachment attempt. I trust that the opposition Congressmen will use their brains, instead of their overgrown egos, next time and attend to preparing a proper impeachment complaint instead of grandstanding and playing for sound bytes. The stone wall put up by the majority Congressmen will eventually erode. Let the feeding frenzy die down and buckle down to work in crafting more deliberate and surgical ways to take GMA out. In the meantime, we have to be vigilant about the devils in the woodwork. Carl Cid S.M. Inting, [email protected] Cebu City, September11, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The transition / revolutionary government that Mr J. Binay and (the kid) Mr JV Ejercito are suggesting will never succeed due to their personalities. How can they fix the woes of the country when they themselves are tainted with the very cause of our country�s predicaments right now, which is corruption. They are not CREDIBLE people in the eyes of all for them to be heard and followed. It is very obvious that they have a hidden agenda (to get ERAP out!) and this will not be allowed by the majority. If Mr De Villa (DEVIL) really wants to head the next government ( if ever) he must be credible and not associate himself with the two thieves (you mentioned) because if he does align himself with them, then he too is a thief. What the country needs right now is a CREDIBLE person to head the transition of our debt-ridden country due to mismanagement by the powers that be in the past and present. He must be honorable, respected and trustworthy and must have no political affiliation (as much as possible). Is there such a person at this time? I believe so, because if there isn't, then there is no more hope for our country and it will self-destruct in a few months or years. We can't have that happen to our country. We as a whole must now think "country" before anything else, if we want to survive this crisis. Definitely this present government does not have the capability to do this huge task at hand, what with the new debts they have to pay the TRAPOS for the impeachment hooplah that just occurred recently. (BASED ON THEIR CONSCIENCE???? I say .....B.S.!!!!! - the case being not the legality of the Garci tape but the moral issue being: Did GMA violate the law!!.... (The answer to the many people is a big fat YES!!!!) If GMA had nothing to hide she would have faced the music outright (like she proudly said in her interview)....and not gone out of her way to make sure to kill the impeachment against her..... Tsk Tsk Tsk Jose Genato, [email protected] September 10, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Constructive Ouster and the Chain of Command The way things stand, perhaps the only thing that can prevent a grimmer scenario is for the Supreme Court to declare Gloria and Noli � CONSTRUCTIVELY OUSTED. Then Senate President Frank Drilon can call for a snap election for President and vice- president after the COMELEC is purged of the Garcillano Syndicates. A truly clean and democratic public choice of new national leaders restores the sovereign democratic will of the people on top of a 'repaired' legitimate Chain of Command with the elimination of faulty illegitimate chain links in the persons of Gloria and Noli. This will then stay the hand of military elements bent on correcting these flaws in the chain of command. Toting Bunye does not realize that his constant call for the military to follow and enforce the chain of command means that Gloria must be eliminated from that chain as a faulty illegitimate link. Can this happen? If the SC is able to declare hearsay evidence acceptable and declare ERAP to have 'CONSTRUCTIVELY RESIGNED,' then there are stronger reasons and better evidence that is not just hearsay for them to state that GLORIA and NOLI are in fact now CONSTRUCTIVELY OUSTED. With the overflow of brilliant minds in the SC this can always be rationalized as thoroughly within constitutional bounds. Hierarchies in the Chain of Command! The most fundamental and important organizational technique used by the military is the chain of command. It describes the sequence of commanders in an organization who have direct authority and primary responsibility for accomplishing the assigned unit mission while caring for personnel and property in their charge. In democratic societies, the conventional professional military ethic that holds in order of importance, starts with loyalty to the nation, then to the Military, and then the unit to which the soldier is attached. Hence at the very top of the chain of command is the nation and its sovereign people. Second to that is the military organization and last is the unit which the soldier is attached to. Broken Links in the Chain of Command. The chief executive who is duly elected by a sovereign people in a democratic society -- aside from being the principal agent of civil service and governance -- also doubles as the commander-in-chief of that nation's military forces. Given this setup it is often easy to be misled into thinking that the chain of command starts with such a person either as a president or a prime minister, when in fact the fountainhead of authority in a chain of command starts with the inalienable authority emanating from the sovereign people of a democracy. A president or a prime minister exercises the actual role of commander in chief because such sovereign authority has been temporarily entrusted to him or her through a credible process of public choice as gleaned from votes cast in elections. When such processes of public choice are rendered suspect, or much more so if glaring facts become ascertained that indeed such a process has been polluted, to the extent that those claiming to exercise such entrusted authority in the chain of command do not have a true derivative mandate from the fountainhead of the people's sovereign will, then what obtains is a faulty broken link in such a chain of command. The Role of the Soldier. Faced with this situation, a military leader true to his constitutional oath as protector of the people in a democracy should set aside specified and directed orders from faulty links in the current broken chain of command. Together with his brothers- and sisters-in-arms, they have the supreme duty emanating from the higher loyalty to the nation to make this broken chain whole once more. And this can only be accomplished by linking the authority that flows through the chain of command to its fountainhead -- the sovereign will of the people in a democracy. Will this happen? That is another story! Gil R. Ramos, Ph.D., [email protected] September 11, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir: Perhaps Gen. De Villa is hoping for the military to tip the scale under the present impasse. It was always the military who made the difference, even in EDSA I and EDSA II. The military's dilemma is what to do about the politicians. In both EDSAs, the politicians grabbed the credit and the limelight. The military was put to pasture. Will this be allowed to happen again? Even after politicians bungled, and made a bigger mess of things after both EDSAs? Can the politicians still be trusted, given their abominable track record? After the military has grappled with this predicament, it may act. But if it does not act as one, and is as divided as the country is, there may be need to bring in the body bags. As the Philippines struggles with itself, other Southeast Asian countries take on more meaningful pursuits. Such as coping with the energy crisis and dealing with terrorism. I am reminded of the classic line from the comic strip "Pogo": "I have seen the enemy . . . and it is us!". The irony about De Villa's situation is that he is fronting for some of the very same traditional politicians who made life so difficult after Marcos. And for the communists, who have been murdering soldiers of the AFP for the past 60 years. This is a gamble for old soldiers like De Villa and Fortunato Abat. Do they still have influence over younger officers? How will they explain the contradictions in their new cause? How can they sell the idea that the country's worst enemies are now its best friends? I see a hard sell here, even if I do not discount the event of a military uprising against the government. However, should the military revolt, it will be out of disgust with a regime of corruption and economic decline. Not because of the snake-oil spiel of retired generals peddling a discredited cabal of plotters. Although attractive for some, especially those who are fed-up with the way politics has ruined the country, the military option could be bloody and messy if it is not swift and surgical. Like very strong medicine, it has to be administered very carefully by capable hands. Otherwise, it could hasten the demise of a very sick country like the Philippines. Thank you very much and have a good day. Very truly yours, Erineo Cabahug, [email protected] The Bronx, New York, September 11, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Just read the Devil issue. That is though- provoking and makes any ordinary Filipino stop and think. What are the faces being thrust to us? We have time and again looked at a Savior and gotten mediocrity. Maybe young leaders outside of government should be considered. The Presidency is a killing job 24/7 and more. Stresses, backstabbing, quid pro quo, media assaults, corruption. Name it, you've got it. My poor Dad just turned 46 in 1953 when he was elected, and was a stressed-out head of 49 when he passed on in Mt. Manunggal. We, you and I among others, must look for that person and persons possessing character and some competence, but humility is very important as he will be needing a lot of inputs and advice. Jun Magsaysay, [email protected] Philippine Senate, September 12, 2005 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |