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| Dra. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde By Antonio C. Abaya Written Oct. 02, 2005 For the Standard Today October 04 issue In an article on the May 2004 presidential elections, written for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Yvonne T. Chua describes the campaign as the �Jekyll and Hyde campaign,� and suggests that President Arroyo has a �dualistic nature.� The article can be accessed at www.pcij.org/i-report/3/jekyll-hyde.html. As Ms. Chua describes it, the Arroyo political campaign machinery had two faces. On the one hand, there was the visible face of the Party apparatchiks and the very public members of the Cabinet manning the ramparts to ensure the victory of their Boss through media appearances, rallies, propaganda and alliance-building. On the other hand was the less visible face of an �informal network� working in the shadows and headed by the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, �ably assisted by now Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo �Ronnie� Puno, a veteran campaign strategist who was part of the Marcos, Ramos and Estrada campaigns.� Wrote Ms. Chua: �These �backroom operators��made up several groups whose functions ranged from the seemingly mundane, such as quick-counting votes, to more questionable tasks that could have had electoral manipulation among them. �These parallel operations seem to come as little surprise to those who have worked for the president, given what some describe as her �dualistic� nature. A former aide notes that during the canvassing, Arroyo was going around the Carmelite convents, including those in Bacolod and Iloilo, even as she was placing �improper� calls to Garcillano. �It�s like Jekyll and Hyde,� said the ex-aide. �(Resigned Social Welfare Secretary Corazon) Soliman, a former Arroyo confidante, says of the president�s personality: �She was exposed to and has accepted the practices of traditional politics such as paybacks, pay-ups, operations of dirty tricks. At the same time, she also believed in instituting reforms in the economic, social and governance spheres using principles of transparency, accountability, and service to the people. She believed that both worlds can exist in one person and the dissonance and disconnect will not clash in her and in her actions.�� �Soliman says that in a crisis, such as now, when the two parts of the president become dissonant, Arroyo is more comfortable with traditional politicians and reverts to the old world of wheeling-dealing and compromises that she knows so well.� In the classic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Henry Jekyll is a respected man of science who, however, believes that man has a dual nature, inherently made up of a good side as well as an evil side, and these opposites are constantly tugging in each of us in a Manichean struggle for control of our soul. As a man of science, Dr. Jekyll developed a potion that allowed him to transform himself into the evil Mr. Edward Hyde who murdered innocent people, even children, who then drank the potion to transform himself back to the respectable Dr. Jekyll. Schizophrenia on demand. In the end, Mr. Hyde ran out of the potion to transform himself back to Dr. Jekyll and, in despair, committed suicide. The PCIJ�s Ms. Chua is suggesting that President Arroyo is a Dra, Jekyll (Ph.D. in economics) who can, at will, transform herself into a Ms. Hyde, especially during election time, by drinking a magic potion from the poisoned chalice of trapo politics. In the end, which seems to be approaching, Ms. Hyde has run out of the magic potion and cannot raise her ratings in the SWS polls no matter how much she tries and, in despair, contemplates killing herself. Only politically, of course, since she is not Japanese. But a grizzled old crone named Effvee-arr gives her a Magic Apple called Chacha which, if eaten on February 14 2006, will transform her back to the respectable Dra. Jekyll, after which she can live happily ever after, in San Francisco. Ms. Hyde-Garci (she has since symbolically coalesced with the elusive Phantom of the Comelec, who is said to be now hyding in Brazil) is, however, worried sick. February 2006 is so far away. Suppose the Magic Apple is grabbed from her by Sad Sack or Big Prick . Suppose the toy soldiers attack her with their last remaining pterodactyl. Suppose the Magic Apple contains a worm that consumes the entire fruit inside but leaves the hard shiny shell outside. Suppose the Magic Apple does not work. Will she forever be known as the malevolent Ms. Hyde, unable to mutate herself back to the respectable Dra. Jekyll? It is the fable of our times. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to �Dra. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde� Ang galing, Tony. I remember you telling us many moons ago that civil war is inevitable. I asked you then that when it became imminent, you would advise us, not openly but subtly so you don't scare the ignorant (the masa). given the restiveness of the military corps Do you already hear the drums? Oscar Lagman, [email protected] October 04, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Great article, Tony. Unfortunately, as an attempt is made to understand Mr. Bush, "Watcha see is watcha get"! Sociopaths do not make great Presidents or statesmen! Best, Alan Klaum, [email protected] San Francisco, CA, October 04, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Arroyo is not alone to have two faces. Politicians, your own business associates, and ordinary people around you are no different from Arroyo. They all keep an image totally different in public and in private. The good and the beautiful are for the public to admire and the evil and sinister are for the inner circles to protect and the curious to uncover. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected] New York City, NY, October 05, 2005 MY REPLY. True Arroyo is not the only politician to have two faces. But she is the only sitting Filipino president to have so. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww As far as I am concerned, regardless of who she is at the moment, she remains a liar and a cheat. That is her true personality and character. She can never hide that from me. Bombing Moll, [email protected] October 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good morning from Roxas City, Capistown. Fantastic fable, sir. It should be exported to Korea to be transformed into a telenovela. Again, you've hit the nail squarely in the head. She is schizoid, alright. Might I add that all presidents except Cory, who was installed by the people themselves, manifest this infirmity. They necessarily fall into the dilemma of having to recover gigantic campaign expenses while keeping public money intact. From the provincial vantage point, I can�t tell if our treasury is accounted for. Please keep us posted, Mr. Abaya. Thanks in advance. Chipper Santos, [email protected] Roxas City, October 05, 2005 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |