| The Makati standoff, despite its failure, has important implications on a society at the crossroads. The Magdalo soldiers showed how Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has plunged the nation so deep in crisis that such widespread derision against her is inevitable. With so much blood on the hands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, like the numerous extra-judicial killings attributed to them even by the United Nations, it is no wonder even members of the military have been compelled to oppose the regime.
More importantly, the standoff revealed that revolutions cannot be waged based merely on an arbitrary impulse. There are limits to drama. While in some instances it may spark a full-fledged revolution, most of the time it fizzles out to become a weary spectacle. Revolutions are not born out of compulsion. Revolutions occur out of bare necessity, as a logical answer to the injustices perpetrated by the state.
As such, no one can call for a revolution. It is a repressive state that demands it from us.
The grievances articulated by the group which stood their ground at the Manila Peninsula are legitimate. Arroyo must be removed from office because of large-scale corruption and her administration’s penchant for employing the most repressive policies to subdue the people. There is no question on the validity of their demands. Their strategy, however, is rife with inherent flaws.
Like any recipe, the last step even for an uprising should have been turning on the heat. “Arouse, organize, then mobilize” are the basic steps for a principled engagement with the state. No matter how spontaneous, any succesful campaign consolidates its ingredients first before tempting the fire.
In the stand-off’s case, the sectors who have long called for Arroyo's ouster—the peasants, workers, and other marginalized sectors—were excluded. A successful campaign must always account for these basic sectors which have suffered the brunt of this regime’s iniquities. Since repression is a carefully crafted government design, resistance to it must likewise adhere to calculated tactics and strategies. One cannot hark on the word “change” without bearing the lessons of history. It should have been the periphery instigating dissent against the center.
The state’s response to the stand-off underlines its capacity for brutality in order to safeguard its hold on the country. Overkill is not the word to describe ramming an armored personnel carrier into the hotel lobby. For a government this violent, it is only natural. The subsequent arrests of journalists who remained on the scene, moreover, highlights the systematic repression of the press which, time and again, has been regarded as enemies of the state. Tellingly, based on the videos of various news networks, police personnel who stormed the hotel tried to confiscate recording equipments held by the journalists. Video clips also show the police ordering media personnel around as if they were hardened criminals. In recent dialogues, government prosecutors have cooked up an “obstruction of justice” charge against the journalists on the scene.
The state, therefore, cannot claim triumph in this instance. It has, instead, revealed once again its ugly face – a face reviled by the people who have come to know the extent of its sinister machinations in the form of political and journalist killings, debilitating economic policies, and voracious corruption. Ensuing from the Makati stand-off is a renewed resolve to crush this brutal and ravenous regime.
This is not telling that we should restrain ourselves. The time for restraint has long been over with a regime this oppressive. Instead of wallowing in frustration over the Makati stand-off, we must remind ourselves that opposition against the regime is not confined to the group led by Trillanes. The real opposition wages its dissent in obscure avenues, in mounting numbers, and more consolidated forces. It is not in desperation that we raise our subversive fists, but in a strong resolve that the Arroyo regime will fall. If anything, the Makati stand-off becomes another premise for toppling the Arroyo regime, an opportunity to reassess and consolidate our forces for a more potent engagament.
<< back to home
# Philippine Collegian |
