The greater threat to our freedoms

I cannot print all the letters and emails but I thank everyone who wrote. All, without exception, condemned the attempt yet again to wrest control of the government through the use of the military gun. Filipinos sat nervously before their television sets awaiting the fate of the country as the events unfolded. As reported by Time and witnessed first hand by Nelly Sindayen, we very nearly lost our democratic way of life to a military-civilian junta of power grabbers. However much the coup plotters disliked President GMA, there was just no justification for exposing the entire country to what could easily have been a violent encounter. As one concerned reader wrote "Imagine the chaos and anarchy if the coup had succeeded." The different players will fight each other for the spoils of victory while Filipinos can only helplessly watch. A successful coup would have made all of us victims.

Some media reports conveniently ignore that this was the real threat to our freedoms, not the declaration of a state of emergency. There may be many who are not in love with President GMA but they have no right to imperil the rest of the country for their own ends. Chaos and anarchy would rule when the left, the right and the oligarchic opposition fight for the spoils of victory. Up to now, media rankles on the declaration of a state of emergency and not on what would have been, had the coup plotters been able to install a military-civilian junta. That would have been an even worse threat to our freedoms.

Fortunately, Filipinos are wiser now and would resist any attempt to be used as people power…oops, people fodder. The Sunday standoff at Bonifacio looked like Plan B after the disappointing show of the EDSA ‘celebration’ led by Cory Aquino. There were guffaws when the once revered widow of Ninoy was asked why she wanted to go inside the military compound and she answered ‘to pray’. Why? But you can pray anywhere as did most people, if not for the same reasons as Cory.

Cory and Co. may be dead set against any charter change but this may be the only solution to stop once and for all the military threats to our freedoms. Last Sunday’s showdown hopefully would be the last attempt to use that dangerous clause in the 1987 Constitution which gives the power to the military as ‘the protector of the state.’

Constitutional reform will end this unholy partnership between civilian coup plotters and the military. Nevertheless, I admire the military men who refused to be used by the oligarchs and their leftist and religious partners. In an ironic twist, having decided to back down, the military renegades indeed, protected the state.

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Vicente Paterno and the Lopez empire. I was not a bit surprised that Vicente Paterno would attack his colleagues at the Concom. Unfortunately, he has picked on two commissioners who would not take his criticisms lightly. Raul Lambino is a constitutional expert and Romela M. Bengzon is a respected international lawyer, the managing partner of the Bengzon Law Firm. Both are law professors, Lambino at the University of the East and Bengzon at the Ateneo Graduate School.

Paterno’s recent tirades may be expressions of his loyalty to the besieged Lopez empire. What is surprising is that he has taken so long to come to terms with his role in the constitutional commission wherein he participated actively and signed his conformity to the draft. I remember he was most vociferous in defending himself and other members of the group against attacks that it was merely a rubber stamp of President GMA. So why the sudden change of heart? As with some other commissioners, he voted against the no-el transitory provision. The issue was hotly debated but in the end it was settled by democratic vote and carried as a recommendation of the study group. That was the situation when the commission’s work ended. By the way, the group has been disbanded so there is nothing to resign from or dissociate himself from. The work is over. Paterno signed the full draft although understandably, with reservations that he had already voiced out in the debates within the group. Why should he now turn against his colleagues on a matter that had been settled democratically? The only explanation is that as a Lopez man he wants to add his voice to President GMA’s critics and earn brownie points from his masters. The trouble is there is enough documentary evidence to disprove his allegations that Concom’s transitory provisions would expand President GMA’s powers similar to Marcos powers during martial law.

As a supporter of Marcos and the martial law he imposed, Paterno’s alleged revulsion against Marcos-type powers sounds hollow and if I may add, a bit too late in the day.

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Imagine my surprise when we were told by Governor Victor Ortega that the origins of the name "La Union" is the union of the six municipalities of indigenous peoples with the rest of the province. Indeed, we had come not just to join a symposium on the proposed charter changes but also to attend the celebration of the 156th foundation anniversary of the province. On the evening before the symposium, they had a program for the young (as well as the old) of the indigenous peoples to demonstrate through music and dance that although they had been assimilated in the province of La Union they were also very much aware of their cultural roots. Young girls and boys who would wear functional clothes for school were dressed in the traditional costumes of their tribes.

I must congratulate Gov. Ortega and his wife, Mayor Mary Jane Ortega (who could not be with us because she was in an international conference abroad) for the splendid job they have done to integrate the indigenous peoples at the same time they made sure they did not lose sight of their roots. Here was ‘unity in diversity’ in action which is at the very heart of the federal principle. La Union intimates the same principle behind the union of the different states into the United States of America. But it was not until I came to La Union that I realized that. I don’t think that even the people of La Union would think that. What was important is that they have found a way of living together despite their diverse cultures. Looking at the smiles of the children of the tribes, they were at ease with their identity at the same time that they demanded equality and their rights under the ‘la union.’ Gov. Ortega tells me that the local government has given them some 200 titles to their lands.

Gov. Ortega captured the audience of young students, barangay leaders and NGO representatives by his booming explanation of the need for charter change and why the province of La Union is squarely behind it. Also present was Gov. Victor Agbayani of nearby Pangasinan. The crowd cheered and clapped as he explained why he as well as other local authorities prefer to shift to a parliamentary unicameral government – it would move the projects and progress of the province faster. Charter change, he said is for them, the youth of our land.

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