The eloquent voice of a coward

A Filipino attorney, who, now, practices law in California pulled me to a coffee shop of a popular American resort "to discuss our country's situation". For, at least, two reasons, I willingly obliged. First, I had nothing much to hurry for in a trip I called a fourth honeymoon with my lady. Second, it was to have been a great feeling being able to bring fresh information to a news-hungry kababayan.

The second reason did not come about the way I imagined it. I initially thought that for someone who has earned his living the last 25 years in America, he would know very little of the events in his fatherland. I was wrong. What we had was not really an exchange of views. Believe me, I was unable to break any news to the Filipino expatriate as in fact, I was on the listening end of his gripes. Indeed, the lawyer was well versed with what's going on in our land.

I listened carefully. Without appearing to encourage him, I tried to comprehend each detail of his grievance. Oh boy, he had a mouthful! As if to show me that he was not talking trash, he mentioned that he obtained copies of recent decisions of our Supreme Court on the policy pronouncements of Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Allow me to share with your some of his observations for they, to me, are seemingly valid. He believed that the present Arroyo administration could be worse than the regime of ex Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Pointing to the "abduction" of alleged supporters of Former Pres. Joseph Estrada as a classic example, he made his case saying that the government, Malacañang he claimed, denied initially having conducted such an illegal operation only to be caught spreading a falsehood when, thanks to media vigilance, the abductees were returned home.

This Filipino lawyer in America also claimed that there would be no more stopping the amendments of our constitution. In his view, and I had to agree with him here, Pres. Arroyo is bent on pushing the charter change, not to further her economic agenda, but because that would be her best counter-move to short circuit the impeachment process. She could not allow history, taking the form of the tragic fall of a former president from the apex of his power to the indignity of being incarcerated, to repeat itself

There are three things in Pres. Arroyo's favor, according to this Filipino- American lawyer. First, a fractious opposition. Each self-proclaimed stalwart arrayed against the president has his own agenda. With all of them positioning to succeed in the event of the president's fall, they fail to realize that by not uniting their forces, they have conversely strengthened the Malacañang fortifications.

Second, the president is resolute. She does not entertain second thoughts to take moves that promote her interests. She knew that EO 464 was constitutionally flawed in much the same way that the CPR was fundamentally wrong but what the heck, she pretty well recognized that they were necessary to prevent the senate from uncovering the fertilizer scam among others, and the people, incensed by that plunder of our treasury from forming a groundswell against the president.

Third, an afraid, perhaps, a callous, maybe an atrophied citizenry. We have lost the desire to know the truth and so we don't anymore care if our congressmen close the only venue for the president to explain that she did not cheat in the 2004 polls and that the funds used during the election were spent for the purposes they were legally allocated for. Worse, the majority of us don't feel betrayed that the constitution is about to be prostituted to serve the ends of the powers that be!

I could not disagree with the lawyer. By his asking me not to mention his name in case I would print our "discussion", he exemplified the kind of citizenry for whom the blood of our heroes was shed in vain.