Can protests in Bangkok trigger echoes in Manila?

THAI UNREST: Local oppositionist and radical elements, long idled by people’s refusal to join street protests, might just find inspiration in the mass violence in Bangkok that has stymied government, shut down airports, and dampened tourism and investments.

The Bangkok unrest may just shake up Filipinos suffering from street protest fatigue — which awakening could be exploited by the usual suspects.

In the latest protests in Thailand, blasts in two Bangkok airports had wounded four persons, triggering the closure of the main Suvarnabhumi airport where thousands of marchers had massed.

Some protesters barged into the control tower and meddled in the flight disposition of the plane of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who — like President Gloria Arroyo — had gone to Lima, Peru, to attend the APEC summit.

At some point, all outgoing and incoming flights were cancelled. As travelers were stranded, hotels suffered booking cancellations.

* * *

SLIDE: Somchai is a brother-in-law of the fallen Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006, and bounced back after the People Power Party won elections in December 2007.

He left again last August, just before he was to face trial for corruption. But he was convicted in absentia last month. The British government has cancelled his visa, so now he is reportedly looking for a city in the Middle East that would allow him to say.

The protests are led by the People’s Alliance for Democracy, which is accusing the government of being a front for Thaksin. Protesters surrounded the parliament building last Monday, forcing lawmakers to postpone their session.

The army has refused to disperse the protesters. It seems that only the revered King can end the impasse. Meanwhile, Thailand, a land of gentle people, continues to slide down.

* * *

BACK TO THE GRAVE: In our Congress, numbers still ruled yesterday as the House justice committee killed the fourth attempt to file impeachment charges against President Arroyo. By a vote of 28-8, the panel ruled that the complaint lacked substance.

The committee will report its decision to the entire House for either adoption or rejection.

The anti-impeachment arguments were summed up by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman who branded the charges as “rehashed and recycled” and “bereft of ultimate facts, which would show the culpability” of the President.

He said: “I am perplexed why the complainants have not learned their lesson from their failures in the previous impeachment cases which were all dismissed for insufficiency in substance for alleging deficient or infirm recital of ultimate facts.”

Lagman said that while he did not believe that the complaint failed in “legal craftsmanship,” he found it “void of legitimate courses of action and impeachable offenses attributed directly to the President.”

“The hearse of exhumed carcasses must be led back to the graveyard,” he concluded.

* * *

RECITAL OF FACTS: But Minority Floor Leader Ronaldo Zamora, summing up for the complainants, maintained that the sufficiency in substance has been met with their “recital of facts.”

“Sufficiency in substance is met when there is a recital of facts, first, constituting the offenses charged, and second, determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee,” the San Juan-Mandaluyong congressman said.

Zamora also pointed out the committee was not yet at the stage “when we are determining the guilt or innocence of the President.”

He appealed to the committee to allow the complaint to proceed to trial, saying it was even in the interest of the President and of the nation to give her a “day in court” to answer the charges.

But the superior number of Arroyo allies prevailed.

* * *

WHERE’S THE BEEF: Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia asked the other day where the beef was in the sandwich of a bribery complaint that former Speaker Jose de Venecia had served at the House.

In short, Garcia was asking where the P500,000 bribery by the President was.

The alleged bribery is a new item, unlike the fertilizer fund scam, the “Hello Garci” tapes, and national broadband network contract that Lagman had described as recycled complaints already disposed of.

I can imagine where the Cebuano congressman is coming from. De Venecia’s charge is bribery and the alleged briber is the President.

But nowhere in his presentation did De Venecia claim, say or show that President Arroyo handed him the alleged P500,000 bribe.

Assuming the money was given to him by somebody else, that somebody has to be shown as having acted for the President.

* * *

VIDEO RATINGS: Parents who allow their kids to play video games, including those downloaded from the Internet, but are worried about their content and effects, may find some guides in the latest report card on them.

The National Institute on Media and the Family, a conservative media watchdog in the United States that has criticized the game industry for failing to adequately warn about inappropriate content, has issued its 13th annual video game report.

The CNN said that for the first time, the industry got nearly straight A’s. As recently as 2005, the NIMF gave the Entertainment Software Ratings Board an “F”.

The NIMF has red-flagged 10 violent games concerned parents should keep away from the under-17 crowd, citing excessive bloodshed and brutality: Blitz: The League II, Dead Space, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Gears of War 2, Legendary, Left 4 Dead, Resistance 2, Saints Row 2, and Silent Hill: Homecoming.

The NIMF recommends these Teen-rated alternatives: Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band 2, Rock Revolution, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, and Shaun White Snowboarding.

* * *

ePOSTSCRIPT: Read current and old POSTSCRIPTs at www.manilamail.com. E-mail feedback to fdp333@ yahoo.com