Adventurism in the Military

I have a few minutes and I just want to blog about what I read on the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The article is titled Mutineers mull talk with Reds, eye Honasan for transition and the article can be found here.

If there is anything that summarizes the state of the country and the general immaturity of the Philippine populace, it can be read in the article referenced above. Power hungry sectors of the Philippine Military are are so confident of the alleged support of the population that they would openly talk about creating a Military Junta that will govern the country while they overhaul it to reflect what they believe is the one true way of governing the country.

DISGRUNTLED soldiers are open to negotiations with leftist groups and are eyeing fugitive former senator Gregorio Honasan to be a member of a transition council being prepared to replace President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, an escaped mutineer said.

Disgruntled? That is the worst misspelling of adventurous that I have ever seen. Not only are these people talkative enough to transmit their moves, they are also willing to lie in bed with their traditional enemies so that they can truly serve our country! Since the left and the right express totally opposite views as to how the country must be governed I wonder how the difference will be smoothed out. From the business end of an AK-47 and an M-14 perhaps?

Furthermore,

"In our view, he [Honasan] has the ability to be a member of the transition council that we are establishing," he said. "We believe that he is fighting for genuine reforms."

I wonder what special ability Mr. Honasan has that makes him eligible for this junta .. aherm .. transition council? I wonder what makes anybody even eligible for this transition council! If I could venture a guess it would be

• A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy.
• Has a gun.
• Has control over people with guns.
• Can deploy even more guns if needed.
• The willingness to use guns to serve the country.

With idealist revolutionaries like these who needs rule of the people by the people for the people? Who needs elections? Who needs parliament or congress? Those things are encumbrances to effective governing of the country!

What frightens me is that they will get the support of a large portion of the country. People like

• Corazon Aquino --- whose family owns the feudal estate Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. The same estate that is the subject of legal proceedings for defaulting on loans. The same estate that will be split by a new highway that will run from Clark to Tarlac City. The same estate where tenant farmers are clamoring for the land reform that has been promised to them by law.
  

  This estate is in so much trouble that Cory Aquino is willing to be intimate with the very people who inflicted seven coup attempts on her administration in order to save it. Cory needs to save Hacienda Luisita and the replacement of Arroyo with a president more willing to listen to the reasonable pleas of the Cojuangco family is the first step.

• Loren Legarda. I used to admire Loren for her intelligence and supposed integrity but no more. Loren is the one politician in this country that has absolutely no principles. She was one of the senators that led the impeachment of Estrada. She was one of the senator-prosecutors that drove Mr Estrada away from office. The next day, Ms Loren was offered the Vice Presidential seat under FPJ --- a known ally of Estrada --- and she grabs it!
  

  Where are your principles Loren? You knew why FPJ ran for office. You knew what will become of Estrada once FPJ is in office and yet you still ran under Mr Estrada's political banner. Good thing you lost. I would prefer a presidency by Noli De Castro over a vice presidency by a two-faced unprincipled political genius like you!
  

• Ejercito family. Of course. This family will profit if GMA steps down. Who woulda known?
  
• ABS-CBN. The Lopez family is a family so powerful they think the President of the Republic should apologize to a mere reporter because the president has a private view of what the said reporter did. He bailed him out, okay? Its not illegal but its not ethical either.
  

  The Lopez family is also being investigated for unpaid taxes and over-pricing of electricity. If GMA falls, Meralco will be saved billions. What is political instability compared to an almost 50 Billion peso bill hanging over Meralco's head? If GMA goes, Meralco can breath easily. Who woulda known?
  

• The communists. Nobody wants to say communist anymore because it is supposed to be politically incorrect. What is wrong with the word communism if it is really communism? Stalin, Lenin, Marx and Kruschev didn't have any problems using the word! I call myself atheist despite the ugly connotations that word has on the God-fearing. But here in the Philippines, communism has lost so much credibility that communists prefer to be referred to as The Left. Yeah right! And calling Cuba socialist will have a salutary effect on Cuba that wasn't there when it was communist.
  

  The communists (I mean Left) want to gain power too -- just like the rest of the political spectrum. If GMA goes and the Left had a hand on it, they will be rewarded choice plums. I vote that Satur Ocampo be declared Secretary of Defense! Let's see how Mr. Disgruntled Soldier will handle that! It would be very interesting to see the fireworks fly.

My poor poor country. What will happen to you now?