E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Senate must rise to the occasion
Sunday, 08 03, 2003
Yesterday I got a text message from Reggie Pastrana which read: Dati kung gusto mong magrebelde, akyat ka sa bundok. Ngayon, kung gusto mong magrebelde akyat ka sa hotel. Sino ang may sabing wala tayong asenso?
For sure, a host of similar messages has been circulating the past seven days, as a group of heavily armed soldiers kept the entire country glued to the TV sets as they seized the Oakwood Hotel in Makati City and proceeded to air their gripes on what they considered abuses of power and corruption in the ranks of the military.
The rest of the country must have shared the niggling sense of déjà vu that I had as I watched the so-called coup d’etat, in living color and on real time, unfold on TV. It was 1989 all over again.
But was it? Where in 1989 it was all too apparent there was a determined sense of mission among the putschists to seize control of the government, last week’s high drama was more like a mass media entertainment. Only, it had too absurd a plot.
The Magdalo group members, according to their leader, Navy Lt. S/G Antonio Trillantes IV, were not attempting to grab power – they were just trying to express their grievances. Grievances indeed – and what a way to ventilate them! Sino ang may sabing wala tayong asenso?
Beyond the levity with which some of us view last week’s drama, however, lie some very disturbing questions which the Senate, in its hearings, must confront. Were the soldiers acting out on their own or were they mere participants, witting or unwitting, in a wider conspiracy that might have involved figures in the political scene? Thus, the occupation of Oakwood must not be considered by the Senate as an isolated incident. It must be viewed in the perspective of a much broader wide-angle lens, as it were, that focuses on the causes and effects of such unrest in the military.
In its hearings, the Senate might take counsel from the observation of Harvard scholar Samuel Huntington: “What drives the soldier into the political arena is not his own strength but the weakness of the political system.” At this point in our history, the Senate offered a chance at self-redemption – a shot at greatness, if one is willing to forgive the pun, considering the circumstances. The Senate, therefore, must rise to the occasion. Its convening into a Committee of the Whole must not turn merely as a reflex act. In the course of its investigation, it must become truly independent. It must rise beyond partisanship and free itself from any subservience to the dictates of the Executive. (Unfortunately, last Friday one member betrayed his much too, obvious subservience to Malacañang when he called for a halt to the hearings, to prevent Trillanes, et al. from testifying). It must become an advocate of wisdom, fairness and justice. It is only in this sense that the true essence of democracy can be served and fully exercised.
It must be pointed out that the military establishment is powerful, if not the strongest agency of the government. It can influence the civilian-dominated policy, and if it could not, could subvert it. It could even install people, in Malacañang. We have seen how, two-and-a-half years ago, the military under Reyes broke away from the chain of command and handed the presidency to its current occupant in the Palace. Robin Moore, in his book, The Fifth Estate, wrote: “The military is the basis, the implied threat of a national leader’s power… every nation on earth has at one time or another been taken care and ruled by a military dictatorship.” Thus, if we cannot listen and find solutions to the gripes of these young officers, we might just wake up one day under the rule of a purely military junta.
It must be remembered that after the 1989 coup, Congress enacted Republic Act 6832, forming an independent fact-finding commission, in order to come up with recommendation in preventing future coups. Among the recommendations of the Davide Commission were the crack down by the military on its corrupt officers; the establishment again in the supremacy of civilian authority over the military through the appointment of civilians with the capability, integrity and leadership to head the Department of National Defense, and the institutionalization of necessary improvements in the military in the areas of promotion, purchasing and auditing and several others.
The President seems unaware of – or could it be that she simply ignored? – these important considerations, or perhaps, Reyes is too sacrosanct to be sacked notwithstanding the clamor for his overdue resignation due to alleged incompetence in office, favoritism and involvement in corrupt acts.
These days are a perfect opportunity for the Senate Committee of the Whole to look at the Davide Commission report vis-à-vis its investigation in the military uprising.
The zenith of such blatantly repressive method and insensitivity of the President to hear and implement no-nonsense reforms can turn our soldiers into losing their trust in democratic ideals and faith in the constitutional order. It would be an error to regard as mere hypocrisy our military’s attachment to the more legal aspects of the political order (election, political parties, chain of command, compliance with the line of succession, etc.) and their observance of “demilitarization” rituals. These traits are ingrained in our officers’ mentality and their roots can now be back in history. As a saving factor, the Senate must now become a true “council of wise men” and come up with its investigation with the guiding mind of justice and fair play under the light of promoting the general welfare of our people – not by just “rhetoric of building a strong republic” but on the basic foundation of “saving our republic.”
The voices of Trillanes, Gambala, et al. should not be considered mere sound bytes in a TV soap opera. Their voices should be heard again in the sacred halls of the Senate, where its members might be in disagreement with the means they employed, but nevertheless, should not be timorous in hearing their grievances.
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