Arroyo’s martial law

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

Arroyo’s martial law
Sunday, 10 16, 2005

Gloria and her minions are now at full gallop toward a police state in the guise of the imperative for national survival. Consider the following manifestations of the current Malacañang State of Mind:

Paranoia. Executive Order 464 was issued to justify, among others, the relief of Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Lt. Col. ALexander Balutan and to prevent others like them from testifying in legislative investigations. But EO 464 effectively shuts down the investigative function of the Senate and the House, just like what Marcos did in 1972 when he padlocked Congress so that the grim details of Oplan Sagittarius would no longer be exposed. The Judiciary – after the Congress - is now even powerless to extract information from the national security adviser who invokes national security concerns at every turn.

Deceit. Camouflaged as some innocuous edict on land problems, EO 467 is in truth and in fact an insidious justification of martial law masquerading as governance under an emergency situation. How easy it is now for Arroyo to churn out orders, very much like Marcos when he bombarded us with PDs, LOIs, LOImps, PCOs and ASSOs in quick succession to preserve the gains of the New Society. The only difference now is in the nomenclatures for these issuances to shore up the crumbling foundations of the Strong Republic.

Arrogance. Touted as a self-protective act of Arroyo’s government against the restiveness and discontent of the populace, the so-called calibrated preemptive response (CPR) actually muzzles everyone’s right to free speech and assembly, the same constitutional guarantees suppressed by Marcos. Reminiscent of the Marcos order prohibiting any mass action during the height of his martial law, last Friday’s water-cannon treatment accorded to a group holding a religious procession was clearly a grim reminder of more Callous Prefabricated Reactions - that’s what CPR actually means - in these coming days.

Smugness of power. A Cabinet secretary can breezily commit a contumacious act, in the full glare of media, against Congress, and get away with it. Martial law under Marcos was replete with instances of his subalterns who thumbed their noses at the Law and reveled at the knowledge that they could talk - or should not talk - about it as long as they enjoyed presidential consent.

To keep a restive population at bay, there is now the grim shoot-to-kill order for anyone trying to invite anyone in the military and the police to join mass protest actions. This is not much different from the Marcos martial law where the military and the police were a caste by themselves, above the citizenry, far from being the protectors of the people they are sworn to be.

Aside from these orders designed to intimidate and condition the mind of the population into a tacit acceptance of an undeclared martial rule, Arroyo has finessed, as it were, those whose greed can be satisfied with money and promise of more power. Intelligence funds are nowhere to be accounted for and are now used to curtail basic freedoms, very much like the Marcos era where money was overflowing in the name of protecting the New Society from those who were out to subvert it. Stealing from the coffers of government is now licensed. The recent elections had been nothing but exercises at deception and instances of taking more money out of government, where the results and winners were already pre-determined. How Arroyo stole the last elections is not much different from Marcos’ electoral victory in 1981. As the Garci tapes eloquently tell us, the winner was a foregone conclusion even before the ballots were counted.

Now, Arroyo could get a law passed without much effort, just like Marcos. Today’s Anti-Terrorism Bill, sooner than soon, will be a law, thanks to a malleable Congress, which is now steadily acting like the Batasang Bayan of the bad old days. It will be one more edict that could be inflicted on us in the guise of going after the enemies of the State. After all, she considers herself the State, and everyone who stands in her way should be considered an enemy deserving of the iron hand.

Arroyo need not any more resort to Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution. After all, this requires her to report to Congress within 48 hours from her proclamation of martial law, and which proclamation Congress may revoke.

A de facto martial law is here, and it suits her purposes. Her determination of how things are is beyond the authority of Congress to revoke.

At least Marcos had the decency to proclaim it, and anchor it to the 1935 Constitution. Arroyo is dishonest to claim we are not in a state of martial law.

Marcos was elected overwhelmingly prior to his proclamation of martial law. He did give us some good times, until the excesses of his benevolent dictatorship revealed themselves. Arroyo cheated overwhelmingly on the eve of her martial law reign, and she has given us no respite from the poverty and hard times that bedevil us everyday.

The politics of obfuscation has been exercised by Arroyo to the hilt. She puts up a veneer of democracy, while she surreptitiously curtails freedoms and liberties using tools of democracy, like legislation and dialogues. She espouses an open-arms policy with the legitimate Opposition, but she does all it takes to persecute them using the military, police and judicial apparatus. How many in the Opposition have been arrested and prosecuted? Jojo Binay is next.

The smirk that has become the hallmark of her reign exposes Arroyo for what she is: a Janus-faced ruler out to rule longer than anyone before her, under the worst of circumstances for the people and the best of times for her and her ilk.

This is the Christmas that faces us. This is the Christmas that we do not deserve. For Christmas’ sake, let us continue marching, water cannons and shoot-to-kill orders notwithstanding.

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