The state of her mind

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

The state of her mind
Sunday, 07 24, 2005

“Whom the gods wish to make mad, they first make corrupt.” Whoops - I think I got that Nietzsche quote totally wrong. This usually happens when some niggling thought gnaws at the edge of my brain, as did today when a thought utterly unrelated to this column suddenly crossed my mind. I mean, the temporary loss of recall, not the being mad or corrupt. Anyway, I remember the quotation correctly now, and I think I can proceed with this column without a muddled mind.

But I wonder about the state of mind of that woman who will face the members of the Congress of the Philippines assembled in joint session tomorrow. I wonder if she is aware, as the rest of the country is aware, that she is afflicted by a case of amnesia which she had conveniently used time and again to suit her schemes to stay in power. I wonder if the lies she told us have weighed heavily on her mind on the dark nights when her soul confronts itself.

I am curious to know if she could live down the lie she told when she said that she has decided not to run for the presidency in order to heal the divisiveness that was tearing the country apart. I am curious to know whether in conscience she is not bothered by the dishonor she brought upon the saintly Pope John Paul II - who is no longer around to disprove her lie - when she claimed that the Holy Father had encouraged her to go ahead with that unconstitutional power grab against Joseph Estrada in 2001. I am curious to know if it weighs heavily on her mind that that she was engaging in ineffectual doublespeak - lying through her teeth, would be the impolitic word - when she admitted to a lapse of judgment in having spoken to a Comelec official but would not say outright who it was, and that she only did so “to protect her votes.”

Tomorrow, the woman who stole the presidency, not only once but twice, will be going back to the scene where she committed the highest crime one can ever commit: to the session hall of the Congress where she stole the sovereignty of the people. But unlike that dawn proclamation by her co-conspirators in Congress, this time the full glare of public attention will be focused on her. The nation, as well as a frightening number of legislators in attendance, will hang on to the words she says, from whence her state of mind could be judged.

I wonder if she stays true again to her past dissimulations on that dais where she will belabor us, again, with a lot of bull.

Surely and repeatedly, she will pontificate again. She will again brag about her achievements, which have so far remained true only in press releases. She will outline, again, this or that agenda for change, which will later prove beneficial only to the vested interests on her side. She will castigate, again, those who are out to destabilize her reign, not even recognizing that her rise to the presidency had been, at the first instance, a barefaced act of destabilization and disregard of Constitutional rights, and at the second instance, an immoral act of manipulation and thievery. And for sure, with that characteristic smirk she will brand as traitors those who danced to her tune in the past four years, but are now marching to the beat of a different drummer.

This year, in a period of uncertainty that hangs only on a gossamer thread dangled to her by the military and buffeted by 84 percent of Filipinos who do not want her to reign any second longer, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will once again put up a brave and soothing face of assurance, lies and deceit. In honeyed words, she will steer us away from the jueteng controversy that brought dirty money right to the steps of the Palace; the corruption that gave us the shameful title of being among the most corrupt; the efforts to steal our sovereign right; the efforts to cover up the fraud; and the burden of having a presidential spouse gone berserk every time power is to be brokered and the color of money is flashed.

But I hope that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the state of her mind notwithstanding, does realize that tomorrow she will not be addressing a docile and captive audience ready to burst into applause every time she finishes a sentence. It will be an audience who will not be deceived with her metaphors of the bangkang papel, which have since sunk in the murky waters of the Pasig. It will be composed of listeners who have seen through her constant image makeovers and have realized that every effort of hers and for her has been as cosmetic as the changes in her Cabinet. Nobody pays mind to her now; nobody is now minding the store - and if ever anybody does, it is each one for himself or herself alone.

And worse, tomorrow her frame of mind will oppress her with the dread feeling of a criminal who had been invited to her own hanging. How lonely she must be up there - bravely trying to blurt out her last words before the noose of impeachment is placed around her neck. Speaking of which, the legislators who do not recognize the legitimacy of her presidency had better be in the same hall as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Do not stay out and away; do your bounden and gentlemanly duty as accusers of an errant president. And if I may advise my good friend Rolex Suplico - go ahead and wield that dos por dos on those who babble about truth but take commission on the side.

Sure, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will show an unfazed and proud face tomorrow. But then, hasn’t it been always said that pride comes before the fall? And going back to that Nietzsche quote, I think what he meant in context was: Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first muddle up her state of mind.


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