WHY ARROYO CANNOT BE OUSTED

Wonder why the Arroyo government, despite the evils it has unleashed during its 5-year tyrannical reign, cannot be ousted? Here are some of the reasons I know you already know but which I am compelled to enumerate hereunder if only to show how calloused this administration has become in perpetuating itself in power:

1. Malacanang prides itself in romancing the generals. While several junior military officers are being tried and imprisoned for crimes they never intended to commit, the generals who figured prominently in the Hello Garci conversations are now occupying the highest positions in the chain of command, probably as a reward for a job well-done during the 2004 elections!

2. Likewise, the AFP has become so powerful, like the Marcos military of the 1970’s, so much so that it has revived its anti-Communist death squads with the obvious acquiescence of Malacanang. The only way to “unite” a divided military is to re-introduce the Red Scare propaganda flavored with a leftist-rightist conspiracy, the traditional enemy even of dedicated and idealistic soldiers.

3. The PNP — Gloria Arroyo’s security guards on the streets, are trying their best to prevent the people from massing up and stage another EDSA People Power. She is so afraid of being given a dose of her own medicine that she had to enforce the now unconstitutional CPR, dispersing rallyists even before they could assemble and express their grievances.

4. To prevent the elusive truth from coming out, they issued EO 464, preventing officials of the Executive Department from testifying before Senate-led investigations. The have also mastered the art of lying. They twist the truth by making it appear that all their actions are done according to the rule of law. It is in this context that I highly doubt whether the Arroyo administration will abide by Supreme Court rulings nullifying certain provisions of EO 464, the calibrated preemptive response policy (CPR) and acts committed under PP 1017.

5. They have, quite successfully, conditioned the minds of gullible people that there is no alternative to cheating, lying and stealing leaders. They ask: who would you replace Gloria Arroyo with? What is your assurance that life will be better once she is gone? They forget, however, that there are still lots of capable, morally upright people who fare much better than all the Arroyos and de Venecias combined.

6. People get blinded by the color of money. Just reflect at what happened during the first impeachment attempt against Mrs. Arroyo. Do you really, honestly think that money had nothing to do with the failure of opposition Congressmen to gather the magic number of 79 signatures? I’m afraid the same thing will happen in the planned second impeachment bid this year.

7. State-sponsored assasinations against members of the Left, particularly Bayan Muna, are being used as grim reminders to critics of Gloria Arroyo that they will suffer the same fate if they continue oppose the government. Apparently, as some observers have correctly pointed out, nobody seems to lift a finger to protest against these violations of human rights perpetrated almost on a daily basis. That’s how apathetic we have become.

8. Gloria’s henchmen have grown arrogant by the day. They simply refuse to admit their mistakes both in fact and in law. The Department of Justice, the agency tasked to persecute.. este prosecute perceived enemies of the State, is headed by a Secretary who has no pretensions of hiding his hatred for the Batasan 6 and others who continue to question his fitness to stay in office.

9. The opposition is divided. The Church is divided. The middle class is divided. The masses in general, though fairly large in mumber, are easily carried away by empty promises of traditional politicians. Practically every sector in Philippine society is divided. GMA’s spin doctors are using this divided atmosphere to the hilt, and consequently to her advantage.

10. How do you oppose an administration that seemed to have lost all decency and morality? While the opposition’s actions must be confined only to what is legal, the administration is bent on perpetrating the illegal just to survive at all costs. This is currently the dilemma facing the broad opposition.

Given the above circumstances, it is unlikely that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will step down or be removed from the Presidency at this point in time. She will surely fight it out down to her last breath. But anti-Arroyo forces need not despair. No earthly power lasts forever, especially if it proceeds from a bogus mandate.