Conflicts among reactionaries will sharpen over the issue of constitutional change
Estrada's bullheadedness on rewriting the constitution of the reactionary state despite widespread opposition to this move is further sharpening conflicts among rival reactionary factions. Anti-Estrada reactionaries are aware that Estrada's constant assurance that changes in the constitution will be limited to economic provisions camouflages the intention of Estrada and his minions to sneak in amendments granting them greater political power and privilege.
A major political crisis of the ruling system is abrewing, centering on Estrada's position as president of the reactionary state.
The anti-Estrada reactionaries' claim that their opposition to constitutional change does not mean that they are against Estrada is meant to dissimulate their real objective of convincing the pro-Estrada reactionaries to make a stand against rewriting the constitution. But in the face of Estrada's adamance and consolidation of his camp, the anti-Estrada reactionaries will have to shed their masks if they are determined to thwart the moves to change the constitution and defend their own interests.
Estrada has reestablished LAMP (Lapian ng Masang Pilipino) to prepare for "major political battles". He wants to be certain that the members of LAMP would toe the line and push for the rewriting of the constitution. At present, Estrada is making sure that the leadership and the majority in both Congress and the Senate can be counted on as loyal underlings who will railroad the amendments despite strong opposition.
It has been clear even from the very onset of Estrada's term that conflicts among reactionaries would further sharpen. The worsening social crisis is forcing the reactionaries to resort to desperate measures and scramble for control over businesses and choice bureaucratic positions.
Two big reactionary camps are currently at loggerheads. By and large, these are the pro- Marcos and anti-Marcos camps. The ruling Estrada clique is the principal representative of the first camp. It is the Estrada clique that has coddled and opened wide the doors to the full restoration to power of the Marcoses and their recovery or preservation of their ill-gotten wealth. The camp comprises the Marcos family and the minions of the Marcos dictatorship who have been rehabilitated through Estrada.
On the other side is the anti-Marcos camp consisting of reactionaries who were disfranchised by Marcos from 1972 to 1986, assumed power in 1986 but are now being left out in the cold once more by the ruling clique.
The relentless efforts of the ruling Estrada clique to disfranchise the other sections of the ruling classes and its cornering of privileges and state power a la Marcos are compelling the anti-Estrada/Marcos camp to actively assume the role of a political opposition. With the diminishing room for maneuver for the anti-Estrada/Marcos elements, they are anxious about being ultimately deprived of their rights and property by a Marcos-style Estrada monopolization of state power.
The conflict among reactionaries over the question of constitutional change is a positive development for the revolutionary movement. This should be taken advantage of in order to weaken the ruling reactionary clique. It is to the interest of the anti-Estrada/Marcos reactionaries to be part of a broad people's antifascist front. It is correct for progressive and militant forces to be open to cooperating with these elements with the objective of opposing and defeating the anti-democratic schemes of the Estrada regime.
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