Editorial:
The Arroyo regime�s desperate schemes to perpetuate itself in power

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

Arroyo paved the way for, and rode on the scheme to impeach Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. which was set into motion by Eduardo �Danding� Cojuangco�s minions in Congress. Arroyo hoped that Cojuangco would not oppose but rather support her in the forthcoming election. But as a result of the big backlash created by their collusion and scheme, Arroyo ended up dissociating herself from the scheme and rode on the Supreme Court declaration that the impeachment went through an illegal process.

The factor of violence is ever present in the maneuverings and struggles between the Arroyo clique and the anti-Arroyo reactionaries for political power. However strained the move, anti-Arroyo politicians recently tried to use the failure of the impeachment scheme to take advantage of the destabilization it generated and plan a coup. Even as they prepare for the 2004 election, they are likewise attempting to seize power even before the election. One of the schemes to rock the Arroyo regime was a demonstration attended by several tens of thousands on November 12. On Arroyo�s own orders, the rally was violently dispersed on the flimsiest excuse that the demonstrators exceeded the time limit by a few minutes. Policemen truncheoned the demonstrators, bombarded them with water cannons and lobbed tear gas, quickly breaking up their ranks.

Meanwhile, in the countryside, intense military operations and the use of state violence against ordinary peasants continue. This is the regime�s principal means to suppress the growing opposition by the revolutionary forces and the people.

At the same time, the regime is carrying out filthy and cunning schemes to cover up its corruption and other transgressions against the people, build up its image, stop destabilization measures and coups d��tat, disarm Arroyo�s other opponents in reactionary politics, and weaken criticisms against it. Through all this, Arroyo wishes to stay in power beyond 2004.

The latest of the regime�s schemes involves its offers of �total reconciliation� to all its adversaries, including the Marcos family, ousted president Estrada, Danding Cojuangco, Sens. Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Arroyo says she wants to reach an understanding with them before the 2004 election.

The offers of �reconciliation� to her rival factions and politicians among the ranks of the reactionary ruling classes all involve secret and dubious dealings and agreements to the detriment of the people.

�Reconciliation� with the Marcoses has attendant propositions aimed at blocking the payment of indeminification to political prisoners who were victims of Marcos� martial law. This includes the formation of a �Truth Commission� which, in reality, will only add obstacles and make it more difficult to attain justice for victims of martial law.

�Reconciliation� with Cojuangco has long been the subject of repeated schemes between Arroyo and Cojuangco despite strong opposition by the people. The main content of their collaboration involves the reversal of the Supreme Court decision on the public nature of the coco levy funds. In this regard, Cojuangco has been able to claim an additional 27% of San Miguel Corporation stocks held by the government, apart from the 20% restored to him by the Sandiganbayan because of a minor technical shortcoming on the part of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. This is in exchange for Cojuangco�s support for Arroyo in the coming election.

Negotiations between Arroyo and Lacson are aimed at putting an end to the government�s prosecution of the Kuratong-Baleleng case, and on Lacson�s part, halting Part 3 of the Jose Pidal expos� as well as his attacks on the Arroyo couple. Meanwhile, the government has been dangling before Honasan the bait of dismissing cases filed against him in relation to the July 27 coup, in exchange for desisting from such projects and confining himself to �political means of resolution.�

All of the cases mentioned show Arroyo�s intent to strike a compromise with persons who have committed grave crimes against the people instead of ensuring, endorsing and speeding up their trial and punishment. Arroyo will do everything, including running roughshod over human rights and denying justice to the people, just to stay in power.

While the principal targets of Arroyo�s �reconciliation� scheme are her reactionary political opponents, she also hopes that luring the revolutionary forces into biting her �reconciliation� efforts through the resumption of the suspended peace talks will likewise help her overcome the crisis and prevent her steady political decline and defeat.

But this will all be for nought if the Arroyo regime is not serious about pursuing the peace negotiations with the NDF and the MILF. The regime has long been running roughshod over peace talks with the NDF by having declared the CPP-NPA and Comrade Jose Maria Sison as �terrorists� and filing all kinds of trumped up criminal cases against Comrade Sison. The regime has also disregarded previous agreements and is forcibly defining the �final peace agreement�� which it has one-sidedly drafted and contains nothing but the surrender of the revolutionary forces�as the framework for the talks. Meanwhile, it continues to wage intense military operations on the revolutionary forces� bases.

In the case of the MILF, aside from forcing the use of a similar version of the �final peace agreement� to secure its capitulation, the regime has opened the GRPMILF peace negotiations to complete intervention by the US through the US Institute for Peace.

In the meantime, the crisis of Philippine society continues to worsen. Despite Arroyo�s various efforts to abort her steady political decline, she is unable to do anything effectively to relieve the crisis. The end of her regime draws nearer and becomes more certain.

21 November 2003
English Edition

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