Guingona�s voice of patriotism
In the face of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime�s rabid puppetry, Vice President Teofisto Guingona�s patriotism is exceptional.
Guingona�s resolute stand against Balikatan, the MLSA and other military agreements between the Philippines and the US are indeed significant. He opposed the entry of US troops in the country and the fact that this embroils the Philippines in the impending US war on Iraq. He stood his ground on these issues even if it meant his removal last July as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Even in the past, Guingona had already shown a patriotic and antifascist stance. He was among the thousands who were incarcerated by the Marcos fascist dictatorship when martial law was declared in 1972. Upon his release, he fought, as an attorney, for the release of political prisoners and exposed rampant cases of human rights violations. He was also among those who opposed questionable foreign loans and marched in unity with the broad anti-dictatorship mass movement.
Guingona continued to take a stand even when he became senator under the Aquino regime. On September 16, 1991, he was among the 12 senators who voted against the RP-US Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Security that ended 50 years of the US military bases� presence in the Philippines.
Guingona opposed the ratification of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) sponsored by Macapagal-Arroyo in the senate in 1994. This agreement served as the foundation for the liberalization of the economy that is now causing unprecedented crisis in the Philippines.
In 1999, Guingona opposed the Visiting Forces Agreement even if most of his partymates in LAKAS-NUCD voted for it. He stressed that the agreement would reverse the victorious rejection of the US military bases.
In 2000, one of the factors that kicked off the impeachment process against Joseph Estrada was Guingona�s speech "I Accuse." He unhesitatingly united with and actually participated in the mass movement to oust Estrada. His signal role in this movement could not be ignored by Macapagal-Arroyo, who thus designated him as vice president.
Nonetheless, Guingona maintained his patriotitic stance.
He has thus gained the growing respect and support of the people. The people�s ardent support for Guingona will continue if he persists in his patriotism and his pro-people stance.
Should he take up this challenge, he will be counted among the ranks of Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Ta�ada and Jose Diokno who served as symbols of courage and resoluteness in the fight for national sovereignty and played a relevant role in the history of the people�s struggle for national liberation.
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