Thank you Sen. Trillanes and Gen. Lim
I know the pundits will say it was a poorly conceived desperate act. Some would even call it stupid but if nobody is going to do something, anything, what will become of us?
I didn’t go rushing to Makati to demonstrate my support for the group because I don’t support juntas. And both Trillanes and Lim were strangely quite about what sort of government would replace Mrs. Arroyo had they succeeded in overthrowing her yesterday.
The presence of junta advocates like former UP president Dodong Nemenzo at the scene turned me off.
The most dangerous threat to democracy is a coalition between ideologues and men in uniform, no matter how pure of heart they are.
When a group like that takes over government, civil liberties and human rights take the back seat. (Look at what happened to America after the neocons and rightwingers took over the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Justice Department, Congress and mainstream media.)
Trillanes and Lim could have drawn the crowds if only they used the occasion to call for a snap election following the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo and Noli de Castro. Unfortunately, they chose not to.
Be that as it may, I thank Trillanes and Lim for being courageous enough to stand up and fight.
These are the words we live by:
“In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: Not necessarily to Win, but mainly to keep from Losing Completely” - Hunter S. Thompson
on November 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Agree Manuel!
on November 30th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”Martin Luther King Jr.
on November 30th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
i feel sorry for lolo dodong. some people are not above taking advantage of a really old man.
on November 30th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
sparks,
si lolo dodong mo ay ang prime advocate ng mga junta.
on November 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
MB, i join you in thanking Trillanes and Lim. Many people who criticize them (whether pro- or anti-Arroyo) do so because they lost. These people are probably the same bunch who will praise them to high heavens if ever, as a result of their actions, they succeeded in taking over Malacanang. As far as that aspect (i.e. losing or winning) is concerned, i’d react in the same way. That’s the Balimbing culture for you.
While Trillanes (and Lim) should be criticized for their Andres Bonifacio style rashness, i salute what they stand for and the fact that they took action on our behalf. That’s more than can be said for the vast majority who would have enjoyed the fruits of their victory. I just hope they’d pay more attention to the execution aspect next time.
on November 30th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
cvj,
. They may not have won but they didn’t lose. There are no losers among those who fight for decency and justice.
on November 30th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Amen to that.
on November 30th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
MB, I, too, join you in thanking Sen Trillanes & Gen Lim. It took GUTS to do what they did.
This could only be the beginning of Gloria’s end.
on November 30th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
I also thank Sen Trillanes and Gen Lim for having the guts to do what they did expecting, perhaps, others will have the courage to join them. But unfortunately, very few did, just like me who is out of the country. As I’ve said again, we deserve what’s happening now in the country. As to this being the beginning of Gloria’s end, I doubt it very much as long as the people around her refuse to see what’s wrong.
on November 30th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
the trillanes, lim caper without civilian support was doomed to fail
ang inaasahan ko na lang na sana yong mga pulis at sundalo na pinapunta para aristuhan sila ay bumaligtad at kumampi sa kanila
and the tanks in malacanang pointed outward was now pointed at the palace
that would have been more dramatic.
tama si MB the demand for an snap election would have been better
or demand that he should be freed para maka function siya as an elected senator.
on November 30th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
“Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago Friday filed an urgent resolution asking punitive action against Trillanes for leading the power grab Thursday at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati.”GMA NEWS
For once,I agree with Lady Miriam.Senator Trillanes is not above the law!
BUT,may I ask Senator Miria DefensorSantiago ,How about GLORIA?
“No man (or woman) is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it. Theodore Roosevelt”
How could so many scandals of an elected(?) president and her cadre remain unexplained, unchallenged, and unpunished? When? Probably never.
We’re not talking mistakes, here. We’re not talking poor judgment or failed policies. We’re not talking politics as usual, with its underhanded array of pork and perks. But we are talking about very serious violations of the public trust, and very possibly the law, perpetrated by the elected(?) leader of this nation and her handlers.
Even more amazingly, we are talking about the shameful reality that not a single one of these offenses has been investigated by a truly independent, non-political, neutral commission, armed with subpoena powers and adequate funding, and answerable ONLY to the people of Philippines. Not a single one.
What ever happened to the investigation of:
* The National Power Corp. (Napocor) -CPK-Kalayaan rehabilitation project.
* The race horse importation fiasco.
* The overpriced Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard exposé.
* Misuse of the fertilizer funds,
* The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. scandals.
* The jueteng scandals.
* the ZTE-NBN scandal(”Buck off!”).
* The Bribery of Governors and Congressmen in Malacanang.
* The MOTHER of ALL SCANDALS :THE HELLO GARCI Mega Scandal that influenced the last Presidential elections.
* The Extra-Judicial Killings of Activists as reported by the United Nations special raporteur on human rights.
* And many more…
What’s left to be said? Not very much. Gloria Pidal has had a free pass to do as she pleased since 2001.She and her political operators have not been held accountable for any crime against the people of this country. Gloria is above the law.Why?
on November 30th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
The Equalizer,
You asked why Gloria is above the law. Because all in the military, judiciary, congress are all in it together. And most unfortunately the citizens let her do what she pleases. So, mga kababayan, magdusa na lang tayong lahat at huwag nang magreklamo. I know I sound defeatist but we will achieve nothing by just being passive.
on November 30th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Manila Bay Watch: Another ‘coup’ in Manila but not a coup d’état
on December 1st, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
* Puno said they even tried to call the act something else as curfew might not have traumatic effect on the people, who could associate it to the curfew imposed during the Martial Law era.
* “Iyong sinabi niyo nga na pag sinabing curfew maaalala martial law talaga. So nag-iisip kami, pwede bang gumamit ng ibang salita? Para hindi naman magkaroon ng traumatic effect sa ating mga kababayan. Eh wala naman talagang maisip. So sabi namin tutal iilang oras iyan… (We could not think of any other name to call it so we decide to stick on curfew anyway it’s only for a few hours).”
* “Technically that is not an arrest(i.e.,mass arrests and handcuffing of journalists covering the Trillanes story). That is a processing,” Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.
“Oh Mortal Man, is there nothing you cannot be made to believe?Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
on December 1st, 2007 at 4:30 pm
mb,
dodong nemenzo is, how to put it diplomatically, ulyanin na. anyone who knows him in person knows that. these people are taking advantage of his 60s euro-style revolutionary fantasies. i just feel sorry for the ol’ fogey.
on December 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm
— > Expel Tonyo Trillanes From The Senate Online Petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/xpel2nyo/petition.html
on December 2nd, 2007 at 4:50 pm
[...] Uniffors blogs about the relevance of the failed coup: “I know the pundits will say it was a poorly conceived desperate act. Some would even call it stupid but if nobody is going to do something, anything, what will become of us? I thank Trillanes and Lim for being courageous enough to stand up and fight.” [...]
on December 2nd, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I do sympathize with Trillanes on the following reasons:
1. He was voted by 11M people and has not been given a chance to seat in the Senate.
2. GMA’s presidency has been in doubt ever since the Garci tapes and still continue to evade impeachment by using the “technicalities” of the law.
3. A lot of accusations have been hurled against the Arroyo administration and not a single one has had a “closure”.
4. Hence, with all these issues hanging, all of these things that have happened are a matter of consequence. If there is anyone to blame, it’s the people in Malacanang who refuse to face the Senate inquiry and keep hiding under the “technicalities” of the law.
on December 3rd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
[...] What strikes me is not that the enterprise ended up failing, but that there seemed a moment when they actually seemed poised to carry it off. Personally, much as my instincts were that it was doomed, in retrospect I think the thing wasn’t doomed to failure until it became obvious that what Gen. Lim et al. had in mind was a junta. At that moment -when Gen. Lim made cryptic comments about a new leadership arising- the scheme’s chances for success, already slim, swiftly collapsed. If national salvation, as Lim and Trillanes saw it, would be in the vanguard hands of the armed forces, then no one had any further incentive either to risk their necks or offer support: live by the sword, die by the sword. As far as this is concerned, I think Uniffors said it best: I didn’t go rushing to Makati to demonstrate my support for the group because I don’t support juntas. And both Trillanes and Lim were strangely quite about what sort of government would replace Mrs. Arroyo had they succeeded in overthrowing her yesterday. [...]
on December 3rd, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Just wondering: why should we include Noli de Castro in the call for resignation?
I find it curious, is all.
on December 4th, 2007 at 6:15 am
i still call Trillanes stupid. even a simple activist reads Sun-Tzu, even at ROTC class, they teach you tactics, even at small-time sports they teach you teamwork.
what did he achieved? burn the movement that is quietly rolling belowground? or sabotage the “bigger” event that was supposed to come the next day?
i do not question his patriotic sense of duty but being a man in uniform, he should have used it wisely.
it doesn’t matter if he has the support of some people on the left, the fact remains, he is a military man and they are proposing a junta. do we need to re-define junta?
on December 4th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
may topak,
Kailangan mag resign din si Noli kung snap election ang goal because a vacancy of both president and vice president position is a requirement for a snap. Yun lang, nothing personal.
on December 4th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Thanks, manuelbuencamino. I’d like to think of snap election as a goal, too, but I’m not completely sold on why Noli, being the VP and constitutional next-in-line, shouldn’t stay as head of government until the new president/vp are elected. I mean, as far as I know, he hasn’t been implicated in Hello Garci, ZTE, bribery in Malacanang, etc, so why the need to replace him as well? (I’ve heard some people say it’s because he refuses to take a stand — but then personally, I prefer a VP who’s not atat for power the way GMA was in EDSA 2).
So much is being said about how Gloria and her cohorts are just like Marcos and his cohorts pre-EDSA. I quite agree. And today’s opposition is just as divided as the opposition of pre-EDSA days; it shouldn’t come as a surprise if people aren’t eager to go out on the streets. I don’t think they’d hesitate if they were solid about the alternative, but as it is, ang daming pagpipilian: may gustong bumalik si Erap. May gusto ng junta, may gusto snap election. Just like pre-EDSA: it wasn’t until after the various camps ironed out their differences and rallied behind Cory that the opposition was really able to put up a united front — in this case, today, why not unite behind Vice President Noli? That is, if we want to stay within the “rule of law” na ini-invoke naman ng lahat, including Gloria?
Ewan. I’m not even arguing pro-Noli here, just pro-office of the VP. Eh kasi nga rule of law, ‘di ba? Hope this made sense. If not, sorry for ranting.
on December 4th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
topak
I have nothing against Noli taking over till 2010 and then him running for President.
If he does well as president from let’s say tomorrow until 2010 I will even endorse his candidacy for president