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OVER the
past several weeks the government’s security
apparatchiks have been warning of an “impending
destabilization attempt” directed at the administration
of President Arroyo.
At first
they implied that the usual troublemakers in the officer
corps of the Armed Forces and their collaborators in the
political opposition were the ones who were up to no
good.
Now,
they are telling us that trouble could come from
left-wing malcontents fronting for the communist-led New
People’s Army—begging the question: What’s the real
score?
The
administration never tires of reminding anyone within
earshot that it is responsible for creating the “sound
economic fundamentals” upon which it is erecting a
Strong Republic.
Yet, whenever it receives raw intelligence on an alleged
fresh destabilization bid, it paints a picture of a
country teetering on the edge of collapse.
When
they issued their warnings, AFP Chief of Staff Gen.
Hermogenes Esperon, National Security Adviser Norberto
Gonzales, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Justice
Secretary Raul Gonzalez sounded downright panicky. They
have been so jumpy that they even resorted to alerting
the news media that journalists face arrest and
prosecution—once more—if they interfere with the
operations of government security forces that would be
dispatched to quell the looming tumult.
We would
not mind if their anxiety were confined to their tight
circle of Palace lackeys. The trouble is their angst has
the very real potential of infecting the rest of the
populace— notably the business sector.
To be
sure, investors and business executives have learned to
appreciate such alarums for what they really are. Years
of exposure to official paranoia have taught the private
sector to take these pronouncements with a truckload of
salt.
Even
when trouble does erupt, the business class has managed
to keep its cool. During the November 29 stunt pulled by
jailed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo
Lim right in the heart of Makati, for instance, the
private sector was able to conduct business as usual.
Trading continued at the bourse, the peso appreciated.
Still,
the destabilization warnings—along with the “advice” to
the meddlesome media—do not speak well of an
administration that claims to understand that political
stability is the sine qua non for economic growth.
It is
not so much the attempts to topple the administration as
Malacañang’s rattled response to such allegations that
has got us troubled. Is the government really, as police
and military commanders are wont to say, “on top of the
situation”?
What is
even more unsettling is that Malacañang has evidently
come to view street demonstrations and other forms of
legitimate protest as “destabilization.”
In
viable democracies, people with grievances can freely
air them without being branded as coup plotters. Even
when the leaders of the world’s leading economies
converged and protesters rioted in the streets of, say,
Davos, no right-thinking official dared describe the
outpouring of antiglobalist indignation as
“destabilization.”
The
latest pronouncement to come out of the administration
is that the looming destabilization attempt would
coincide with the commemoration of the Mendiola
Massacre. On January 22, 1987, police opened fire on
farmers demanding land reform on the street leading to
the presidential palace. Thirteen people died.
It is
disturbing enough that almost 21 years after that grisly
event, nobody has been made to answer for the killings.
Moreover, the promises of land reform remain
unfulfilled.
Therein
lie the true source of our—and not just the
administration’s—insecurity. |
