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Myths, lies and TRUTH

The ongoing political battle between a restive populace and a beleaguered president has resulted to a war of ideas. The latter has been aggressively spinning myths and strategies to give a semblance of normalcy and air of security, impressing the public that Malacanang is in control of the situation and could deal with a “handful of destabilizers.” The mass media have been an effective vehicle to deliver these lies and misconceptions.

One cluster of myths that the establishment has spread is that “people are tired of protest mass actions,” or “anti-Arroyo rallies are failing to topple Arroyo,” or “The opposition is giving up on mass actions and opting for impeachment.” This dismissive handling of the people’s ire and quest for genuine good governance has only resulted to the daily staging of varied political mass actions in different parts of the country where citizens express their disgust over the ruling system and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s sins of electoral fraud, corruption, puppetry and human rights violations. These expressions of the sovereign will are manifested openly, thus the parliament of the streets and in Congress or whatever legal avenues of protest. History has taught us that people power takes months and years to ferment and produce remarkable changes. We should not be surprised that those who spread these notions have short memories or they choose only what they want to remember.

Another myth that has permeated public consciousness is that “no one can replace Arroyo.” The latter’s spin doctors and advisers create a scenario of grim and chaos once GMA resigns her position to the extent of magnifying the portrait of an incompetent, corrupt vice-president unfit to replace the president (though this itself is not entirely a myth). The truth is, the president is not indispensable and she has lost public trust, thus she has to give way to a new government. As we have said previously, the people have the right to an alternative system and leader. The people themselves will choose their rightful leaders under a new system.

“The military might take over” is another veiled threat from GMA’s media handlers. While it is true that there is a preponderant unrest in the military (especially with the recent statement of the Young Officers’ Union (YOU)), the fractiousness is one factor that will hinder a successful military junta from taking over the reins of government. As of now, GMA is clawing at straws to keep the military to prop her. The decisive moment for the military is when they reckon with the unquestionable strength and will of the people.

GMA and her supporters say “instability comes from acts of destabilization” by her opponents. Those quarters in the media who say that the perennial rabble rousers are only hungry to seize power must be living in a dream or another country. On the contrary, it is precisely the Arroyo government’s non-direction and her anti-people policies and programs that brought about this national disaster. The Arroyo administration is committing suicide. It is responsible for its self-destruction.

A glaring deception and actually a distortion is GMA’s pride in portraying the influential Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to be sympathetic to her and the former president Fidel V. Ramos to be supportive of her. The truth is the CBCP is calling for an investigation through a Truth Commission (with all its merits and loopholes) so justice may be achieved and this is their contribution to the people’s clamor for the president’s resignation. FVR’s seeming rescue of GMA is diversionary and in fact his proposal for charter change is a ruse to reinstall himself in power.

As the battle intensifies, another misinformation being peddled is that the Left has absurdly closed ranks with erstwhile foes such as the Erap-FPJ groups and other traditional politicians. The gravity and degree of the political crisis that GMA inflicted on the nation is such that the apathetic and the apolitical are awakening, parties have crossed political lines and loyalties, political differences are being bridged albeit temporarily to form the broadest movement against a president who should not be in power in the first place. As is the nature of a besieged adversary, it will attempt, by all means to divide and rule. But this time, it is GMA who united her foes.

The truth is the ruling system is fearful of the militant people’s movement gaining strength from this long tested practice of struggle, of the people learning lessons from exercising their political right to effect radical change in the system. In the desire to preserve the status quo, the ruling system with GMA at the helm must spin lies and half-truths. But the people can now discern truth from lies, as their only basis is the state of this nation that is on the verge of total collapse. The truth is, at this juncture, it is only the power and unity of the broadest people’s movement that can give birth to CHANGE. #

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