Posts tagged with Martial Law

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December 10, 2009

Sowing the seeds of a nationwide declaration

The way the Arroyo administration is stretching the meaning of “rebellion” is utterly absurd. If this is allowed, we’re making possible a bizarre scenario where the Arroyo administration may connive with its many warlord allies across the country to stage any “massing of arms” in order to justify a nationwide declaration of martial law as they near the day they are booted out of office in the 2010 elections. A few days ago, the Defense Secretary came up with an odd press release revealing something we’ve known all along anyway–that there are private armies all over the country. Suddenly, the government claims Ampatuan supporters have arrived in Manila. Then arms and a grenade are discovered near the NBI in Manila. They’re clearly beginning to sow the seeds of justifying a nationwide declaration. All they need is to stage another shocking performance.

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December 5, 2009

A Martial Law rehearsal

The recent declaration of Malacanang placing Maguindanao under martial law sets a dangerous precedent. There are only two reasons granted in the Constitution for the declaration of martial law. First is invasion, the second is rebellion. Clearly, none of these conditions were present in Maguindanao. A few days ago, even the military and the police themselves said that a declaration of martial law is unnecessary. All of a sudden, the Arroyo administration claims there is virtually a rebellion in Maguindanao at the moment. They are stretching its meaning dangerously to accommodate their political plans. Apparent lawlessness in the province is not rebellion. Resistance from arrests is not rebellion. For rebellion to exist, the political motivation of overthrowing the civilian government is necessary. There clearly is no rebellion in Maguindanao. At most, all there is in Maguindanao is a refusal by the Ampatuan camp to cooperate with the authorities. They are armed, yes, but those arms were issued by the government itself, the legal existence of the private army provided for by the President herself. It goes without saying that this condition can be remedied by existing government forces in the province under a “state of emergency”, without the implementation of martial law.

Where then is the danger? The Arroyo administration will lose its executive power in less than a year. The administration ticket is expected to lose the 2010 elections. Arroyo’s congressional candidacy indicates her refusal to step down from power. It is not difficult to surmise that the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao is a rehearsal for a national implementation. With the twisted definition of “rebellion” that it used in Maguindanao to justify the military rule, it is now easy for the administration to call any condition of lawlessness as rebellion in other parts of the country, if not the entire country as a whole.

It thus becomes imperative for us, the people, to show and declare our objection to this move by the Arroyo administration. Neutrality and complacency to the martial law in Maguindanao will only serve to embolden the administration to use it accordingly nationwide, once it loses its other political options in maintaining their hold on power. We demand justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre, but martial law is not the answer.

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September 28, 2008

Consti Law 1 Malacanang Field Trip

Our Constitutional Law 1 professor, who happens to be the Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, made us go to Bantayog ng Mga Bayani and Malacanang Palace last Tuesday, instead of holding our usual late afternoon class in UP to talk about extraordinary powers of the chief executive.

It was a good time to talk about the topic, since incidentally it was also the week of the 36th anniversary of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ imposition of Martial Law.

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September 20, 2008

The dictator and his brothers

At this time of the year when the country remembers the horrors and the atrocities of the Martial Law years imposed 26 years ago, my fraternity, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, traditionally gets some flak for, well, being the fraternity of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos and some of his alleged cronies and allies, from Roberto Benedicto to Estelito Mendoza to name some.

The standard way of neutralizing the flak is to invoke the memory of the traditional political opposition that fought the dictatorship, from the likes of Salvador “Doy” Laurel, Joker Arroyo to Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.

Rarely is it done any other way. Today, let me take the opportunity to complicate the apparent contradictions further to invoke the memory of communist martyrs Merardo Arce and Melito Glor, martyred rebels, fraternity brothers all the same, who integrated with the masses and took the armed means of liberation, and from whose honor the names of the Southern Mindanao Regional Operations and the Southern Tagalog commands of the New People’s Army are named after.

Cliche as it may sound, we must always look at our present conditions without disposing of the lessons of the past. At times when basic conditions of widespread poverty and oppression persist, our remembrance must transcend mere commemoration, to a realization that perhaps the same roots that bore the resistance of the Marcos years, has only entrenched itself further and as such, creates similar tragic conditions and creates the need to sustain the struggle for genuine change.

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August 27, 2008

Ninoy was not alone

Last Thursday, some of my brods and I went to Tarlac City in Tarlac to join the provincial government’s commemoration ceremony of Ninoy Aquino’s 25th death anniversary. We left UP pretty early and arrived at the province around nine in the morning. Before proceeding to the provincial capitol, we also passed by the municipal hall in Concepcion, Aquino’s hometown, and where he was once Mayor. At around ten, we arrived at Tarlac City to meet the governor, Victor Yap, who is another brod. The commemoration ceremony was held and I was even asked to give a spontaneous speech in front of all the elected provincial officials and employees. We went back to UP a little past lunch time.

That night, we held a memorial at the theater of College of Law, also in honor of Ninoy Aquino.

25th death anniversary Ninoy Aquino

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