Aquino, Trillanes, and the cycle of impunity
By Willie Galang
Published 18 July 2010, 01:25 • Tweet
© Reuters
At the beginning of the month, at a change-of-command ceremony held at Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), newly-minted Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III commended the military for the dedication they displayed in preserving the security of the state in the last elections. The new Commander-in-chief reiterated in his speech the supremacy of “civilian authority over military.” Good choice of words to highlight right there: “civilian authority over military.” Hearing the new President address the AFP with such a message in the light of heightened concerns from various sectors of society about the growing politicization of the armed forces, this should be a welcome development.
Or is it? Is the President truly keen on helping arrest the concern? Or is he doing exactly the opposite? Former AFP Chief Delfin Bangit thinks so. My observation? Aquino is making things worse. How? Aquino did three things recently which I perceive as moves to further politicize the AFP, wittingly or unwittingly, and, in a much worse situation, akin to the condonation of military adventurism. My take is, of all the people in the new administration, Noynoy should be the lead advocate in taking to task all this usurpers from the military who tried one way or another to bring down the government, considering the experience of his mother, the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, with all the coup d’etats that tormented her regime to almost null efficiency. The bullet still embedded in Noynoy’s neck should have reminded him of the “evils” of grabbing power away by unconstitutional means. (Unless, of course, the Cojuangco-Aquino oligarchs have embraced the concept that they should keep the military, even if at least, a sizable bloc, wrapped around their fingers in order to maintain their dominance in Philippine society. Of course they have! How naive of us if we believe in the contrary.)
So what are these things that Noynoy Aquino did that are getting my briefs in a bunch? (And I hope it’s not just me who’s bothered.)
Wittingly or unwittingly?
First, the selection of Brigadier General Danilo Lim as part of then presidential aspirant Noynoy’s senatorial slate: I view the inclusion of Gen. Lim as a condonation of his role in the plot to overthrow the then administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in that tumultuous February of 2006. It will be remembered that the Cojuangcos were leaning on Lim to lead the military element in a plan to forcibly oust Arroyo from power. (Note that other than the soldiers, no other influential personalities behind the overthrow plans ever went to jail.)
Second, the act of seeking Magdalo’s endorsement in the elections: Tell me, how powerful are these Magdalo rebel soldiers really? Are they kingmakers now? Why would presidential contenders then, Aquino included, debase themselves and actively seek the “blessings” of a group of rogue soldiers (who are obviously puppets of other politicos and powerful families) responsible for a handful attempts to topple the Philippine government in the last few years? To pander to the “idiocracy?”
Third, (and this just happened within the past couple of days) the President’s apparent meddling with the cases lodged against the coup plotters, primarily Oakwood mutiny leader Antonio Trillanes IV: The Palace denies they’re “not encroaching” on the judiciary when the President “ordered” the Department of Justice to “thoroughly review” the cases involving Trillanes. Aquino even took it one step further when he publicly stated that the coup leader “may have been a victim of injustice.” Such audacity, Mr. President. Are we blind not to see the pressure from the executive branch here? Aquino seems to mean “dismiss” not “review.”
To make matters worse, the Philippine Senate now is jumping in on the “Free Trillanes” bandwagon! The Judiciary is now double-teamed and pressured heavily by the Executive and the upper chamber of the Legislative; a turnover is imminent and don’t be surprised if Trillanes will be free to walk away very soon from all the cases he’s facing in the military and civilian courts.
Not to be taken lightly
© Agence France-Presse
All of these, in my humble opinion, are dangerous. It’s like issuing all these putschists licenses to become repeat offenders. I’m sure Aquino knows this, but for some reason, he refuses to do the right thing and just let the courts assigned to try the cases decide the fate of the rebel soldiers. Where is Aquino’s sympathy for the Magdalo group coming from and how will all these softness towards coup plotters affect future instances of military adventurism?
How can we have strong democratic institutions when a selected few, armed by a military faction backed by a noisy civilian minority, abrogates or attempt to abrogate these institutions every single time they do not agree with the government, particularly on unpopular legislation from Congress and/or notorious decisions from the President? Why do we make allowances for these people, even glorify them? There is a reason the crime of coup d’etat carries such a heavy penalty. It’s a high stakes unconstitutional undertaking. It’s treason. If these usurpers win, they get to rule the nation. If they fail, well, even more progressive societies deem it fair to assign either death or reclusion perpetua as corresponding punishment for their treachery.
And then we scream in anger and wonder why the culture of impunity perpetuates in the Philippines. Nobody wants to punish those who commit crimes! Free Trillanes? Free Lim? Free the rest of the putschists? Sure, go ahead! Do it now! Why not? While we’re at it, let’s stop punishing anyone for crimes they have committed in the past, how’s that? Anything else would be double standard. And sheer hypocrisy.
They’ll keep doing it over and over
Let’s give our laws a chance. I don’t want this country to always be a stage where sitting presidents duke it out with those who covet the presidential seat in shooting matches using their respective gangs in the military as their guns. Believe me, I don’t want the Philippines to be eventually ruled by a military junta, which is a possible outcome looking back at our recent history. And we called Ferdinand Marcos a dictator? Wait till you get the real deal -- military junta leaders as your dictators. Hello, Burma? (Don’t ever say I didn’t warn you.)
I sincerely hope that this new Aquino government won’t have to go through the multiple military uprisings that the first Aquino administration went through in the late ’80s, and the coup attempts that cursed the Arroyo government in the past nine years. Let’s not forget the coup against Mr. Joseph Estrada! To you, President Aquino, wait till the shoe is on the other foot. When a section of the military starts training their guns at you, whether it’s the Magdalo themselves who’ll betray you later on or some other self-styled groups with huge messianic complexes that would come out of the woodwork that want to further the interest of other political oligarchs not named Cojuangco or Aquino, it’s not going to be fun.
And finally: Dear Noynoy
So, our dear Noynoy, please don’t wait for those events to happen before we start really punishing military adventurists in this country. You promised everyone you’re leading us to a “righteous path,” however you wish to define it. (I will support you and your government and I promise not to snicker the next time you mention the words “daang matuwid” in your future speeches.) But publicly dismissing the actions of the Magdalo soldiers when it was clear that crimes against the state were clearly committed, over and over, runs contrary to the vision you presented to the country when you were still courting votes from the people. Walk the talk, Noynoy! Stop meddling in the judicial process and let the cases run their course! Prove to the world we’re not a banana republic. Prove to the world you’re different from your predecessor whom you so self-righteously branded as corrupt. And to grudgingly use that despicable catchphrase of your favorite showbiz cohorts, Mr. President: "Now na!"
Otherwise, I won’t be surprised if there will be attempts to overthrow this administration by a military coup in the future. It’ll be like a dose of their own medicine. The government simply refuses to break the cycle of impunity.
This article originally appeared here at williegalang.com at this specific URL:
http://williegalang.com/2010/07/17/cycle.of.impunity
About this Weblog
My name is Willie Galang and I’m based in Manila. I comment on current events and popular culture plus share some personal stories as well.
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