Lessons from Thaksin

The reaction from the Palace was swift but nervous. No, the predictable Mr. Bunye said, what happened in Thailand is not going to happen here. The generals and the loyal allies in the House chorused the same message… no gaya gaya is going to happen here… a coup in Manila is out of the question.

I honestly want to believe them. Even as I believe Ate Glue has overstayed her welcome as the country’s Chief Executive, a military coup against her can only be worse. A coup, to paraphrase Mao, is not a tea party. It may be bloodless like what happened in Bangkok last week or in Manila during EDSA 1 and 2, but once the military is involved, who knows what they will do next. We have been lucky… so far. But there is such a thing as testing our luck a bit too much.

Notice how those polite Thai generals immediately placed curbs on media, and I can understand why. That’s not good for me as a columnist and neither could it be good for every citizen who would be denied access to information at a time when such information is most needed. A dozen Mike Arroyos filing libel suits everyday is preferable to a military junta clamping down on media and free expression in general.

I wish deep in my heart, that I could believe the assurances of Bunye, Nonong Cruz and General Esperon… that indeed, a similar expression of military dissatisfaction with civilian government is a remote possibility. But I am not reassured. It seems to me it is the disunity of the Philippine military, not necessarily loyalty to the Constitution that is keeping them in their camps. It could be just a matter of time before one of those groups gets enough support to do their thing. Those Thai commanders have a better grip of their forces.

Then there is the civilian reaction to consider. Notice how the Thai civilians reacted to the military coup… notice how they welcomed it… feeling relief that the long political stalemate is over. News photos from Bangkok looked like EDSA 1, complete with yellow ribbons and young women offering flowers to soldiers. The Thais, notably the educated middle class, became exhausted with the ways of democracy. I don’t know if it is only me but I seem to have recognized those same sentiments among many Filipinos today.

It is the ambivalence over the use of military force to get a flawed democracy back on track, specially among people who should know better, that worries me. The Thai politicians have proven themselves unworthy of democratic political power. Our own clowns in Congress are pretty unworthy too. They had no compunction in suppressing constitutional processes that releases political tension, like the impeachment process, to save the political ass of their party leader. The result is a nation divided down the middle with the President (who has the lowest approval ratings ever) unable to fully exercise the leadership the nation needs to move on. No wonder they placed our soldiers on red alert shortly after news of the Thai coup reached Manila. Despite their assurances, they are also not sure.

In a way, there are lessons to be learned from Thailand’s flawed populist democracy. Thaksin should have learned from Erap. Sure, the masses are in Thaksin’s camp, as they were in Erap’s. But once they tried to marginalize an educated middle class and ignored their outrage over Thaksin’s abuse of power, there was hell to pay. Erap could have told him not to do that.

It is a lesson that should be learned by our current dispensation as well.

People may shrug their shoulders and sigh as if to dismiss rumors of corruption in public office as something to be expected… and tolerated. But abuse of power, which corruption is, eventually leads to the breaking point of public tolerance.

In hindsight, it would have been cheaper for Thaksin’s family corporation to have paid the taxes due on the profits earned from the sale of his telecom company, rather than invoke a legal loophole. It turned out to be Thaksin’s Jose Velarde moment.

In a sense, our Ate Glue is lucky. She seems to be coated not just with epoxy but with Teflon too. There might have been numerous allegations of wrongdoing, but her Jose Velarde smoking gun moment has yet to come. Or maybe, Pinoys have just gotten tired of one EDSA uprising too many.

One other thing she has going for her is our "crab mentality". We are unable to unite for anything… neither the opposition nor the so called idealistic elements of the military, can keep their small number intact for any cause, worthy or otherwise. Only thoughts of pork barrel unites the pro-Arroyo politicians.

The Thais are different in this regard. They seem to have a better sense of nation and the common good. That is, of course, personified by their King, who has always served as a rallying point in the darkest of days. We have no rallying icon, dead or alive. We are suspicious of everyone’s motives, paranoid of hidden agendas, unable to suspend skepticism long enough to allow a true leader to emerge.

And who can blame us? We have had such bad experiences with practically everyone who has ever pretended to be our leader. And so the good news is… a copycat coup may not happen under such an environment of disunity and distrust. But the bad news is, there is still the breaking point to worry about. A time could just come when even for a brief moment, people will say enough is enough and unite as we did during EDSA 1. And it is just a question of when.

What event would trigger that breaking point? Could it be that arrogance of power we are now seeing as administration politicians openly trample with the spirit of the Constitution to deny democratic processes it guarantees? Or worse, railroading the process to change the Constitution itself to suit their ends? There is much Ate Glue and her minions can learn from the lessons of Thaksin… the exercise of power could be so abused so that the only way out is to suspend democracy, to save it.

I worry that the country is headed for a breaking point. I worry that there are active anti democratic groups ready to take advantage by grabbing political power at some opportune moment. Could it be the communists who would throw us back in time to where Castro’s Cuba is now? Or could it be a fascist military clique as was common in Latin America?

Ate Glue’s strategy of surrounding herself with retired and active generals may let her sleep nights… but she is well advised to keep one eye open anyway. Things could be beyond the control of her loyal generals once the breaking point is reached. Or one of those generals might just decide he is better than her and act on it. Someone told me that a coup is like giving birth. It isn’t going to happen unless the time is right and the elements for it have fully ripened.

Like giving birth, it could be very bloody and just a matter of time.

Trade your wastes

Got this interesting announcement on how you can trade your wastes, doing yourself and the environment a favor in the process. Trade scrap paper for new (office/mimeo) paper! Trade used ink cartridges for new! Sell your electronic waste (junk computers) and old /broken appliances! Sell your used lead acid batteries! Redeem the following for cash: PET plastic bottles and other plastics, aluminum/tin cans, scrap glass. Drop off points also provided for junk cellphones, cellphone batteries, styrofoam…

These Waste Markets aim to make recycling convenient and accessible, especially for those who frequent commercial shopping areas, and also to show that we all CAN make recycling a habit! It all happens every first Friday of the month at the Gold Crest Car Park, Ayala Ctr (along Arnaiz Ave. Makati ) and every third Friday of the month at the Alabang Town Center (Alabang-Zapote Rd).

Please help spread the word to friends, family and colleagues. For more information, contact Nancy Pilien, Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) 2F DAP Bldg., San Miguel Ave., Ortigas Center Pasig City Tel: (63-2)635.3670 / (63-2)635.2650 to 51 Fax: (63-2)631.5714; CP: 0917.405.9265

Website: www.pbe.org <http://www.pbe.org>. ph / www.iem.net.ph <http://www.iem.net.ph>

Market opens at 8 a.m.

Beer ad

Here’s something from Marilyn Mana-ay Robles. Robin Tong also sent a variation of it. It is supposed to be the text in a beer ad.

She told me we cannot afford beer anymore so I have to quit.

Then I caught her spending $65 on make-up.

And I asked how come I have to give up stuff and she didn’t.

She said she needed the make-up to look pretty for me.

I told her that was what the beer was for.

I don’t think she is coming back.

Boo Chanco ‘s e-mail address is [email protected]