Guingona warns of civil disobedience if impeach case blocked

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona warned yesterday that any attempt by the administration to block this year’s impeachment as it did last year would force Filipinos critical of President Arroyo to resort to civil disobedience.

Commenting on the threat, Malacañang officials charged that the opposition was pushing the "politics of hate and perdition" and warned of possible arrest if they agitate the public to violate the law in the guise of civil disobedience.

Guingona emphasized that the people still want to pursue the peaceful constitutional road to resolve the issues that plague the nation and that the last option is the impeachment process.

Last Tuesday, Guingona filed the second impeachment case against Mrs. Arroyo this year, a day after the first complaint was filed by mostly left-leaning activists.

"If this is blocked, it means that all peaceful avenues are lost and therefore, some citizens may decide to go outside of the Constitution and that may no longer be controllable by the authorities," Guingona said.

"In the long run, having tried and exhausted all constitutional avenues in the past, they may decide on a diverse course which can plunge this nation into a scenario of perdition," he added.

Guingona said Filipinos opposed to the administration may resort to civil disobedience, including boycotts and other actions that the political opposition took in 1986 against the Marcos dictatorship.

He was referring to a civil disobedience campaign launched by former President Corazon Aquino against Ferdinand Marcos and all of his known interests in the business sector following accusations of cheating by the administration in the 1986 snap presidential elections.

At the time, a massive boycott was undertaken against crony media, banks and corporations whose owners were known allies of the regime. The boycott resulted in heavy losses for the affected businesses.

Guingona said the civil disobedience campaign helped spark the 1986 people power revolt that ousted Marcos.

He admitted that a boycott would be more difficult this time because the targets now are less clear.

According to Guingona, other actions that could be taken by the pro-impeachment groups include skipping school and staged absences by government employees.

He also suggested that overseas Filipino workers pull out their savings from the Philippines, which he said would translate to an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion.

However, he still expressed some degree of optimism over the current impeachment complaints because the people are now playing an active role in the process unlike last year when it was entirely the effort of opposition congressmen.

In separate interviews, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor and Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio chided Guingona for submitting himself to a political process by filing an impeachment complaint and at the same time threatening to call for civil disobedience if his bid to impeach Mrs. Arroyo fails.

They asked opposition groups not to drag the public into their campaign to force Mrs. Arroyo from office and urged them to stay within the bounds of law.