Pardo et al. missed their moment of glory - FROM A DISTANCE by Carmen N. Pedrosa

Some people decry that the military should have played a disproportionate role in EDSA 2. They say that had the cabinet been more patriotic, they should have resigned earlier, and ensured civilian supremacy over the military. But as it turned out the members of Erap’s cabinet resigned in numbers only when the different commanders of the armed forces defected to EDSA 2 and the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Very early on, (October 14, 2000) almost immediately after Luis "Chavit" Singson’s exposé this column already pointed out that the quickest possible exit for Erap was for a mass resignation of the cabinet. Had Messrs. Buenaventura, Pardo and Medalla and others joined Mar Roxas the scenario for Erap’s ouster might have been different. Having waited for the last minute, the cabinet resignations were of less consequence. Instead the center stage went to the defecting military officers. A mass resignation of the cabinet members at the time when Singson first made his revelations would have placed no doubt that in the Philippines there was indeed civilian supremacy both in the Constitution and in fact. Messrs. Pardo, Lim, Gonzalez, Medalla etc. missed their moment of glory.

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They merely followed the leader, in this case, the military. Indeed for waiting till the last minute and only after the military had defected, Erap’s cabinet members were his co-conspirators in bringing the matter of his resignation to a dangerous edge. Had the military not defected collectively then, there might have been violence either between the warring anti-Erap and pro-Erap groups in Mendiola or between the rival military groups. Erap’s cabinet will have to bear the responsibility for sending a different message than what the Constitution intended for them, that is, to stand up for civilian supremacy. Because of their hesitation, the people power revolution needed the military to give it the final push. In that sense EDSA 2 is similar to the Ecuadoran experience. The difference is that the Ecuadorans did impeach their president and voted to oust him but the military stepped in for a quick implementation of the civilian government’s action so the economy would not unduly suffer.

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In Ecuador, there was a brief take-over by the military. Now it can be told. We had met up by accident with some of the leaders of Ecuadoran uprising against Abdala Bucaram at an international conference in London long before Erap’s impeachment crisis. An Ecuadoran oil economist told us that in fact the military not only supported the civilian ouster of President Bucaram, they held power for a while but this lasted only 24 hours. According to this source, the Ecuadoran military leadership was immediately notified by Washington (he did not tell us which American official it was – except to allude to him as "Tio" Sam) to get out pronto and leave the matter to civilians.

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The trouble was even with information of Erap’s misdemeanors, the cabinet members were unmoved. In hindsight all that could have been avoided by the cabinet who should have, with the information piling up not only from Luis "Chavit" Singson and other sources taken the responsible route and resigned. That route is given to them by the Constitution in Article 7, Section 11. Instead they referred to it only at the end when it was almost too late. To date this route is still being debated. The article referred to states: Whenever a majority of all the members of the Cabinet transmit to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. As far as I know, Erap’s Cabinet did not even bother to make a written declaration if their intent was for the public good.

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Fantastic coverage on CNN. I was pleased to read a heading in an article in another newspaper which said that we have Erap and the 11 senators to thank for among others for the fantastic coverage on CNN. As the mother of Veronica Pedrosa, I have privileged information. The fantastic coverage that this writer was talking was planned many weeks before the actual events. Veronica had proposed a special report on the post-acquittal scenario but they had not expected it to happen sooner and with more dramatic events. They had expected a mid-February happening. You can imagine the frenzy of preparations, unavailable flights etc. But in the end, a full complement of CNN cameramen and writers were in Manila when it all happened. So they had both the breaking news as well as a post-EDSA 2 special report. "We want Filipinos to be assured of CNN’s commitment to full coverage for events like this," Veronica said of EDSA 2. She was accompanied by her husband, war photographer/editor Mark Phillips. Her other colleagues, Mike Chinoy and Maria Reza came ahead. The CNN "war" room at the Pan Pacific Hotel was buzzing with activity when I picked up my grandchild, Gabriel, who tagged along with his parents.

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Congratulations: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul aziz Al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and National Guard Commander Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, as well as Second Deputy Prime Minister/Defense and Aviation Minister Inspector General Prince Sultan bin Abdul Asiz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have sent congratulatory messages to Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Excerpts of the greetings were aired on Saudi television and radio stations . . . More than 90 major political parties in Europe, America, Asia and Africa represented by Christian democrats which hold a majority in the European Parliaments declared their support for new President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Former Belgian Prime Minister Wilfred Martens, president of the Christian Democrats and People’s Parties International (CDI and head of the powerful European People Parties (EPP), told CDI Vice President and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia that he hoped their declaration will "help stimulate the return of foreign investments to rebuild the Philippine economy."

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