But aren’t they at war already?

The AFP spokesman took a lot of risks saying what he said. Military men aren’t supposed to talk politics, much more twit politicians. But Brig. Gen. Adelberto Adan did both, telling Congress to toughen laws against insurgency, secession and terrorism, and trashing political leaders for not recognizing the state of war.

Count the enemies, Adan barked: 12,000 communists from the New People’s Army, 1,000 Abu Sayyaf Islamic terrorists in Sulu and Basilan, 1,000 followers of renegade ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari, 11.000 separatists from the Moro islamic Liberation Front - 25,000 heavily-armed men in all. And yet politicians remain complacent in the face of emergency. By contrast, Adan noted, US President George W. Bush acted swiftly, and Capitol Hill backed him all the way, right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Expect officials in Malacañang and Congress, from administration and opposition, to gang up on Adan, order him to pipe down, call for his relief. That’s what they’re known for. That’s how they’ve been acting all these months — firing off press releases, grandstanding, tearing at each other’s throats.

And then they’ll simmer down. After which, more sound bites, more posturings, new schemings to bring each other down.

Perhaps Adan is right. Politicians really are ignorant of what’s going on. Absorbed with their own silly activities, they no longer see how the toiling public views them - a bunch of civil warriors battling for power and turf, with no regard for public service. They do not realize the state of war Adan is pointing at, because they are at bitter war with each other.

Talk in Malacañang these days is about a "December push" by the opposition. As Palace officials see it, Pic Marcelo’s claims of a presidential shakedown and Linda Montayre’s exposés of a P20-billion presidential kickback are all part of a plot to destabilize Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s reign. As the plot goes, opposition senators will force public investigations while congressmen will push for impeachment. The aim is supposedly to depose Ms. Arroyo by January, exactly 12 months since she came to power.

Perhaps Palace officials are reading too much into the events. Then again, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel truly is pushing majority Sen. Joker Arroyo to reopen, any day between Dec. 10-14, his blue-ribbon inquiry into First Gentleman Mike Arroyo’s fabled P40-million extortion from Marcelo. This, if only to let Marcelo, who has since belied the bribe, talk instead about Ms. Arroyo’s alleged attempt to wrest control of his two telecoms firms. This, even if Marcelo’s claim occured in August, four months after Ms. Arroyo vetoed his two telecoms franchises and was thus no longer in a position to offer anything in exchange, if she did try to grab the firms at all.

Joker has said his committee already had scheduled other matters for hearing: on the coconut levy, the new Manila airport terminal, and Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s money laundering. Besides, Marcelo had thrice ignored summonses to committee hearings, so why squeeze him in on the very week the Senate deliberates on the 2002 national budget to beat the Christmas recess. But Pimentel is adamant, to the point of threatening Joker that he’ll move for the transfer of the inquiry to another committee, preferrably one chaired by a minority partymate.

He seems too keen to have Marcelo hit at Ms. Arroyo at the same time that Joker hears Montayre’s parallel tale on the coconut levy. Though she has yet to show even the smallest proof of it aside from her own words, Montayre’s story already has hit the headlines. Ms. Arroyo supposedly is all too eager to sign a deal with businessman Danding Cojuangco to free a portion of the P130-billion levy that’s tied up in his San Miguel Corp., if only to collect a whopping P20-billion kickback. Under the deal, Cojuangco will turn over to farmers 27 percent of SMC shares worth P57 billion to set up a coconut development fund to be audited by both the government and the farmers. How Ms. Arroyo can squeeze P20 billion out of such double scrutiny beats logic. But that’s Montayre’s claim. And although all she’s done so far is claim to have a witness, opposition legislators are girding for formal investigation and impeachment.

Ms. Arroyo’s reign does look tottering. The opposition must be so pleased with itself. She has run out of consistency in public policy. One day, she’s requesting Malaysia to keep Misuari in its jails for illegally entering Sabah after a foiled uprising in Sulu. The next day, she asks the US to immediately hand over Joseph Estrada’s plunder coaccused Atong Ang for having no legal documents to stay in Las Vegas. One day, she’s shrugging that she’ll replace much-criticized PNP chief Leandro Mendoza by retirement day in March. The next day, she says she might extend his term after all. Her spokesman says the opposition is out to destroy her, but she’s trusting them enough to offer them a year-long cease-fire of political warfare.

And within the ruling party, it’s every man to himself. Ms. Arroyo’s Congress allies have surrendered to Malacañang their power of the purse. They let automatic appropriations pass for payments of public debts, SSS and GSIS pensions, and government counterpart-capital for foreign-aided projects. No scrutiny for a full third of the national budget if the country can afford the debt amortizations, if the pensions are enough, if the foreign projects are still viable. Legislators are more concerned about their pork barrel: P75 million a year per congressman, P150 million per senator. So long as they get it, they’ll pass every budget Malacañang goes through the motions to present to them.

As for the bureaucracy, the budgets for salaries and operations are there, too. So long as government employees get their monthly pay and office supplies with which to pretend to work, everything’s fine. After all, they don’t write policy. It’s the political leaders who should. And if the leaders are busy fighting each other for turf and power, why risk little lives taking on those 25,000 "enemies" that Adan is pointing at.

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