Rallies create only noise, action gives a leader credibility

Of course yesterday’s rally at the Luneta was – as expected and announced – a big success. I won’t even try to guesstimate how many people really attended that huge gathering – certainly it was larger than the Opposition-cum-Leftist rally in Makati Wednesday night.

The Makati demonstration had personalities who hated each other "uniting" against somebody they hated more, GMA, and whom they want to topple – each for their own reasons. Indeed, some were even sincere.

The Makati rally was festooned with red banners and constituted a full-court press by the radical Left which is obviously determined to dethrone La Presidenta, allying themselves with the dirty Capitalists and Clerico-Fascists (an old term) whom they detest. Then there were the Erap pangkat and his Mahirap, with his millionaire kids spouting proletarian rhetoric. Naturally, there was hakot, too.

Last night’s… uh, "Prayer Rally for Peace and Unity" was, pardon me for saying it, not much better, although the Leftwing was notably absent. Naturally, the mayors and Local Government Unit leaders, from Barangay captains to Kabataang Barangay, school kids, and "delegations" from various municipalities and the provinces (identified as such so as to establish their "loyalty"), blanketed the entire area from the Quirino Grandstand to as far as the eye could see with warm bodies. Was there hakot? Sure. The buses and public utility vehicles which trucked the "enthusiastic" demonstrators in were not harassed or halted by the police, even those "off line".

You have to hand it to the Mayors, from Manila’s energetic Lito Atienza to Quezon City’s S.B. (Sonny Belmonte, who else?). They’ve got drawing power and efficient organizational ability. Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando – voted in an earlier survey the most credible and admired member of the Cabinet (none of the defecting "Hyatt 10" from Purisima to "Sanctisima" rated higher) was there.

It must be said that yesterday’s message was more subtle. The organizers, to contrast their undertaking from the Opposition and Red front organizations whose posters, streamers, and banners proclaimed "GMA Resign" and whose rhetoric – with the notable exception of Susan Roces (Mrs. Poe) – spewed hatred of La Glorietta, camouflaged their gathering as a "prayer rally", and called for "peace and unity", their streamers stressing, "The Rule of Law." Pro-GMA placards and banners were deliberately absent, but the theme of the rallyists and their leadership was evident: GMA must stay, and can be ousted only through "impeachment" or other forms of due process.

This message, indeed, is correct, shorn of the hype and hip-hip-hurrah. We must follow the rule of law. Those who seek to eject her, as well as those who want to defend her, must do so by legal and Constitutional means. No bullying by Cabinet "defectors", no shouting her down by political foes and wannabes, no hectoring by a hostile (or ambitious) media.

* * *

That having been said, it’s also time for a Truth Commission to be established and put to work to get to the… well, truth about the May 2004 elections.

Just after her disastrous radio-television quasi-confession last June 27, I wrote in this corner that the Chief Executive should have capped her "sorry" and "lapse in judgment" spiel with the announcement of the tough action she intended to take to redress and clarify the situation, like the convening of a Truth Commission.

Last Sunday, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, while giving GMA a reprieve in the form of the assertion that the bishops were not asking for her "resignation", warned La Presidenta to clarify things, and bring out what really happened in the May elections and subsequent canvass last year by, among other measures subjecting the subject to the scrutiny of a Truth Commission. This has been urged by business and other sectors.

It’s clear that an "Impeachment" process is in the works. Congress, however, will have to kick this off by establishing its new impeachment rules when it convenes on July 25 – the opening day traditionally initiated by a Presidential "State of the Nation Address" (SONA). The following day, when our solons actually resume "business," will be time enough for them to discuss the rules.

Will La Gloria be ejected by "impeachment", or will her supporters and loyalists in the legislature vindicate her – and save her Presidency? Will the "truth", more importantly, uphold her?

Presumably, the ruling party and their allies have the numbers in the Senate, but look at what happened to ex-President Erap Estrada. There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip, even though, at this stage there’s no second envelope, not even a first one. Those "Hello Garci" cellphone tapes are illegal, even though they’re believed by many.

GMA, however, has weathered the First Storm, with the Cabinet "defectors" and their cohorts having miserably failed to stampede her into resignation, or Tita Cory C. Aquino having failed to scold her into quitting, or whip up popular indignation against La Gloria. Many wish, including this writer, that former Presidents – whether Cory or Fidel V. R. – would have the decency and delicadeza not to meddle in the affairs of currently serving Presidents. Both of them had their term at the helm of State, a chance to make this nation good and great – or fail to do so. Their successor must have the opportunity to succeed or make a bollocks of it, without past Presidents sticking their noses and their sermons in. And this includes Erap-Baby, who monitored yesterday evening’s demonstration on TV in his "prison" rest house, and exclaimed on the phone that the rally was not nakakatakot (fearsome or awesome, but "hakot-hakot" (i.e. "rent-a-crowd" demonstrators being bussed in).

The former President also roundly denied Chavit Singson’s recording of him giving nasty instructions to Generals Nazareno and Lacson regarding GMA – declaring it was "spliced". In the battle of tapes, nobody knows who’s coming or going these days, and what tapes are true or false, or "spliced".

Our economy and our country itself have been badly wounded by the turmoil, tumult, and the controversy – and the muttered mumblings of a possible "coup", or other means of overthrow. I’ve already said that the President, whatever her faults and alleged sins, must stand fast. I’ve already stated my piece: she must not resign.

The bishops, although I remain against Church interference in political life and worldly matters, issued an excellent, well-conceived and prayerfully eloquent pastoral statement which everyone, from GMA herself and all of us would do well to heed. That we must follow Constitutional process, and eschew methods that reek of force, including violent protest and military mutiny. For that matter, His Eminence, Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales of Manila, has taken a moderate but firm stand on the issue – for which he must be saluted.

These are troubled times. We must stand firm as a nation. Adversity may unman us – or it can make us strong.

* * *

Selfishly obsessed with our own troubles here at home, we’ve said not a word about the horrible bombings in the London "tube" and the blowing up of a London bus last July 7, or Thursday last week. Having been in Madrid during the bombings of trains approaching the El Atocha station in which hundreds died and more than a thousand were cruelly wounded and crippled, I was shocked but not surprised by the fact that Muslim extremists had struck once again – targetting innocent civilians. Terrorists always target civilians and strike where least expected, which does not prevent mankind from being indignant – and feeling helpless.

This time, four young British Muslims, of Pakistani origin (not Moroccan) were the suicide-bombers who triggered off explosions deep underground aboard London transport trains, killing more than 50 commuters and wounding hundreds. They’re still trying to dig up the last remaining corpses from the twisted rubble and collapsed debris of their underground "grave". A final bomber, boarding a London bus – and perhaps running late for his own "underground" assignment – detonated his bomb on the bus, blowing several passengers to kingdom come, and splattering blood and brains, including his own, on nearby building facades. Those Islamic fanatics had come from quiet neighborhoods in Leeds, but perhaps been inflamed by extremist preachings in their local mosque.

British police and intelligence, with admirable dispatch identified the bombers, tracked down their origins, followed their spoor to other suspects, and there was even a mysterious arrest o a 33-year old Egyptian chemist in Cairo who had obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from Leeds University. Was he linked to the blasts?

Britain’s 1.8 million Muslims (in a nation of 58 million Britons) are now in a stage of anxiety, denial and unease. How could this happen, many ask, including many Muslim "moderates". If you’ll recall, 14 of the 19 hijackers who rammed airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington were young Muslims from Saudi Arabia – but in Riyadh and Jeddah, some officials told me they had just been crazy or foolish youths, and what they did had nothing to do with Islam. Oh well.

What we must take note of was the British reaction. Londoners were going about their business the following day. You know, that good old British phlegm. In World War II, more than 20,000 Londoners died in Hitler’s Blitz on their city, or from the V-2 and other rockets the Germans sent to pulverize entire neighborhoods subsequently.

Just as Winston Churchill did during those days, England’s "Finest Hour", Prime Minister Tony Blair showed his mettle – and his eloquence. "When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated . . when they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided, and our resolve will hold firm." That’s what Blair asserted.

And the Brits have responded. In this hour, Blair’s words are worth pondering – and the London citizens’ grit worth emulating.

During World War II, there was a popular song, a song of defiance and hope, which went: "There will always be an England." You bet.