Government’s worst enemy

In the past months Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and her government have had harsh words for their detractors. She and her allies call those, who are criticizing her and are asking her to step down, destabilizers, hypocrites, showoffs, self-serving, violators of law and order, among other similar pejorative labels. At the end of the day, however, these labels backfire because they perfectly describe the dark side of the GMA government.

GMA et al criticize those who do not respect her "calibrated pre-emptive response" or CPR policy as having no respect for law and order. However, such a charge perfectly describes GMA’s own problem with law and order. There are a number of impeachable complaints against her violations of law and order, complaints which were quashed by GMA’s allies in the House of Representatives. Respect for law and order are not encouraged when those who should be reinforcing it, are the ones using their political power to ignore it.

Then there is the case of GMA’s CPR policy. Here is an executive policy which pretends to be a law when in fact it violates the constitutional rights of citizens to assemble freely and peacefully and seek redress of grievances from government. In the words of the Constitution, Article III, Section 4: "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances." Yet when citizens peacefully march to the streets to question this repression of their constitutional right, then they are violently met by GMA’s police and accused of creating disorder and chaos in society.

According to GMA and her allies, not only do all these street rallies and protests disturb law and order, those that engage in them are "destabilizers". But who is who? Is the citizen peacefully seeking redress of grievances the destabilizers? Or is it the government which conducts many questionable programs and projects and then passes such onerous policies like the CPR and Executive Order 464 to prevent the truth from coming out? Using water cannons against bishops, a former Vice-President, an incumbent Senator, priests, nuns, and others has only shocked world opinion against the repressive measures of government against its own citizens. Such unacceptable bravado has destabilized support for the country internally and globally.

GMA and her allies accuse their critics of promoting their own selfish interests at the expense of the nation at large. Such an accusation is not only self-serving. In this case, it incriminates the very person saying it. GMA has earned the reputation of being a master in self-serving politics at its worst. She has gained the seedy reputation of being the worst patronage politician or a "transactional president" this country has ever seen. According to some members of the Hyatt 10, she has equated her survival with the survival of the Philippine state. This places her directly in the dubious company of Louis XIV of France who once famously claimed, "The State is me!".

GMA and her spin doctors are suffering from a psychological "illness" where whatever bad or evil one says of others is a perfect description of oneself. In psychology this condition is called "psychological projection". One projects unto others the worst traits that are found in oneself. This psychological condition afflicts everyone, whether they be government officials, business people, or activists. In this instance, however, it is visible with glaring fullness in the GMA administration. The only cure is self-knowledge and humility, qualities lacking in the GMA administration.

The knowledge of this psychological reality is not new. It has been well understood in many civilizations long past. In the New Testament, for example, there is a powerful statement by Christ that is appropriate to the present situation.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).

So Filipinos should not be taken aback when government uses strong language to try to cut down its critics. Rather they should use the occasion to see how the government is judging and incriminating itself, thereby accelerating its own demise. For in moments like these, government has found and revealed its worst enemy, ITSELF.

The author is the spokesman and co-convenor of People's Assembly for Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy (PAGASA) and was one of the recipients in 2003 of the Right Livelihood Awards, also called The Alternative Nobel Prize in Sweden.

E-mail: [email protected]