EDITORIAL – Enemies of the state

There is no argument that the following questions are valid and worth asking: Is the Arroyo Administration not confusing " enemies of the state " with its own political adversaries? And is it not confusing the " state " with the Arroyo presidency?

The validity, however, suffices only as far as semantics would allow. Otherwise, for all intents and purposes, her political enemies are in fact also the enemies of the state and that, as far as that reality goes, the presidency may as well be the state.

Listen. Many, if not most, of the political adversaries of President Arroyo are the same ones who have risen up against her predecessors. Go call the roll. Go check the faces. From Cory Aquino to Fidel Ramos to Joseph Estrada, the same personalities, the same organizations.

The shortcomings of whoever is the sitting president are but convenient excuses to call for the downfall of the government, itself invariably accused of being an American stooge state. It is the state then, as it is, that is the real target.

Except for certain bills of particulars, which must be essentially unique to a sitting president, the verbal composition of the political harangue has never changed significantly as to give even a semblance of difference.

When Aquino was president, the cry was " Cory tuta ng Kano. " When Ramos was president, the slogan became " Ramos-US dictatorship. When Estrada was in Malacañang, the chant shifted to " US-Estrada regime. " Nothing changed when Arroyo came.

In other words, the enemies of the state do not care who is sitting as president. The nomenclature is meant only to give a face to the target. The real target which must be brought down by any means at whatever cost is the state itself.

Some say coup jitters are born of political paranoia. Be that as it may, there is ample evidence to make such jitters reasonable. Ever since the presidency of Aquino, a coup has become a pesky reality in the Philippines.

Worse, Filipinos restyled coups into a variety of modes such that it is no longer necessary for one to conform to the standard definition of a swift decisive action. A coup here can be a creeping one. Or instead of grabbing power, it can come as a withdrawal of support.

Whatever the case, it is the state that is coming under seige and the institution of the presidency that is being undermined. How ironic that only a few people can conspire to remove a president when it even takes a tedious process of recall to remove a small town mayor.