EDITORIAL - Never again

Today is the 34th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by then president-turned-dictator Ferdinand Marcos. But with more than half the population under 25 years of age, the ravages of that regime are as remote as, say, the non-planet Pluto.

It is ironically auspicious, therefore, that we should be reminded of that dark spot in our history by developments happening just a few hundred kilometers away in the neighboring country of Thailand.

Late Tuesday, the Thai military mounted a coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was then in New York and was scheduled to deliver a speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

Thaksin was actually in the eye of a political storm in his country for months, caught in a swirl of serious allegations including corruption. He was not exactly very well loved by the Thais. He was definitely not loved by Filipinos.

Filipinos to this day bristle at the thought of Thaksin branding us cheats when we hosted the Southeast Asian Games. Everytime a Thai athlete would lose to a Filipino, Thaksin would show up at the balcony of the Thai government house in Bangkok and flash the finger at Manila.

The temptation is therefore great to jump up, rejoice and exclaim good riddance. But no matter how we disdain the mere countenance of Thaksin, he is still that country's duly-elected leader and any extrajudicial means to oust even an unpopular leader is no cause for celebration.

In fact the coup that ousted him, and the subsequent declaration of martial law by the military, is something to mourn about even in this country ... especially by this country, on this very day.

Beyond the mourning, we also need to be vigilant. For there are elements in the armed services in this country who are similarly disposed to take extrajudicial means to grab power. Never again should we submit to military rule, under whatever pretext it is imposed.