Another cheap Arroyo gimmick

She swore that she would crush the Communists and the Abu Sayyaf. But they are very much around, made stronger by her repressive and oppressive regime.

Now Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) attempts a cheap sideshow by trying to project grit and resolve in beating the smuggling of luxury cars by literally crushing them. The lame rationale offered for resorting to crushing is to prevent the smugglers from buying back the hot luxury cars.

Even when undertaking such a cheap gimmick, the Arroyo regime cannot live up to its own billing. Arroyo Presidential Management Staff Chief Cerge Remonde was reported to have announced that P300 million worth of hot luxury cars that were smuggled through the Subic Free Port will be crushed. Among the items marked for destruction were pricey luxury cars including a Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche.

But as it turned out, the supposedly grand luxury car-crushing extravaganza had managed to destroy a mere token P30 million worth, per Finance Secretary Gary Teves’ own estimate. Conspicuously absent from the demolition line were the highly priced prestige vehicles — the Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche. 

The harebrained ploy did spur a media feeding frenzy alright. It even qualified as news on CNN in its August 17 newscast. But reactions and feedback from media commentators and political leaders generated more criticisms than praise. 

The wrecking exhibition made Madame Arroyo look like a schoolmarm gone berserk over her failure to discipline her pupils. Contrary to what Palace image makers were attempting to project — the messy and senseless destruction of valuable property clearly emphasizes the government’s utter failure in enforcing applicable taxes on luxury goods. 

Critics are right in saying that the P30 million would have been put to good use had the vehicles been auctioned instead and proceeds donated to Gawad Kalinga (GK). A GK Village dubbed LUXURY CAR SMUGGLERS GK VILLAGE would have made a better and enduring news copy and generate goodwill more than a cheap, one-off car-smashing circus. Given to GK, the amount would have benefited more than 450 impoverished families.

The P30 million could have gone a long way in assisting families badly affected by the recent typhoons, landslides and floods. Madame Arroyo could have even used it to start a fund for the families of soldiers killed in the current Mindanao conflict. Instead the simple-minded idea had all but underscored the Arroyo regime’s insincerity and flair for show.

Other Arroyo gimmicks

Communist rebellion can only be quelled if government successfully reverses the socio-economic conditions that breed insurgency. Instead of doing that, the Arroyo regime created a climate of open season for above ground political activists resulting in the murder of over 800 unarmed non-combatants.

Research into foreign and local experience in quelling insurgency will show that political approaches bring positive results while bloody murder merely encourages more violence. The problems of hunger, lack of decent domicile, health services and social justice that combine to effectively promote homegrown insurgencies cannot and will not be solved by cold blooded murder.

Cold blooded murder of unarmed non-combatants merely adds more anger and hate to fuel and intensify insurgency. The Count of Monte Cristo may be a classic fiction novel but vengeance, the theme of the Dumas novel, has long been proved as a powerful engine for upheaval and bloody reprisal.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) who was a partner in diffusing the Communist insurgency that reached its peak during the last few months of the Marcos regime is Arroyo’s political ally. But he condemns these senseless murders. He reiterated during our last conversation that military solutions are the least effective means to stop an insurgency.

FVR combined military operations with the late Local Government Secretary Jaime Ferrer in 1987 to neutralize the Communist insurgency that was then threatening to attain a stalemate stage. Ferrer’s local government confidence building teams were the frontliners in the anti-insurgency campaign. FVR’s troops merely secured the political fronts from the threatening presence of the NPA, the Communist armed group.

A few months ago, the Arroyo regime boasted that they have finally crushed the dreaded Abu Sayyaf which caused so much misery and fear here and aboard. Top Abu Sayyaf leaders were said to have been killed.

Over the past five weeks, we have seen a lot of atrocities being attributed to the Abu Sayyaf — adding another lie to the long list of lies of the Arroyo regime. In the recent offensives in Sulu, Basilan and Jolo, the AFP claimed that their large troop deployment was up against 400 Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

For a bandit group that was supposed to have been crushed, this Abu Sayyaf has tremendous recovery power. At 400, we never heard of them numbering that many. With the Army Headquarters (HQ) now moved to the combat zone to confront them — they appear more as a real armed force to reckon with and not just a bandit group.

Come to think of it, the only successful crushing operation GMA has accomplished is the crushing of the institutions of our malfunctioning democracy.  

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Chair Wrecker email and website: [email protected] and www.chairwrecker.com