Towards political stability or a Filipino Spring

Today is the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Corregidor off the Island of Corregidor. Few people remember this piece of history as it was one of the greatest maritime disasters before the Philippines was plunged into World War II. The SS Corregidor (it was once the HMS Egadine that fought in the Battle of Jutland) as a Compania Maritima passenger/cargo vessel which was the last ship out of Manila bringing passengers to Cebu and on to Australia. It was docked along the Pasig River (near Escolta) and it hit a mine off Corregidor and broke into two and sank rapidly.

I know this story by heart because my only uncle from the Avila side, Benjamin “Bing Bing” Avila the only brother of my Father Jesus, perished in that sinking. Tio Bing Bing was a star (Track & Field and Swimming) athlete in De La Salle University (a classmate of Mr. Marquitos Roces) who graduated and became the basketball coach of the University of Southern Philippines (USP). He brought along his team for a dual meet with USP and DLSU. When Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 8 (7 in Hawaii) the only steamer leaving for Cebu was the SS Corregidor.

I have never come across any report on this sinking from any Manila newspapers. But this story is featured in PT Boats.com as the PT Boats assigned in Corregidor were sent to rescue the survivors. These are the same PT-Boats that brought Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Cagayan de Oro to fly out of the country to Australia. Notable survivors in that sinking are Adelaida Javier and Celestino “Tinong” Tugot, a famous Golfer from Del Monte in Bukidnon.

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The die has been cast… this country is headed towards another era of darkness, probably worse than the Martial Law years because at least during Martial Law… we all know we had military rule in our hands. But under the Aquino Regime (I never thought that someday I would use regime to refer to the Aquino administration) Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III has rallied the Executive Branch to taunt the Judiciary with vicious and fiery words attacking the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who is a co-equal head of the Judiciary, he has caused a .9 in the Richter Scale magnitude earthquake to rattle the core of our democratic institutions.

When he rallied his allies in the Legislative, 188 of which signed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona, he has in effect started the fire that would burn the barn just to rid this country of a few rats. That’s if CJ Corona is guilty as charged. But then we know too well that an Impeachment Trial is not a court trial, but rather a numbers game. If P-Noy has the numbers in the Senate, then CJ Corona is doomed… then all hell would break loose as Mr. Aquino would now be on top of the three independent branches of the government, a dictatorship as CJ Corona said.

We know that self-serving politicians run the Executive branch and the Legislative branches of the government. Hence the only true non-political branch that we can count on is the Judiciary, which unfortunately the Executive branch long before Mr. Aquino took his oath of office already tried to undermine many Judges through favors and positions. The Legislative too continues to pound on the Judiciary’s independence when they scrutinized and even cut the budget of this co-equal branch of government.

In the last few days, I’ve been receiving a lot of e-mails and texts about the dangerous path that Mr. Aquino’s “Daang Matuwid” is taking. First we know too well that it has turned to the left. I can’t believe my eyes when I read that DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo literally scolded an Aquino ally, Vice-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City who has now joined the ranks of the National Democratic Front (NDF). Who else in Mindanao are playing patsy with the Communists? At least in Cebu, we are proudly free from Communism’s ugly clutches.

But the impeachment complaint against CJ Corona filed by Mr. Aquino’s allies in Congress (yes Virginia, this so-called co-equal independent branch of the government is now subservient to the whims and caprices of Mr. Aquino) has now allowed the Daan Matuwid to turn further 180 degrees back to where we were before… uncannily not much different from the dark days of Martial Law.

The Christmas break gives a chance for our Senators to ponder with their conscience and show to the nation what stuff they are made of… whether they are nothing but the common stereo-typed ugly politicians who only look to their own selfish interests… or are they the statesmen and women that the Filipino needs at this crucial time in Philippine history. Their decision could lead to political stability or worse, a Filipino Spring for 2012!

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