Remembering the Tiananmen Square incident

It was 30 years ago today on June 4, 1989 when the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacre happened in Beijing. I still remember it quite vividly because I was one of the five Filipino journalists invited by the All China Journalist Association to visit Beijing supposedly by June. However, that trip did not materialize because of the trouble happening in Tiananmen Square by the Pro-Democracy movement who put up an effigy of the Statue of the Liberty.

Then the next day, the Chinese military cracked down on this protest and I understand that many protestors were killed or massacred and we saw that famous photo of a protester blocking and stopping Chinese tanks. No one has heard from him since, we can only presume that he was summarily executed.

Then nearly two months later, we were suddenly called that our invitation to Beijing was okay and we left for Beijing, all five of us, I was with Conrad Banal, Nona Ocampo (the daughter of Satur), Freddie Velasco, and another fellow whose name I already forgot. I was the only Cebuano in the group and we stayed in China visiting many places for a month.

Yes, Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping was stern with the pro-democracy protesters, but then this lead to genuine reforms in China where private ownership of land and property was restored. This was no longer a communist style of reform and it has indeed transformed China to what it is today. So 30 years later, it is truly a time for reflection whether China should be a democratic nation or not. But for as long as the Communist Party and its Central Political Bureau or the Politburo is still in control of the Chinese government, China will never be a democracy.

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I read an article written by Ramon Tulfo that we should expect anytime soon a massive shakeup in the Duterte administration. Tulfo was apparently with the president in Tokyo last week. According to him, during the dinner, he said that the next possible Speaker was clearly planned by the arrangement of guests at the presidential table. Then he mentioned that the president told him of the possibility of disbanding the Philippine National Police and reviving the Philippine Constabulary but admitted that this would mean changing the Constitution. He also wrote that President Duterte was pushing both the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass a law providing for a constitutional convention to amend the present charter. The major agenda of the proposed constitutional convention or assembly would be changing the form of government to federalism.

He added that under the proposed federal setup, each region in the country would be autonomous with a central governing authority to be headed by the president or prime minister. That under the proposed federalism, there would be a unicameral legislature, meaning only one legislative body. In short, the Senate would be scrapped. If you ask me, federalism can promote genuine changes in this country and apparently the president has looked into the possibility of changing our presidential system into a parliamentary system.

Of course, while in Tokyo, Pres. Duterte announced that he was already fed up with Smartmatic and wanted the Comelec to replace it. Come now, we have been saying this since the first automated elections during the term of former president Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III. Back then, many of us thought that Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro won that presidential race. Unfortunately, no one called for an investigation of the electoral process despite the articles we wrote. Our best proof of Smartmatic’s cheating was in the town of Compostela, which shocked me that the cheating was even proven by Judge Estela Cinco who ordered the ballot boxes to be opened. But then no one cared despite our beliefs that the election in a democratic state is a sacred process.

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I was out of the country when we learned that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was defeated by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella. Then opening the old newspapers I noticed a double page advertisement by Mayor Osmeña detailing what he believed was wrong with the SM sale in SRP, and he asked the people to decide.

Allow me to say this; first of all, the courts have already decided this case whether he likes it or not; secondly, the Cebuano voters have decided to retire Mayor Osmeña in the last elections…so in a way, they have already decided on all matters in and out of the court.