Gloria Labandera’s Mopping Up Operations

Written on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm | by Patricio Mangubat

For Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, every destabilization attempt is an opportunity for reconsolidation. It affords her the chance to re-assess the political landscape and use her enormous powers to court the powerful neutrals, which the opposition, until now, has failed to get on their side.

The last three failed attempts clearly show her extreme resiliency against political attacks. It allowed her to strengthen her political mass base while weakening others. The fact that she survives every attempt validates the view that her apparent “weakness” is just a mirage and a subterfuge to expose covert forces wanting her head.

Three destabilization attempts after, and we see Gloria taking the lead in marginalizing Lakas, getting a truce from anti-Gloria forces especially the Church, convincing traditional politicians to go slow on her (with a promise that they’ll get what they want anyway in 2010) and marshalling government resources for some propaganda “ganda” points. Her main problem is not having control of the State. Her control is complete. Gloria’s challenge is how to increase those popularity ratings, which is easy to do, considering that we already have a compromised mainstream media.

If someone from the other fence wants her out, the only means possible is a coup. There’s no other effective way than this. Constitutional options like impeachment, Gandhian type of revolutions, prayer rallies and Senate probes have been proven to be dismal failures.

This leads us to that penultimate question—is a coup still possible, given that Gloria is more powerful now than before? To answer that, we need to answer these four basic questions:

  1. Do we have a solid military organization that will not just show up in any hotel and brandish arms but will go all out and charge the Bastille, whatever happens?
  2. Do we have a united civilian front that has the support of anti-Gloria corporations that will fund thousands of people marching towards the Bastille and demand her head?
  3. Do we have international support for such a drastic undertaking?
  4. Do we have a ready council of responsible and nationalist minded people who have the will to impose punishment against Gloria and marginalize or even erase her counter-revolutionary forces from our political history?

I pose these questions to every one who hates Gloria’s guts. I pose these to the Lopezes who are now being threatened with a takeover. I give these questions to Lakas stalwarts, especially FVR and JDV who are now marginalized. And I pose these questions to every civic-minded Pinoy out there who believed in JLo and holds the belief that this government needs to go.

If the answer is no, and all sights lead to 2010, then, we need to be ready for an extended Gloria power trip.

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About The Author: Patricio Mangubat is a pseudonym. It means "country fight". Yet, the one behind this name is real. He can be briefly described as a long-time activist as well as a communication strategist. He blogs at The New Philippine Revolution.

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