GMA’s Political Comeback as Speaker; A bold pole-vaulting move towards FederalismThe election of GMA as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives the other day snatched the headlines which the Anti Duterte groups were prepared to plaster on TVs and mainstream broadsheets with their anti-government attacks and sentiments post the 3rd SONA of the President. To the yellows and the reds as well as their minions, particularly those coming from the church, this is one scary development which should have not happened and they readily blamed Duterte for causing this to transpire. Of course, out of desperation, Digong’s detractors always put the blame on him on anything detrimental to their own interests, with this one particularly threatening to strike right through their heart like a dagger coming from a person crying for vengeance with gnashing teeth.
GMA’s ascension to the Speakership was met with almost no resistance at all with a few no- votes from the Makabayan block whose explanations on their position were even declared out of order. Ouch! And where were the noisy Magnificent 7 of the Liberal Party? We saw them being shoved aside like hopeless idiots crying in the corner of the session hall being treated by the majority as “The Insignificant Hobbits” waiting to be noticed and laughed at. So if there is anyone to blame why GMA became the Speaker, it is not Duterte but his detractors, the yellows, the reds and all anti Dutertards for that matter, who can only blame themselves. We all know that the politics in Congress is being played with numbers. Obviously, GMA had the overwhelming number (nearly 200) of congressmen supporting her bid for the Speakership. The yellows and the reds barely have a dozen. In politics, if you don’t have the number, the implication is, nobody believes in you and ergo, you are not in the position to dictate how powers in congress are supposed to be used. The most that you can do is bark! bark! bark! And that’s what the yellows and the reds are doing now. But why are they in such miserable political quagmire?
When the yellows were in power, they connived with the reds in slaying GMAs political career to the extent of desecrating her human rights. They filed plunder cases against her, had her barred from traveling abroad for medical reasons in grave violation of her constitutional right, placed her in hospital and then house arrest for 5 years and denied her access of anything notwithstanding her election as congresswoman and most of all, she was ridiculed and pilloried before the public, painted her image as the epitome of corruption in the government service during her stint as President of the Republic based on their own propaganda narratives. And worst, they even ignored the call issued by the UN to release her as her human rights were gravely violated and they instead continued bludgeoning here mercilessly like a sadist whose maniacal thirst for her blood is unquenchable. All these pain she endured under the yellow’s hands and stood up to it and eventually emerged victorious. Recently, the Sandiganbayan acquitted her from all her plunder cases and no less than the Supreme Court declared that what then Sec. De Lima did to her (arresting her at the airport without a warrant and barring her from leaving for medical reasons sans any court order) was unconstitutional.
Ironically, those responsible in maligning her are now accused of the same abuses, corruption and plunder, and in fact, double the level than those they once threw at GMA’s face. De Lima is now in jail on drug related cases. PNoy and his former Cabinet members will soon face plunder cases aside from the ones (corruption) currently they are already facing once Ombudsman Morales steps down today. And seeing them all languish in jail is now everyone’s prayer especially those they have unjustly and inhumanely treated while in power. But the difference between the narratives on GMA and the yellows is that the former’s political destruction was done through deceit, fabrication, and a yellow-instigated hyped public clamor in condemning her. In the case of the yellows, it’s the people’s miserable situation, discontent and feeling of disgust at how the yellows scandalously run the government while systematically plundering the coffers of the country and sadistically persecuting their political opponents which prompted them to motu propio end their sufferings by unceremoniously ousting the yellows from power via a deafening voice of condemnation as manifested on the election results in 2016 which annihilated the yellows and their minions politically. Indeed, what goes around comes around. Yes folks, Karma is a bitch and we now have a “hobbit butcher” in the House of Representatives in possession of a huge axe specifically designed to whack the yellow asses in the guillotine of political oblivion.
Exacting revenge is GMA’s business and for the yellows to deal and contend with. And this explains why they are dismayed at her political come back. They are afraid that henceforth, series of house committee hearings investigating corruptions during the previous administration will be done using the once much abused phrase during the Aquino regime “in aid of legislation”, a euphemism of political persecution. But I trust that if the yellows did it savagely to her, GMA will never stoop down to that level. She will do it of course, “with finesse”. Sanamagan!
But more than the vengeance issue, GMA’s leadership in the house can be seen as one bold move in paving the way for the country’s smooth journey towards federalism, thus shoving aside Alvarez, the loose cannon threatening to mess up that journey. We now have the Senate under the leadership of Senator Sotto who is from Manila supporting the legislative agenda of Duterte and the Speaker of the house coming from the balance Luzon areas who is a PDP Laban member. This now precludes speculation that Federalism is only designed to serve the interest of Mindanao. With the draft federal constitution now in the hands of congress, the debate on the matter will now shift to more substantives issues, e.g. the number of federal states which we hope to be reduced to only five states or even the form of government to be adopted, be it parliamentary or Presidential federal form. We trust our representatives to craft something which would serve best the country’s interest and the well-being of the Filipino people.
As expected, Anti Dutertards have positioned themselves against the shift to Federalism for the sheer reason that it is being pushed by Duterte. So anything Duterte does, they are against regardless of the benefits it may generate to the people. These are pure Anti Dutertards by reason of either stupidity or idiocy nothing less than either of the words. How can they convince people on their position if they advance arguments like that of VP Robredo’s “if Federalism is the answer, what is the question (with smile and blinking eye); or the senile argument of Ex CJ Davide’s “Federalism is anti-poor” just because he said so without presenting any argument to support his idiotic declaration; or that of Ex CJ Sereno’s “Federalism is a prelude to martial law” perhaps as she can see in her “bolang kristal” or on her voodoo magic; or that of Trillanes’ argument against 2 taxes under Federalism which shows his ignorance of the fact that even under the current unitary system, the same is already done as both LGU and National government have already imposed taxes. I do not wish to include more preposterous arguments particularly those coming from the reds as this piece might smell filthy as everything they throw to the public are purely rubbish propaganda.
The most ridiculous argument which the Anti Dutertards posited on federalism is the result of the surveys indicating the lukewarm support of the people on the shift to federal form of government, ergo, the government should stop from pursuing it. This is why I love laughing at the logic of these people. It’s defiant to any norms, level of intelligence and reason, simply put, engot! How can you use and indicative sentiment from a survey conducted to only 1,300 people as basis to decide on a matter that will affect the lives of more than 100 Million people? - Sanamagan! That is the very reason why the draft new federal constitution will be presented to the people on a plebiscite for them to decide by themselves and not through their representatives on whether or not the Filipino people will embrace a Federal system of government. This is one of the campaign promises of Duterte during the last Presidential election and the fact that the people voted for him simply presupposes that mandate for Digong to pursue with that promise otherwise, his inaction thereon will be deemed a betrayal of the people’s trust.
Of course, it is expected that at this juncture, the level of consciousness among the people is still very low insofar as federalism is concerned. But once the draft constitution is finally out after Congress convenes into a constituent assembly, the entire government machinery will swoop down to the level of the barangays to educate the people about the new constitution. This will be complemented by the efforts of the politicians under the leadership of GMA (which explains why she is now the Speaker for the influence she wields over politicians) to launch a vigorous campaign for yes vote in the plebiscite from congressmen all the way down to the municipal mayors and councilors. And more importantly, when Digong, with his trust and approval rating of 88 percent will start visiting the regions and the people in the countryside, wooing them for their support to the new constitution, only a miracle can prevent Federalism from happening in this country.
To the yellows and the reds, look at your strength. You only managed to muster a combined forces of 30K warm bodies (bloated number in fact) during the last SONA of PRRD which is supposed to be an opportune time to show your real number and strength. But what was supposed to be an explosive show of force turned out to be a dud. We saw a dwindling number of people supporting your cause against the government. Your two million computer generated trolls operating in the social media, sadly, cannot vote against federalism, but the warm bodies of DDS deployed in every corner of the world can. This should give you an indication on the futility of your destabilizing efforts.
But just to tickle your ass a bit so we can see an autistic smile (we haven’t seen for sometime now) on your idiotic face, what if by twist of luck, the plebiscite for Federalism does not push through in 2019 elections? Will it improve your lot? Well, Digong will still remain President until 2022 and with his continued soaring trust rating in contrast to your dwindling numbers and coupled by the persistent clamor of the public, it will surely be included in the elections in 2022. By then, he might change his mind and will agree to the call for him to become the Transition President. Isn’t this just prolonging your agony and double the level of pain you have to endure?
Or let’s say, he is generous enough to keep his word and will retire for good post 2022 elections. It is with certainty that with almost 90 percent of the people trusting him and looking up to him with respect, they will certainly support anyone he will anoint as his successor. What if he anoints BBM? Or GMA under the new constitution? Or the more feasible scenario which I love to imagine – Sarah Duterte as his successor? Will this not make you scream under an excruciating pain?
The point I am making here is that in the worst case scenario that one can think of, Anti Dutertards are still at the losing end. And the reason is simple – they don’t have the number needed to turn the tide against the administration, much less to grab power again. And at the rate things are going, they are gradually losing stream with their dwindling numbers and most likely, resources too. Of course, you can never get the support of the people by destabilizing the government they helped establish. The more you attack it, the more you alienate yourself from the people who support it. You can never convince them to believe you when you accuse this government of being corrupt, plunderer, much less murderer of its own people when you yourselves have been convicted of committing the same horrendous atrocities when you were in power. It is called moral ascendancy which, in this whole story, you obviously do not have.
So the yellows and the reds will have to go back to square 1 and come up with a strategy on how to improve your numbers to put up a good and decent fight. Or better yet, bury your colors and come up with a new one which doesn’t have the stigma of that filthy yellow and red which may not be forgotten in this generation. Go for the image of the real opposition and offer alternative programs for the people to appreciate better than what Duterte is doing. After all, we need the real opposition to thrive and hold this government in constant check for better governance in a democratic society such as ours. But oppositionists are not destabilizers. The former operates in parallel with the established government as a partner in nation building albeit critical in some respects while the latter is there as a destructive force motivated by greed and lust for power.
For the real oppositionists, it is high time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Cleanse your ranks and you might win some of us to your side. For the destabilizers, you have been launching your demonic machinations for the last 2 years with no success and there is no indication whatsoever that very soon, you will see even a ray of light at the end of the dungeon where you are in right now. Please stay where you are and keep safe bearing in mind that under the Duterte government, one’s right to be perpetually stupid and idiot is fully respected. – Jun Avelino
(Please share if you like – Jun Avelino)
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