11/18/2011
How long has this Department
of Justice (DoJ)-Malacaang hold departure order (HDO) issue been
dragging? Two weeks? All the while, everybody knows its illegal and
unconstitutional. Even Malacaang and the DoJ, with their battery of
lawyers, would have had enough sense to know the same. As many sensible
watchers of PeNoy and Justice chief Leila de Limas HDO drama have
pointed out, the easy way to avoid the controversy is to just file one
of the numerous complaints that already have ample evidence to ensure a
prima facie case. The Hello Garci caper alone would have sufficed as the
tapes and the witness testimonies are already there.
Many have
also surmised that both PeNoy and De Lima (a former Gloria Arroyo
appointee) dont really want to keep the supposedly ailing Pampanga solon
in the country. So they had to set things in motion in such a way that
the Supreme Court (SC) would have to decide on the issue to get them off
the hook all, while enjoying the PR bonanza from appearing
anti-Gloria.
In turn, both GMA and her husband also get to reap
tons of sympathy from pro-Arroyo dumbos and not-so-dumbos alike,
including those whom she reportedly calls by cellphone to give the
invariable parting words, Just bill me. That goes for radio and other
media too, and its a real gold rush for many in this sector which is
actually one way of redistributing the couples alleged plunder.
In
fact, it may be a good reason for keeping the pressure on them much
longer so that the economic burden on the shoulders of many Filipinos
may somewhat be relieved. A trickle-down effect from this would be more
certain than if we were to allow them to stay in foreign lands like
Portugal or the Dominican Republic where these countries people would be
enjoying the alleged purloined wealth instead.
If GMA and FG were
to leave the country, even many in the military will be sad as
prospects of getting some share of this loot would disappear, as with
all hopes of a new coup.
But then, the husband-and-wife tandems
payback from the HDO imbroglio goes farther than just PR bonanzas. The
two also get a treasure trove of anti-GMA and FG government tirades and
threatening official pronouncements published in the newspapers and
broadcast in media, which can then be used as justification for a
political asylum plea.
Given the incendiary statements coming from
the Justice Secretary and Palace spokesmen, especially from BS Aquino
III himself, any foreign government will find easy cause to justify the
grant of safe haven to the poor and oppressed couple. Throw in that
picture of GMA with the Frankenstein contraption around her neck, and
what foreign government wouldnt sympathize?
Of course, these
foreigners dont know how GMA looked so much younger and perkier after
the last election; that is, until the avalanche of cases rushed in like a
tsunami wave which seemed to have tossed her hair about and weighed her
eyes and cheeks in scowl.
Aquino III doesnt want to really hold
GMA back from leaving the country and neither does De Lima, which is why
no formal charges have yet been filed. But the SC has no choice given
the constitutional provisions, as well as the opinion of highly
respected legal luminaries like Alan Paguia and less luminous ones like
the Jesuit Joaquin Bernas to allow the couples unrestricted travel
unless government files a case, despite the vain attempts by certain
quarters to link the prohibition to so-called national security.
Gloria
and Mike know that they ultimately will be able to travel, but only if
they get the SC decision before any case is filed by this government.
They know that they have little to fear from the officialdom, be it BS
Aquino III or De Lima or the SC. Still, the proverbial Murphys Law that
says what can go wrong will go wrong prompts them, despite their tacit
Aquinorroyo modus operandi, to want to get the SCs blessings fast.
Somebody
texted us, E + E = A or Elite plus Elite equals Accommodation. And
this is what was always in the cards. Ever since the designed-to-fail
Truth Commission was put forth, people were already provided a glimpse
into the real plans of the current dispensation from the very beginning.
The fact that, after 18 months, the Aquino government has not filed a
single case against GMA in court behooves even the doubters to
comprehend the basis for the theorized Aquinorroyo or Arroyoquino
alliance: That they are coddling each other as the ruling class,
including their patron, uncle Thomas of the US Embassy, is coddling
them.
However, accommodation can go only as far as the ruling
powers need the central circus attraction the lion, chimpanzee, hyena,
or dwarf. If greater roars from the mindless spectators were to become
much more pressing, then the center attraction would have to be caged,
even temporarily, to regale the crowds no end.
Those who refuse to
see this are but hopeless cases that are better left alone. They and
their dead brains can only impede the rest of us who will have to carry
on with the impending revolt against the entire system.
(Tune in
to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m. on
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archives)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL:
http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111118com6.html