Pinoy Big Brother: Fort Bonifacio Edition

The government gained a lot of minus points once again yesterday. News broke out around three or four in the afternoon yesterday that a small Marines group headed by Colonel Ariel Querubin marched out of their barracks, to Fort Bonifacio to protest the relief of Major General Renato Miranda as Marines commandant. We saw familiar scenes as major networks covered the events- tanks rolling, heavily armed soldiers marching, military leaders standing their ground in their selected territories and politicians being bugged with curious questions by reporters.

The standoff (from all over the place) took place until almost midnight, where Allega, their new commandant, announced that everything is finally under control. It would have seemed really troublesome and chaotic for the whole country. But back in a remote Marines HQ in Lanao del Sur, the commander there said everything's fine and normal there, which, to me, was really hilarious.

(Oh, there's another scene that's really funny. In what seems to be the main office building of Fort Bonifacio, men of Querubin standing below what seems to be a sign that says "Karangalan", and Allega's men standing below what says "Katungkulan".)

Anyway, the minus ratings points did not come from this slightly disturbing mayhem. It's how the government reacted to this threat that had already been there for a looong long time in the first place.

As initial response to the threat, Secretary Mike Defensor, chief of staff of Malacañang, ordered (requested, he said) mediamen to stop covering the events, as this, he said, would just "worsen the situation, that would cause further problems to the country". What does this tell us, ladies and gentlemen? That Malacañang has adopted the practise of news blackout as a measure for preventing further damage? So it's already an accepted fact in Presiden't Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's office that concealing the truth from the public is standard operating procedure in times when the already damaged society is compromised.

As I heard this comment coming from the once honorable ex-congressman, I cannot help but think how the Spaniards kept the Filipino under 300+ years of slavery by means of keeping them ignorant of the big picture in the society. Keep them hungry, keep them fools to maintain power.

We were once proud of him as he stood with us in EDSA DOS against Erap. Now I'm ashamed of him. I say, to contain the damage, he should just keep his blabbermouth shut.



As Mike Defensor led the people to further distrust towards the government in his attempt to save the names of the ones he serve in Malacañang, Churches nationwide had been reading a Pastoral Letter during the sermons of the Holy Mass, urging people for restoration of moral values. You can seen the whole transcript in the website of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines by clicking on this link here. But let me just quote one statement that truly captures the events that happened yesterday.

"We [CBCP] recommend that the search for truth be relentlessly pursued through structures and processes mandated by law and our Constitution, such as the Ombudsman, the Commission on Human Rights, the Sandiganbayan, and Congress itself as well as other citizens groups. This requires that such bodies be led and run by credible people, persons of integrity and probity."

To be maintain in position, Malacañang has shut it's doors to moral values. Certainly, Malacañang and the Senate is not anymore considered credible at this point, as these two institutions have been taking part in public exhibitions of humiliating and dishonorable acts that the Masses led by the Church has seemingly considered hopeless cases. Change has to start to how they are assigned or elected in the first place. This just means this batch is already written as characters in one of the worst parts of Philippine history that we, the new generation of Filipino leaders, just have to condemn and forget if we are to move on to a different path to progress.

The unfortunate events that transpired yesterday just reiterates another of the obvious symptoms of the cancer of our society today. Aside from leading people to false beliefs, this government saves its ass through desperate compromises where the people, not their interests, are always sacrificed. It is obvious that close-door negotiations between Querubin and Allega (and who knows, people from the government, as well), that resulted to a "peaceful" end, may most likely be a result of a compromise that has to be kept secret from speculative minds of the few (including me, obviously. Teehee.) And oh boy, what conclusions did they make: They have convinced Querubin that Miranda was not relived, he RESIGNED! Are they telling us:

1. That Miranda is a retard? Who would resign from military office specially if he's already months from retirement? We all know the military has fat rewards to it's people who have devoted many fruitful years in service. Why retire now?

2. That proper allocation in the Armed Forces of the Philippines is ridiculously faulty? This, of course, is a big no-no. I've learned in highschool COCC that information allocation is one of the foundations of the success of a military institution. Imagine receiving "We won" in war instead of "Be alert". Obviously, if this is true, Querubin has received and readily supported a false claim, which, again, is a big no-no to a marine-man like him. Which brings us to...

3. That Querubin is a retard? Leading soldiers and tanks to Fort Bonifacio without any clear intentions and plans and claims to back it up. It's unbecoming for a soldier of his status, considering the quality of service that he has shown in the recent years.

4. That they're all bored so they stage this dud coup de 'etat all just for a short weekend entertainment. Of course, there's just little truth to this one. But it's for my own weekend entertainment, for sure.

For now, what's official and clear is that Querubin's men went all back to their posts, saying they are loyal to the constitution (but not necessarily to the government). What becomes of Querubin? Some say he's a jerk, others say he's a good man but he is just one of those soldiers who just can't do anything to change the system. What becomes of Allega, Mike Defensor, Gloria, Mike Arroyo, JV Ejercito (who the government points as the mastermind), Erap, Niño Mulach, Cory Aquino, the CBCP, etc.? They go back to their respective normal routines, good or bad. What becomes of the people? Still clueless of what really happened the day ago.

All things are back to normal today, Monday, they say. Oh well. If another one of these crappy news break out again, at least we now know the pattern and what to expect: Angry soldiers march away from their barracks, their leader make a public statement (or grumblings, as what happened yesterday), the government disclaims the accusations, negotiations happen, both parties go out with another public statement saying it's over, clueless soldiers go back to their barracks, then wait for another opportunity to have a few days vacation with the media later. Maybe news programs should do forecasts on these events, aside from weather and business forecasts. We always have the signs, and we're visited like how typhoons do almost every season anyway. Imagine Mike Enriquez.... "Narito po si Pia Guanio sa kanyang Coup Chikaminute!"

It's a cycle really, and the people are learning to either be passive towards it, or be angrier against the system. Yup. If you see through it on any angle, no good results come out of it. It just makes people look dumber.

Note: If the government will order my arrest because they think this actually incites sedition, then they are even dumber than I thought.