People power always the ultimate option

From JB Baylon:

I am sure I didn’t understand her right, but President Cory Aquino is reported to have said that "People Power" is not or no longer appropriate given the specific circumstances our society is laboring under.

The remark was said to have been made by "Tita" Cory when she was asked about the current crisis. "Tita" Cory was said to have reiterated her appeal to GMA and Noli to vacate their offices in order that the Senate President could succeed as caretaker and new elections be held. In Cory’s eyes, fresh elections are the only solution to the crisis of legitimacy that continues to hound the presidency of GMA, a presidency she, Cory, helped put in place.

More interestingly, the former president was reported to have downplayed the idea of a "people power" movement similar to what catapulted her into office nearly 20 years ago to this day, as well as Mrs. Arroyo a little over five years ago.

I agree with "Tita" Cory that the issue of this president’s legitimacy can only be addressed by new elections. Elections are the primary constitutional manner through which a leader is legitimized.

But I disagree with "Tita" Cory if in fact she characterized "people power" as inappropriate, citing a different set of conditions or circumstances existing today, as against January 2001 or February 1986.

In my book, people power is always an option. It is in fact always the ultimate option of a sovereign people, whether it is used to oust a sitting president, to re-install a deposed president, or even if it is used to "overturn" the decision of a Supreme Court which is supposed to be the "ultimate" arbiter of matters Constitutional.

My premise is based on the fact that the Constitution and everything that flows from it flows, in effect, from the so-called sovereign power that resides in the people as a whole. Decisions of the Supreme Court and all other courts; acts of Congress and acts of the President all derive their legitimacy from that sovereign will.

I disagree with Cory that People power should not be an option. We already have a precedent for that Edsa 1986 and Edsa Dos. And if the civil society believed na there's nothing wrong with using extra-constitutional means to oust a legitimately elected president back in 2001, EH PAANO PA YUNG KATULAD NI ARROYO NA HINDI LEHITIMO?

I disagree na people power should not be an option. it should be an option, but it should be THE LAST OPTION, when everything else have failed.

And why do we put artificial limits on ourselves when the previous opposition that ousted erap did not, and the current Arroyo admin willfully ignores the constitution and breaks the rules when it suits their purposes.

From Ninez Cacho Olivarez:

Military chief Gen. Generosa Senga, tackling this issue before a civic club in Makati City, claimed that another Edsa type of revolt, where the military played a major role won’t come about since past situations may not necessarily be applicable to the current situation.

Surely he jests. There are certainly more justifiable legal and moral reasons for today’s military to play a major role in toppling Gloria’s regime and the military brass know it, especially when past situations are compared to the current situation.

Then President Ferdinand Marcos was perceived to have cheated his way to Malacañang in the 1985 polls. He was pronounced winner and proclaimed President by his Parliament, which is no different from the Congress declaring and proclaiming Gloria Arroyo as the President, despite evidence of poll fraud, and whose election cheating has now even been confirmed through the fraudulent election returns and Certificates or Canvass as well as the damaging “Hello Garci” tape, which points to the participation of military generals in the poll rigging. And even if it is argued that the tape is inadmissible as evidence, it still does not detract from the fact that there was such conversation between Gloria and Garci on the poll-rigging operations that were implemented.

In the case of Marcos, there was no concrete proof of he cheating charges. In the case of Gloria, there exists concrete proof of her having cheated massively, by way of the tape and manufactured election documents. The military moved against Marcos.

If the military’s participation in the Edsa revolt was caused by the prostitution of the military by Marcos, then all the more reason there is to revolt, as today’s Armed Forces has never been more prostituted by this illegitimate President.

Erap, who was then being tried constitutionally before an impeachment court, was ousted, with military participation, on mere allegations, which today can’t even be proved in court — that he had plundered the country’s coffers and took jueteng payoffs, after which the military and the evil society propelled Gloria to Malacañang, claiming this was constitutional.

All of these civil socialites along with the treasonous generals, claim the accession of Gloria was constitutional because the Supreme Court so ruled. But so did the SC under Marcos rule that the Marcos martial law regime was constitutional, yet the military and the people disregarded the SC ruling when they staged the Edsa I revolt. But as a withdrawal of support and “people power” were deemed constitutional, why should Senga now claim that this goes against the grain of the Charter and the command chain?

There is today more than concrete evidence that Gloria has been plundering the nation’s coffers, that her kith and kin are into jueteng payoffs, smuggling, graft and corruption, diversion of funds, betrayal of public trust, stonewalling the truth, bribing congressmen to kill the impeachment complaint, prostituting the military and more, which should then justify an AFP withdrawal of support at the very least and yet Senga claims the past situation is different from today’s situation?

Read the whole thing.