Full millitarization in Gloria gov’t

EDITORIAL

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05/20/2008

It didn’t take long for Gloria Arroyo to appoint her canine general, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., to an administration post.

To this day, she is much too scared about a revival of the Hello Garci scandal and with Esperon out of government, he could easily have been called by the Senate for a hearing.

Still, it does make one wonder: Why a mere presidential adviser post for Esperon, who will now take over the functions of Jesus Dureza as presidential peace adviser in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiations with the government?

Dureza, it was announced over the weekend, will be taking over the job of outgoing Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye who has been recycled to the Monetary Board, although he is also to have a Malacañang job as Gloria’s political adviser.

Bunye’s twin jobs are easy to glean. As Monetary Board director, Bunye would be out of Malacañang and therefore could be summoned to a congressional hearing. But by being named presidential adviser in political affairs, Bunye remains in the Palace, and is therefore covered by the much abused executive privilege utilized by Gloria to cover up her crimes.

In the case of Esperon, apart from the need of Gloria to have him in an executive department position, being the presidential adviser to the peace process which also provides him the continued pathway to still be within the military organization, and provides him too with the military battalion he needs to compose his bodyguards, having made so many enemies within the military establishment.

Presumably, as peace adviser, Esperon will also be involved in talks with the commies, whom he has vowed to crush.

One wonders how someone who was largely responsible for eliminating leftist leaders through extra-judicial executions under cover of the counter insurgency program called Bantay Laya, could be a credible peace maker — especially in the case of the commies.

But evidently, Gloria who was reportedly once a card-carrying social democrat of the Romeo Intengan-Norberto Gonzales type, isn’t serious about forging peace with the commie insurgents, nor for that matter, even with the MILF, as all she and her government seek is a long term ceasefire, which is her way of keeping the insurgents at bay.

Gloria certainly also needs Esperon to remain within the military circle, since she continues being paranoid over the possibility of being toppled before 2010 and perhaps also before her plans to stay beyond 2010 are implemented.

And that notion of being toppled or at least be in her government’s near collapse, is not that far-fetched, given the bigger problem of rising fuel prices, food prices, transport prices and naturally, the high price of electric consumption. One can only suffer these high prices for so long, and well does Gloria know it.

But with Esperon now taking on the role of peace adviser, Gloria has predictably cemented the perception of a militarized government under her regime.

Already, in the case of the MILF-Government peace process, a retired military general, Rodolfo Garcia, is chief of the government negotiating panel. Add to this Esperon taking on the role of peace adviser.

The MILF leadership said it is alarmed at the appointment of the newly retired military chief, as it gives the impression of the peace process being militarized.

“The impression that we see is that the peace process is now militarized,” said Mohager Iqbal, chairman of the MILF’s peace panel, adding that the situation has become “alarming” since the peace process has yet to move forward.

The truth is, that process is not going to move forward because that which the MILF demands, cannot be met by Gloria and her government if the Constitution is to be followed. And at this point in her presidency, if she as much as carves up the republic and grants the MILF its demand to become a virtual independent Islamic state, not unlike the Palestinian Authority, she will not only be facing real problems with the people, especially the Christians in Mindanao but will also have the military up in arms.

And not even Esperon can save her from that backlash.

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