Alliance Philippines

June 08, 2010

On the Coming Benigno S. Aquino III Presidency of the Philippines

Los Angeles--Senator Benigno S. Aquino III was proclaimed as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines yesterday, June 9, 2010 by the Philippine Congress.

There has been a lot of optimism about the assumption to power by Noynoy Aquino. But still dangers looms on the horizon for President Arroyo is still around in Congress.

Within the first 100 days, if Noynoy would fail to fulfill any important promise and the crisis in the country would continue to worsen, the broad masses of the Filipino people would hate the Aquino III regime and Noynoy himself for being a traitor and deceiver of the people.

The Four Major issues

There are four main issues Aquino III must address, This issues will determine how the mass movement and the revolutionary movement will respond to the Aquino III presidency.

1. The question of Arroyo’s accountability to the people: Would it be evident that Aquino and The Arroyo families will be exposed? That these two families have long been in connivance with each other. And like when Arroyo pardoned Erap Estrada, the drama to punish Arroyo will be exposed as another telenovela.

People knows that even as Arroyo is no longer president, she still has power. She is the president of Lakas-KAMPI. She has made sure that her minions control the Supreme Court, the Sandigangbayan and the Ombudsman and some big cases against her have been dismissed.

She has made sure that that Lakas-KAMPI still has many governors and mayors. She has made sure that she has a direct share of power. She heads the Lakas-KAMPI bloc in the House of Representatives. She has still a sizeable control over the military.

2) On the question of peace, Aquino III himself indicated in his speech before the foreign correspondents that he does not need peace negotiations because he could handle the pacification and suppression of the revolutionary movement through the simultaneous use of military force and the so-called four-part policy of 1) good governance, 2) delivery of social services, 3) economic reconstruction and development and 4) security reforms.

But all of these concept are rehashed and worn counter-insurgency tactics. It was used by the CIA to prop Ramon Magsaysay in 1953, the US support of the 14 years dictatorship of fascist Marcos, and against Marcos in 1986 and again in the last elections.

As a junior warlord, gun-toting like his father Senator Benigno Aquino Jr, Noynoy’s penchant and capacity for violence against the toiling masses and those branded as communists is respected by his US handlers. And thus, he can be relied upon to enforce the so-called anti-terrorist policy and, in particular, the US Guide to Counterinsurgency.

One reason why Noynoy’s partner Mar Roxas lost in Mindanao is that he opposed regional autonomy. Aquino’s challenge will be how to deal with the regional autonomy demand of the MILF. And the Moro problem in general.

There are indications that the human rights situation will become worse than during the times of Marcos, Cory Aquino and Arroyo. There are also indications that the new regime will do away with peace talks so that Noynoy can carry out the orders of the US imperialists. It is likely that he will be driven by his penchant for the use of violence to preserve the power and wealth of his family and his class.

3) On the question of economy. Basically the Aquino III presidency has no clear directions on how to make life better for the people except getting rid of corruption. This issues has been with all political campaign since time immemorial. Getting rid of corruption is a tall order since GMA is still around.

Another important issue is the coming changes to the 1987 Constitution that will affect the economy . It is important to watch the pronouncements of Aquino III if he will kowtow to US imperialist wishes.

The US-RP relations hangs on this crucial issues. As long as the US Embassy and the US Chamber of Commerce dictates on the Philippines, other issues that hangs around this anchor will remain be a pestering problem.

4) An important thing remains. The long running agrarian or land problem. The semi-feudal and feudal character of the country remains. The more than 500 families still controls the land and its resources. The farmers are still destitute and the case of Hacienda Luisita is still an albatross hanging on Noynoy’s neck.

It is worth watching the political situation and developments in the Philippines for the next years

But unlike in 1986, let us just be careful with the games of smokes and mirrors, in order not to be frustrated.

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