The Triumvirate
The recent political turmoil in the country has given rise to a new breed of leadership putatively shared in common by the has-been, the wanna-be and the queen bee: the triumvirate of FVR, JDV and GMA respectively.
Until the events of 8 July, former President Fidel V. Ramos was lingering on the throes of irrelevance, dishing his views on parliamentary governance to a media that was too respectful to ignore him, criticizing the present dispensation through surrogates like Fortunato Abat, disgruntled old general lost in the political fog of war.
Until the events of 8 July, Speaker Jose de Venecia’s ambition to be a man who would be king was wishful thinking, knowing the only means to reign one day was to amend the Constitution through a stage-managed constituent assembly.
Until the revelation of the Garci tapes and the events of 8 July, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was secure in her leadership and immune from charges of corruption, with nary a thought on charter change, confident the economy was on the verge of take-off even as her relatives by consanguinity and affinity were being pounded day in and day out by revelations of jueteng and abuses of power, and her friends and cronies blasted for being witting beneficiaries of government munificence.
Until the events of 8 July, the country was and continues to be the hapless victim of pump price increases, was and continues to be the helpless spectator of a devaluing currency, was and continues to be the powerless debtor of spiraling electricity rates, was and continues to be the witless witness to a diminishing quality of life.
Now, thanks to Tita Cory, the La Salle Brothers, the UP Diliman Community, the Hyatt 10 and the Drilon wing of the Liberal Party, the has-been and the wanna-be have revived their grandiose intentions and like Don Vito Corleone, made an offer to the queen bee which she cannot refuse.
And on that fateful dusk of 8 July, FVR, in crimson shirt, stood by GMA in red, clasping their hands as though sealing their pact in blood while JDV and his sycophants clapped and chanted. The President survived and lived to fight another day!
And now, in payment for a debt of gratitude and bowing to the desires of the two patricians, the president has agreed to charter change and to a parliamentary form of government. She has irretrievably sealed the fate of this country, for better or for worse, in the most vulnerable moment of her presidency. The Triumvirate has begun!
But who will be the last proconsul standing in the triumvirate? And who will be the Julius Ceasar, the Marcus Licinius Crassus or Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus of this troika? Will they plunge the Republic to civil strife? If Roman history is any gauge, only one will survive and consolidate power. And most especially, who among them will cross the Rubicon and mutter “Iacta alea est”- the die is cast?
As with the First Triumvirate, they started out as allies and ended up disposing each other. Let us see how this triumvirate, born of necessity, plays itself out. As they say in Tagalog: “Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!”
Until the events of 8 July, former President Fidel V. Ramos was lingering on the throes of irrelevance, dishing his views on parliamentary governance to a media that was too respectful to ignore him, criticizing the present dispensation through surrogates like Fortunato Abat, disgruntled old general lost in the political fog of war.
Until the events of 8 July, Speaker Jose de Venecia’s ambition to be a man who would be king was wishful thinking, knowing the only means to reign one day was to amend the Constitution through a stage-managed constituent assembly.
Until the revelation of the Garci tapes and the events of 8 July, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was secure in her leadership and immune from charges of corruption, with nary a thought on charter change, confident the economy was on the verge of take-off even as her relatives by consanguinity and affinity were being pounded day in and day out by revelations of jueteng and abuses of power, and her friends and cronies blasted for being witting beneficiaries of government munificence.
Until the events of 8 July, the country was and continues to be the hapless victim of pump price increases, was and continues to be the helpless spectator of a devaluing currency, was and continues to be the powerless debtor of spiraling electricity rates, was and continues to be the witless witness to a diminishing quality of life.
Now, thanks to Tita Cory, the La Salle Brothers, the UP Diliman Community, the Hyatt 10 and the Drilon wing of the Liberal Party, the has-been and the wanna-be have revived their grandiose intentions and like Don Vito Corleone, made an offer to the queen bee which she cannot refuse.
And on that fateful dusk of 8 July, FVR, in crimson shirt, stood by GMA in red, clasping their hands as though sealing their pact in blood while JDV and his sycophants clapped and chanted. The President survived and lived to fight another day!
And now, in payment for a debt of gratitude and bowing to the desires of the two patricians, the president has agreed to charter change and to a parliamentary form of government. She has irretrievably sealed the fate of this country, for better or for worse, in the most vulnerable moment of her presidency. The Triumvirate has begun!
But who will be the last proconsul standing in the triumvirate? And who will be the Julius Ceasar, the Marcus Licinius Crassus or Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus of this troika? Will they plunge the Republic to civil strife? If Roman history is any gauge, only one will survive and consolidate power. And most especially, who among them will cross the Rubicon and mutter “Iacta alea est”- the die is cast?
As with the First Triumvirate, they started out as allies and ended up disposing each other. Let us see how this triumvirate, born of necessity, plays itself out. As they say in Tagalog: “Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!”
posted by Edwin Lacierda | 1:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home