GMA should realize by now how stupid Proclamation 1017 is. She and her advisers may have thought that the proclamation would give her an aura of firmness and will. The effect seems to be the opposite. What I see is a government seeing ghosts where there are none, a beleaguered presidency prone to knee-jerk reactions, a panicking leadership that is circling the wagons.
Maybe the threats were real. Who knows? But GMAs reactions, issuing Proclamation 1017 and General Order No. 5, were totally unwarranted. Cory Aquino had faced nine coup attempts and Joseph Estrada had one, all real coup attempts, yet they never thought of doing any thing close to what GMA did. When she appeared on TV reading the proclamation, she looked pale like a girl who had seen Jack the Ripper, totally scared shitless. Pathetic is an understatement.
Do GMA and her advisers really think media will tow the line simply because she has her 1017? She should now realize that 1017 is getting to be a lightning rod for more criticisms and discontent.
Whatever goodwill she had prior to 1017, I guess, is totally gone. All her credible allies, like the former president Fidel Ramos, are gone. Her credential as a democrat is shattered. She is now totally isolated from the rest of society but she has only herself to blame. The “loyal” faction of the military, I guess, is still there with her. But for how long? Some major business groups had expressed support for her, but when the instability triggered by 1017 starts to bear on the economy, these people may abandon her, granting they have not already done so. It seems like she has reached a point of no return.
The political situation is still fluid as of this moment with the Philippine Marines massing in Fort Bonifacio in protest of the relief of their commandant, Gen. Miranda. (6:52 pm, Feb 26, Manila Time).
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