Being Careful With What You Wish For
by MrsPartyGirl
While driving down I-65 on our way to Atlanta, hubby, out of the blue, blurted out: "Sana mag-delare na ng Martial Law si GMA.". I said: "haaa?!?! sabihin mo hindi ka seryoso!?!?". But he was.
He said, it worked for Marcos before. We had the best economy during the regime because no one dared go out to rally and disrupt businesses, and criminality was low because everyone was deathly scared of the PC-INP.
I said, sure. Add the fact that that regime also was the height of graft and corruption in our country perpetrated by no less than the dictator himself and his many cronies, and also was the time when human rights atrocities were committed by the government to its very own people left and right.
Some people look at Martial Law with fond memories. Yes, maybe Marcos was probably the most brilliant president we had ever had. He was bright, forward-looking, decisive, and he had a charming spouse who made it appear that everything was true, good, and beautiful. However, in doing so, he had amassed a number of political enemies - people who were able to see right through his farce. Unfortunately, instead of facing his detractors like a true leader, he resorted to an authoritarian regime that would, in effect, wipe any oppositionist off the face of the earth.
Martial Law bestows on the military the authority to take matters into their own hands, extrajudicially usually. Of course, such power will always be suceptible to abuse. And it had.
The 1986 Constitutional Commission members worked very hard to ensure that the new, post-Marcos constitution would safeguard against authoritarianism ever happening again. Yet here we are, in the process (and hope) of bending the highest law of the land just a bit further, as "the last resort" to solve the systemic problems our country is currently facing. Martial Law. The way of the cowardly man who'd rather hide behind his guns in order to instill fear, rather than use his brains, integrity, and skills to lead the people towards peace and prosperity. Well, ok. Most dictators I know ended up getting killed, exiled, or hiding inside a hole in the ground. Ang saya-saya, noh?
But wait, the right question to ask amidst all of this is: would it work this time?
It worked for Marcos because the military, during his time, was loyal to him. The military would gladly eliminate all the Chief's enemies because they feared him more than they loved him. Very Machiavellian, right?
On the other hand, can we say the same for GMA? If we should give to the military this police power, what would be their motivation? Fear? I doubt it. Respect? I seriously doubt it. Chain of command? Maybe. An authoritarian government implies a strong authoritarian leader, someone who can make decisions and not depend highly on pop demand for the pop decisions, and most importantly, someone who has complete control over the governments resources. Does our commander-in-chief have those qualities? Maybe. Not.
I guess it must be true that we Pinoys have a very short-term memory, that we can't see past our daily survival, that we tend to forget history when it seems convenient.
Many people were tortured and killed during that era. Many people showed their true colors, as well. Some died because they believed it was for the good of this country. Some amassed wealth, stolen from the people they swore to serve. How different will it be, this time? I think it will be much worse.
Much much worse. Because we are wishing for it to happen.
