Mayor Binay, Gloria Arroyo differently see ‘new people power’ at work

February 27, 2008

President Arroyo and opposition stalwart, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, two leaders from the so-called opposite sides of the political fence, are seeing two kinds and differently motivated “people power” moves arising with the recent national events that have unfurled, particularly over the new controversy of the allegedly highly anomalous, multi-

million dollar National Broadband Network (NBN) deal involving the government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

Binay, president of the United Opposition, said a new kind of “people power” has already started, with “new faces” from the Church, youth and business groups “playing very active roles in the movement for truth and accountability in government.”

Binay also cited the noise barrages, concerts, truth forums, text brigades, music videos and other innovative ways being employed by the various sectors tn enlighten the people on the raging issues.

“We should see power not as an event, but as a process,” Binay, an Edsa 1986 veteran, said yesterday, a day after civil society groups and people’s organization staged several protest assemblies to mark the 22nd anniversary of the February 1986 Edsa Revolution.

“We draw lessons from the first people power, and find new ways to show the continuing relevance of people power in the life of our nation. It is only the Arroyo administration and its allies who keep saying that people power is no longer relevant because they now find themselves in the same predicament as the Marcos regime,” he said.

Binay said the spark that lit the first people power started with the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983. This was sustained by the protest actions and assemblies until the snap presidential elections of 1985, where it gained momentum and led to the February 1986 revolution.

“Today, I would say that the new people power movement started with the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal in 2005. This scandal led to the relentless protest actions by the opposition, civil society groups and people’s organizations. The abduction of Rodolfo Lozada Jr. and his subsequent revelations on the extent of corruption in the ZTE-NBN scandal is providing the momentum,” he said.

Binay also said there are elements in the resurgent “people power” movement that were not present in 1986.

He said the Catholic Church is very much involved in the protest assemblies now than during the Marcos regime. He cited the statement issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for communal action and its condemnations of the state of morality under the Arroyo administration.

In contrast, Binay said only Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and a few religious groups were involved in the first people power revolution.

“The participation of the Catholic Church is a new element. Compared to Edsa 1, the Church is more active now. The CBCP was generally silent during the years leading to February 1986, but now the CBCP has issued a statement on the currently political situation. The Churches and the Catholic schools have become venues where people can search the truth,” he said.

“Back in 1986, it was only Cardinal Sin and a handful of religious personalities and groups who were involved,” he added.

The opposition leader also cited the active participation of the youth, who are using innovative ways to express their protest.

“The youth are no longer confining themselves to rallies or school boycotts. You have noise barrages, concerts and student assemblies. You have law students coming out to support the call for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo has told of another kind of “people power” which she said would be manifested through the public’s vigilance in keeping a close watch on legal processes to ensure that “the truth would come out” over the NBN issue.

Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Malacañang yesterday morning, the President also asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Ombudsman to be “fair and truthful” in their own investigations into the NBN-ZTE case.

Aside from the ongoing Senate hearings into the matter, the DoJ and the Ombudsman have initiated their separate investigations into the allegations of corruption having been committed by government officials involved in the forging of the $329-million NBN project contract with ZTE.

“The government, the Church, the people, and the media should help each other, to prove to the public that there is truth and justice in our democratic and legal institutions,” she said in Filipino.

“This is the new people power; watchful of legal processes to ensure that the truth will come out,” she added.

A number of provincial governors attended the morning Cabinet meeting and expressed support for Mrs. Arroyo, who is being hounded by her own reported admittance that she approved the NBN contract even while knowing the it contained “flaws.”

The President is fighting off fresh calls for her resignation amid allegations that her husband, Atty. Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, and former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks in the alleged forging of the overpriced contract with ZTE for the undertaking of the NBN project in the Philippines. Sherwin C. Olaes, PNA and Tribune wires

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