At around 10:15 a text came in saying Gen. Fortunato Abat (ret.), Salvador Enriquez, Bert Lumawig, Roy Senerez and others were holed up in the Waling-Waling Room of the Club Filipinoto announce an important matter at midnight. At around 11:30 GMA7’s Saksi news broadcast showed Abat entering the Club while a rather rag-tag moblet (two dozen or so people) armed with party torches chanted his name. At around midnight the old warhorse declared he was setting up a transitional government with himself as its president. He then called on the military and police to protect the people and not the President (Arroyo, that is, not he).
Oh well. Just pay him his overdue pension so he can go back to retirement.
Technorati Tags: military, Philippines
KSP. Pero kahit na. This is rebellion (against the Philippine government and not GMA) right? Everyone involved should be arrested regardless of former status or age. If not, sobra na pagka-Banana Republic natin…
What more can we expect to come out of the woodwork? Perhaps it’s the holidays? You know…tis the season to be jolly…fralalalalala……
Yep, a banana republic with a banana brained president.
No wonder, there are lots of monkeys in government!
For goodness sake, General Fortunato Abat is 80 yrs old, might not have dementia but is closer to his own coffin.
Malacanang can’t take him seriously. He can be pardoned in advance and might graciously give in to heart attack.
dodong, his actions were serious enough. you mature as you get older and should be responsible for your actions. if he was senile then his kids should have restrained him.
i seriously doubt he is. he knows exactly what he’s doing.
honestly, i think there’s something these old military guys doesn’t want us to find out. i still have my dark theories about the Garci tape origins.
That is quite true. I don’t dispute maturity. But old people are also detached from reality. Old folks are likewise hardheaded, their kids can’t even restrained them. The apathy of the masses is simply STOP SUBVERTING YOUR GOVERNMENT. Wait for your turn. If the supreme court is the problem like ADB used to say, impeach each justices. But if you cannot impeach them, they are still your supreme court justices.
MLQ3,
I beg to differ very strongly with Dodong. Chief (In)justice Davide is NOT my supreme court justice. He’s probably Dodong’s but not mine and I would venture to say, neither is he a chief justice to any decent minded individual – NOT by a long shot.
Chief Injustice Davide should thank his lucky stars that he was born in MitaMS’ banana republic.
What Davide did when he led the supreme (monkey) court en banc to declare a duly elected, sitting president constructively resigned based on hearsays and circumstancial evidences was a blatant disregard for all that is honorable in a supreme court justice. He and his cohorsts would have been guillotined in any other republic – check the story of Robespierre’s political life!
With regards the comical, farcical putsch of late, I don’t know if Lt General Fortunato Abat (Ret) is afflicted with senility or with any other old age disease but I do know one thing, his pseudo coup d’état is a result of Gloria’s and MitaMS’ banana republic shenanigans. No more, no less…But in Gloria’s circus government scheme of things, who can blame old Abat? He’s given a lot to this country and by God, to see it being turned into an awful worm-infested rotten banana is probably more than he can endure.
Lt. Gen Abat being a former boss of my dad…….
NO COMMENT!
Garci to go back January 25
before knowing if he faked his passport
we all know we need institutional reforms
in NSO,Archives,DFA,LTO,DOTC,SEC,DTI,BID,BIR,BOC,NTC
and all the three letter combinations and permutations one can think of….
if there is LETTENG I would make them my bet
CHACHA vs. continuous improvements
I heard approve the law now and worry about implementation later(re:anti terror bill)
many laws still not implemented because they only have budget for basket ball courts waiting sheds and brooms
and forgot to say unused lethal injection equipment….
Another old comment of mine
whether I was right or wrong I don’t care…..
Karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
On wiretapping
Being a military brat with a father handling modernization for a while
I saw many equipment remain as sample only others not even samples others are just pictures…..
same with patrol crafts,electronic equipo
we all know the procurement problem here
My point
maybe The CIA tapped,maybe The Telecom companies tapped
but I don’t know the modernization program I was talikg about was way back circa 91 and I never sen one materialize not one….
I remember Thompson CSF made proposals butone newpaper publisher wa so against the company it never left the proposal stage, I just learn he was against it because he says so about 3-4 yeras ago so I just thought that’s why…
I may sound bias of the navy but I think the best equipped are the SWAG which is patterned after the seals and I don’t see any one compare…
as long as there is afiscal crisis and everything connected to it there will be equipment for us
There is even a cost cutting technique two use small engine ultra light vehicle as spy craft…oops
its ok ultralight spy plane lang naman eh..
they are asking for proposals for cost cutting because the military does not see an end for the fiscal crisis(thats the way i see it)
5. karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 5:00 pm
On an unrelated note sice I mentioned cost cutting in the military
We are on a war on terror
we have the longest coastlines roughest hostile terrains
we got to adjust and make use of local inventors and local sources..the military sees that there are many inventors who go abroad so might as well use them
and with unsure entry point of terrorist we dont need bombers and slow tanks,slow speed boat(speed bagal) ,
vintage aircraft,vintage vessels and of course vintage jeeps……
6. karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 5:08 pm
Why did the Arragoncilio et al case die
This can prove my thesis that the big brother out there did it but it was never meant to be beyondâ€ÂFor Your Eyes Onlyâ€Â
swomehow it gt out of whitehouse and or pentagon and or Langley due to enterprising pinoys who oocuupy not only the kitchen but the office of the chief of staff……
7. karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 6:03 pm
The Loren vs. Escudero as in the eye of Loren’ lawyer
what in heavens name is this going to help things to proceed..
It will always remain a scar in the face even with facial reconstructive surgery
8. karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
another take on We are aprt of the Global Playing Field:
There is no room for Myopia and no room for Xray vision
I ma sorry had to metion again that ANC report on the NorthRail
Atty Roque’s rubbing in that railways don’t earn money…
is a case of obsession to stop northrail no matter what…
All readers and bloggers here are intelligent enough to discern that all developed countries have developed rails as part of the network of infrastructure…..
With that kind of myopia and x ray vision apply that two even three federal states Luzon,Visayas,Minda forget first the autonomous regions
what if we retain this near sightedness and x ray vision to continue looking within then there is a tendency not to look at other region’s in other to formulate state policy without making it a national policy….
9. karl wrote on November 26th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
) To prove that WHOEVER wiretapped the conversations were GUILTY of violations of the Anti-Wiretapping Law, and acts of TREASON against the Republic if equipment and personnel of the Armed Forces were illegally used to spy on candidates in the 2004 national elections (whoever they were).
* What if its the Americans?
(2) To prove that EVEN IF such material had been illegally acquired, the PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW surpasses the putative RIGHTS of the STATE to protect itself, which was the TRUE SPIRIT of the Anti-Wiretapping Law.
* To simplify things lets put it this way you are in a mall then suddenly a loud speaker says that The guy named….wearing…. is a killer as proven by this tape recording
Alright the guy gets arrested eventually and maybe later relleased for inadmissible evidence
but did the people have to hear that?
About vote rigging if intentionally stated with malice and no remorse then deny it later..is a different story
That is why i believe there is nothing wrong to display the editted version but at the same time claim that you have the complete verion, you don;t want can of worms exposed…
Although as I recall Alan Paguia did use the said logic….
10. Marcus Aurelius wrote on November 27th, 2005 at 2:54 am
Karl,
I am not certain the Aragoncillo case is dead. True, it is not the news item it once was. This probably happened for a couple of reasons. Even the Mainstream Mastodons realize they can not use the case to beat up on the Bush Administration, so why bother. Another reason is because it is in the stage of lawyerly negotiations between the defendants and the proseucting agency. *BORING*.
MLQ3,
I am not too certain about the proposal being promulgated to limit immigration of Chinese scientists (in either its seriousness or who exactly is proposing it) but I am sure I think your characterization xenophobic Bush worshippes is off the mark.
The issue of immigration in the US is centered on illegal immigration. In our staet of Wisconsin it is quite regular one assembly woman proposes offering in-state tuition to illegal aliens who live in our state, most people think that ridiculous as do I. In fact most people are up in arms against both the Democrats and the Republicans for not doing enough to curb illegal immigration.
The levels of legal immigration are debatable and I am generally in favor of liberal immigration levels.
Zen blog is correct about one thing. Resident Kanos do not overwhelmingly study the sciences and engineering and hence are underrepresented in graduate school programs for chemistry, physics, engineering, etc. In order to make up for this we need to allow these foreign scientists in or we need to do a better job of getting the younger generation fired up about being a materials scientist.
11. a de brux wrote on November 27th, 2005 at 7:16 am
Karl, America has the longest coastline.
12. karl wrote on November 29th, 2005 at 7:15 am
A de Brux
was too proud of the Philippines I went on dreaming it had the longest coastline in the world
talk about myopia and x ray vision
When my pretty bestfriend, an architecture practicum student, was molested by a rich powerful businessman in the exclusive Maria Luisa estate, it was Davide who came to her aid. That would be enough to qualify Davide to be my chief justice. Certainly, I would be bias to speak for Davide.
But any decent minded individual can understand unanimous decision, or perhaps not even in long stretch for few people like ADB, I suppose. There were 15 justices and 12 have concluded constructive resignation. Each of these justices is independent of his/her opinion and all of them have meet the qualifications as mandated in the constitution and thus deserve to be sitting in the highest office. Davide could be wrong. But to say the other 11 could be wrong is far stretch of imagination. You can impeach Davide which will hardly overturn the decision. You have to impeach the other justices as well.
You can call names to these sitting justices. But at the end of the day, their legal opinions count not yours.
I can’t blame Gen Fortunato Abat. He served under corrupt president Marcos when the military was largely spoiled. Now, he is ready to die for his unpaid pension.
I am not trying to be irreverent with Gen Fortunato Abat. But if he was a soldier and a gentleman, he should have done that a long time ago with his corrupt boss and president Ferdinand E Marcos.
Now, that he has a lot of maturity, he is doing it with a woman president. Fr Intengans view of patriarchal Filipinos is loud and clear.
I will talk about unang hirit umaga bayan
COMELEC OFFICIALS resign?????????
A de Brux do you want it to be a package deal with the supreme court?????????????
Resigns????
Philippines is a country where its people go into government service for entitlement and power, not to serve.
And if government officials resign? (like the economic gurus of GMA). They can even make more money in the private sector plus its added advantage of knowing the government inside out.
MLQ3,
Dodong may turn around the truth till he’s blue in the face – he can’t deny the one and only truth that matters: Estrada was ousted UNCONSTITUTIONALLY and that is thanks to Dodong’s Supreme Court Chief Injustice Davide and his 11 or so little indian justices; that their basis for declaring a legally and duly elected president “constructively resigned ” were mere hearsays and circumstancial evidences (period!)
The problem with Filipinos is that they easily fall prey to con artist jobs effected by “high powered” people as in the case of Chief Injustice Davide & 11 other little indian injustices’ who were allowed by this nation to devise some legal crap/hocus pocus in total violation of moral law. A second example is the current con artist job that the Gloria-Garci tandem is trying to foist in on tolerant Pinoys and Pinays.
When will Filipinos ever learn that these so-called political high power guys are in the service of the nation and that Filipinos must owe their allegiance to the nation and NOT to some high-fallutin persona, particularly when that person is of midget and liliputan-sized morality? Are they so awed by this thumbelina’s gargantuan and gigantic lust for power that they have forgotten the difference between what is right or wrong? Filipinos should take her to task and everyone else in her entourage who are making a mockery of the nation!
Dodong, you can never right a wrong even if you rub it eleven times or so. The patina of lie remains.
And to compound a wrong with another blatant wrong as to accept the Gloria-Garci circus tricks is making a wrong more absolutely, horrendously, crookedly wrong.
The best that could be done in the scheme of things is to use the same sauce that the goose used for the gander. Hang your president in excelsis malas from the highest lamppost if she continues to evade the issues against her and her favorite phone pal. A crime against the nation, the constitution, the people was committed and continues to be committed! As I’ve said there are enough circumstancial evidences to indict this moral midget.
Oh, and to set the record straight – even if Chief Injustice Davide has helped one pretty best friend of Dodong’s to win a case, that will not alter the present equation – Davide will still be considered to have hatched a “legal crookery” by civilized standards. So, Dodong can have Davide all to himself and they will make a fabulous crooked D2!
Wait till Davide comes over here… we will give him a solid “irreverent” (borrowing from Dodong) welcome treat reserved for “legal crooks” with media for a witness.
Decent and morally courageous Filipinos must express their convictions with passion – enough of this fake “politesse”! People who have been wronged must not feel that they are being irreverent to political, legal, military, etc. rascals, more so if these rascals are high powered (so goddamn what?!)! It is these rascals that must be told that they are being irreverent to the nation, i.e., rascals Gloria and Garci should be put in the same boat of “irreverents” and shipped to the Antarctic!
Hilario Davide is certainly more decent and deserving of being the Chief Justice than the mercenary Andres Narvasa was. The SC decision (Davide didn’t decide that by his lonesome) regarding Erap’s de-facto resignation was hailed as the more pragmatic way out of a thorny dilemma at the time. Whether Erap’s successor turned out to be a disappointment or not, is beside the point.
Hilario Davide may not be the most brilliant legal mind, but his record as legal practitioner and civil servant bears him out as an honest, upright and sincere citizen of this country. That’s more than Erap, who still has pretensions to laying claim to the highest post in the land, could ever lay claim to.
MLQ3,
Thank you very much for the space.
I sincerely hope things will turn out better for the country. Filipinos, particularly the 8 or so million OFWs who are slaving it out elsewhere deserve a better place to go back home to and a better government to welcome them when they return.
Meanwhile, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With all my best wishes to you and to your loved ones…
A. de Brux
ADB is raging with passion. I can respect that. But why wait for Davide to go over there? You have plenty of money from the land of milk and honey to finance the lawyers back home to push for change. The media reported that the crowd against President Arroyo fizzled out because of lack of logistical support (another name for “bayad”). Maybe you can make a real difference if you extend logistical support for their so called good causes for the nation.
In spirit of Christmas, you cannot even suggest to hang a person from the highest lampost without betraying the essence of Christmas and prejudge ones guilt. You need to re-examine why celebrate Christmas after all if you have these seething hatred inside you.
CARL — where in the Constitution did you read “de facto” resignation? Voluntariness is the essence of RESIGNATION, or were we asleep throughout Gloriagate? It is an insane idea that Edsa 2 was a “popular uprising” when it was nothing but a popular uprising that would have failed were it not for a constitutional putsch involving the Supreme Court, the Cardinal of Manila, the chief of staff and an all too-willing veep. It is the myth of people power that keeps us away from the Rule of Law’s benefits.
Is a moblet dispersed by a bomblet?!
I believe in the rule of law. I believe that the Davide led supreme court did not follow the law (constitution is the highest law of the land) when they kicked Erap out of Malacanang.
Karl believes Davide is better than Erap(morally, intellectually, etc.). He is right, I agree. But that has nothing to do with the rule of law.
I’m not a lawyer, but some things are just plain simple and understandble even by simple people.
while you’re at it, why don’t we also condemn claudio teehankee for brazenly going against the constitution and proclaim- all by his lonesome, mind you!- corazon aquino as president and salvador laurel as vice president. he definitely was usurping the supreme court as a whole, and was obviously very partisan when he went to club filipino.
madame chiang: only if, by so doing, they’re reduced to droplets.
Acidboy,
Technically he was, right? Now for argument’s sake, if Davide goes to Club Filipino and declares Fortunata Abat as president, he’s going to be doing the same.
Sorry, I forgot to add that if Davide declares Abat as president, he needs to find a new reason for Gloria’s resignation. “Constructively Resigned” was already used in Erap’s case!
I am going by my name, fencesitting. I am enjoying the discourse above especially the exchange between madame chiang and MLQ. witty. very witty. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.
Jon, actually, since ‘Constructively Resigned’ as a reason has already been used before, then the previous case could be cited as a precedent.
The supreme court made it “legal”, but it’s supposed to be the Congress’ role to write the laws. The supreme court is there to determine the meaning or intent of the law when there’s dispute. I still stand on my belief that the Davide led Supreme Court erred on Estrada’s case.
I was actually being sarcastic when I wrote that comment.
De-facto resignation because it was a fact, even if Erap did backtrack on it. And we may argue until we are blue in the face about it, but the fact remains Erap was removed from power. Anyway, there will always be controversy over things like that. After all, Louis XIV’s heirs still claim to be the monarchs of France.
And EDSA was won by the soldiers that sided with Ramos and Ponce Enrile, with a little help from the low-flying American jets which signalled where the U.S. was tipping her hand. EDSA could not have happened were it not for Ramos, Enrile and their faction of the military and police force. As can be seen with Iraq and the WMD yarn, might is the rule of law. Ask George W. Bush.
Carl, I respect your stand. But one point we can get from this discussion is that we disagree on how we see and perceive things or even facts. So let’s just agree that we disagree.
If there were actions that need to be done later on and we decide to take an active role, we may be on opposite sides of the fence.
I’m kind of a Mahatma Gandhi type, force is not necessary everytime. You mentioned EDSA (1 I presume), and it was Marcos who had the “force”, but he capitulated in the end.
If he did not, maybe it was what dodong and his automechanic friend was waiting for. That is some blood on the streets that might make positive changes last longer.
MLQ3: Karl, just read that Garcis passport is clean.
Jon, I agree too w/ the SC. Honestly, I really don’t think erap is worth all the attension.We have better things to do
Marcos was a spent “force”. Ramos and Enrile, with the help of the U.S., had the upper hand and Marcos knew it. Marcos, conscious about his place in history, didn’t think it was worth putting up a fight he knew he couldn’t win. EDSA 1 would not have happened without FVR and JPE’s mutiny. And, whether people want to admit it or not, the U.S. position was critical. After all, they advised Marcos to “cut cleanly”.
Cory Aquino couldn’t have ruled without the blessings of Fidel Ramos, who controlled a significant part of the military. It was only Ramos’ intervention that saved the Aquino government from the coups. And so indebted was Cory Aquino to Ramos that she had to endorse his Presidential candidacy despite the fact that he had lost the nomination of the administration party at that time.
Nowadays, witness how, despite languishing in the pits of public perception, Gloria Arroyo can still sit in Malacañang and even dream of finishing her term until 2010. Without the military weighing in, it will be so. As has been the case since 1986, the military will be the tail wagging the dog. That is the reason why politicians, the media and the public at large are always watching the military. That is the reason why everyone gets nervous or excited when there are rumors of a coup or of troop movements. In the end, the military will spell the difference. That is the reality.
Carl, FM wanted the troops crushed at Edsa. He only made a big show of reprimanding Ver on TV but ordered the troops to go in. FVR and JPE fled to Crame only because their plan for a putsch was revealed. There would have been the problem of what to do, had the revolt not happened, but still.
I have only heard Teddyboy Locsin’s accounts of the coups, but from what I heard, I’m not too impressed with FVR’s leadership at the time -the Americans had to step in when he was losing his nerve. But perhaps Cory did support FVR out of gratitude. There certainly can be a very good case made for the military providing the easy way out for achieving power since 1986.
You know how hard it is to change the Philippine government outside the Constitution. You have to have the 3 institutions together speaking as one voice together with the people, namely (1) backing of the military upholding civilian authority as supreme, (2) spiritual blessing of the cardinal and (3)legal pronouncement of the supreme court.
Filipinos who wanted change, wether you like it or not, can look forward to the end of the term of President Arroyo unless those 3 institutions will materialize. Like court legal decisions, presidential change is institutionalized. Military coup alone will not change the President in Phlippine setting.
Leggo ed imparo sul vostro luogo. grazie!