Allow me to let the Philippine Daily Inquirer's latest editorial (25 February 2006) to speak for me:
WE CONDEMN, in the strongest terms, the latest plot by misguided members of the military. In the same breath, and in the very same terms, we also condemn President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration of a state of emergency...But to those who think that martial law has already been imposed, I have to disagree... at this time. This is what Lualhati Bautista wrote (followed by my own translation) in Dekada '70 about the period before the imposition of martial law in 1972:
We condemn both the coup plot and the presidential proclamation as acts of violence against the body politic...
We condemn both the plot and the proclamation as assaults on democracy...
Not least, we condemn both the plot and the proclamation as betrayals of the highest ideals of the Edsa People Power revolution.
Isang linggo bago ibaba ang martial law ay nagkaro'n ng maraming pag-aresto sa mga lider estudyante sa kampus... Ikinandado ang Free Press, Leader, Manila Times, at iba pang "subersibong" babasahin. Sinuspindi ang mga student councils... pati paglilimayon ng mga tao sa kalye pagpitada ng alas-dose ng gabi.The Tribune may have been raided, but if GMA were, in fact, doing a Marcos, then the Inquirer wouldn't even have been able to print the editorial I quoted above. In fact, Marcos probably would have found a way to shut down even bloggers like me. GMA hasn't shut down the Inquirer or any bloggers... yet. And I pray that she never will.
[One week before the imposition of martial law, many student leaders were arrested... The Free Press, Leader, Manila Times and other "subversive" publications were shut down. Student councils were suspended... and a curfew was imposed, forbidding people from being in the streets after midnight.]
This is not a political blog. But these are very political times. Don't worry, though, unless the current crisis turns into a full-blown disaster, this will be my last post on politics for the next few months =)
Category: The Philippines
